Starting a business in this day and age is more than possible, with all the technology, digital tools, and financing opportunities that are becoming more prevalent every day. Aspiring entrepreneurs as well as versed business owners understand that there’s no starting a business without significant investments throughout every stage of growing and nurturing a company. Even after the initial set of challenges that come with kick-starting a company subsides, you need to stay focused on allocating your funds properly so as to stay stable and market your business to your target audience.
No matter how limited your budget may be, your marketing needs to be taken into account.
Fortunately, there are ways you can promote your business successfully even on a shoestring budget, and you can do so with class and style, all the while staying true to your brand identity. Here are a few you can add to your marketing arsenal to get your business in front of the right people.
Social Media to the Rescue
When you think “social media promotion”, your mind most likely leaps straight to paid ads and sponsored posts that some brands adore and make use of on a regular basis. Truth be told, using paid ads to an extent has its perks, but it’s certainly not the only way to utilize social networks to promote your business.
- Adding branded hashtags, and inspiring your followers to tag you in their posts when they use your products or visit your stores, can be a brilliant, and free way to promote your business. Plus, you can be innovative and come up with your own handles. Who knows, maybe you’ll start a social media trend!
- Social media contests are a godsend for all of your promotional efforts. A handful of carefully chosen items to give away, and you’ll likely have many people flocking to your pages to contribute and join the contest.
- Let’s not forget about micro-influencers, who are on the rise in popularity, and who are gaining more traction among small and large brands alike. Work with them, invest in those bonds, and the benefits will be manifold.
Promotional Materials and Freebies
Freebies and giveaways are not reserved for social media contests. In fact, giving a physical shape, look, and feel to your values and to your brand can be extremely helpful when you’re looking to create a more memorable, personalized experience for your customers and your audience. You can invest in a batch of branded goodies such as printed stressballs that embody what your brand is about, whether it’s your customers’ wellbeing or certain environmental causes, and hand them out at events, or together with the first several orders made by your customers.
- Give samples to your employees, too. They are your greatest brand ambassadors, and you want them to feel as valued as your customers. By using the item you’ve given them, they’ll bring more visibility to your brand in their own social circles.
- Give a batch or two of your promotional items to select local businesses that are in line with your values and that will benefit from the collaboration, too.
- Whenever you visit events, hand out business cards, flash drives, and other items that are purposeful and that carry your brand’s logo. Making memories and leaving impressions should be your primary goal.
Put Your Best Content Forward
Some investments are heavy on your wallet, while others might be harder on your mind. In this case, content creation can be a strain on both and yield few results if you’re not sure how to utilize it properly. Creativity in content creation is a necessity, especially since there are too many businesses already forcing themselves as the leader of any industry out there. You need to be smart with how you use your content efforts to promote, but not overly-promote your brand!
- Publish informative blog posts on relevant events, topics, and trends, but do your best to give them a point of view that is uniquely to your brand. Maybe you’re not an innovator by nature, but giving a fresh perspective on an existing topic can be beneficial.
- Guest post on other’s blogs and social media groups, to start engaging new people and tap into new pools of followers.
- Comments and reactions are also content, so be wise to stay true to your brand voice when responding to comments, reviews, and the like.
- Send and ask for magazine interviews, use PR announcements, and any other channel available to put your brand in front of relevant people.
- Above all, diversify your content so that you can be interesting in a multitude of formats. Add videos, images, infographics, and blogs you create yourself. Promotion is sometimes hidden in the least promotional formats possible.
Teach Workshops
As a business owner and a leader, you have the opportunity to give something back to your community (and beyond). Organizing lectures, offering to hold a few presentations to local colleges, and setting up workshops online as well as during local events can give you greater visibility and help you promote your brand through your own image and success.
Of course, handing out your business cards at those events, giving out pens with your logo, and asking the participants if they’d like to sign up for the newsletter as well are all perks that can extend your promotional efforts beyond the event itself.
What to Do from Here
Take promotion to heart, and you’ll quickly understand that adding some imagination into those traditional forms of promotion and marketing can help you gain a stronger foothold in your industry. Use these methods to promote your business with more success, and the budget at your disposal will slowly grow, much like your exposure.
About The Author
Raul Harman is the editor-in-chief at Technivorz blog. He has a lot to say about innovation in all aspects of digital technology and online marketing. Connect with him.
