Any business owner can market their business on a limited budget with the resources that are currently available. Additionally, many types of marketing don’t require extensive expertise. The skills that you do need can be easily acquired through a process of learning and practice. This makes it easier than ever before to create a positive brand image for your business that’s familiar and easily recognizable.
Start a Blog
You can start to market your business without spending much money at all by launching a blog on your website. The only cost you’ll incur is the money you spend on launching your site. From there, you can create your blog posts by writing about topics that are related to your business. As you create each post, choose a relevant keyword phrase and use that phrase in your blog post’s title, a subtitle, and the first 100 words of text. This practice will help your blog posts rank higher in relevant search results and drive more organic traffic to your website. Once they visit your blog, visitors will browse the rest of your site. Over time, more blog posts will gradually increase the amount of traffic that’s directed to your site.
Maintain a Social Media Presence
You should also be maintaining a strong social media presence in conjunction with posting regularly to your blog. This is another type of content marketing that will only cost you the time it takes to set up your account and make regular posts. To generate a following, you can start by joining groups and following pages that are relevant to your field of interest. As you leave comments that demonstrate your expertise, you’ll be encouraging others to follow your account. To keep the momentum going, be sure to respond to comments on your posts and thank users for tagging your page in their posts. This will encourage them to share your content, including links to your blog posts. As a result of these interactions, other users will find your account and follow you.
Make Use of Print Media
While digital marketing is already a multi-million dollar industry that continues to evolve, that doesn’t mean print marketing is dead. Print media can be a very effective way of reaching consumers in a specific geographic area. You can use banners and custom flags to grab the attention of consumers in your area. Similarly, banners, flags, and posters can be used at conventions and other events to spread awareness about your business. On a smaller scale, brochures can be used to share information about the history of your business, your menu of services, and your hours of operation. One flap in a brochure can also be used for coupons to encourage new customers to give your business a try.
Host a Contest or Giveaway
When you give away something of value, you’ll be enticing past customers to return and you’ll reach a new base of consumers. You can share your contest or giveaway with your in-store customers and your social media followers by creating a live video feed. Many businesses use Facebook and Instagram feeds to share live contests in which customers demonstrate their use of the brand’s products. Alternatively, you can encourage customers to submit pictures of themselves using your products. Let them know the most inventive or entertaining picture or video will win the grand prize. Be creative in planning a contest or giveaway that will be fun for your brand’s followers.
Appear as a Guest
Extend your marketing reach by writing posts for other blogs and by appearing as a guest on podcasts. In either situation, you must make sure you have something relevant to discuss, and that it will be interesting to the audience. This can be a little more challenging when you appear as a guest on a podcast because you may have to think on your feet. However, keeping a list of notes handy can help you jump around from one point to another. If you’re looking for opportunities to write guest blog posts, try to start by offering other bloggers the chance to write for your blog. They will usually be happy to reciprocate. Many business owners find that it’s highly effective to go on a guest blogging tour because that exposes their brand to a broader range of new audiences.
If you feel uncertain that you can effectively market your business on your own, some services can help. As you work with professional digital marketers, you can learn from them. Before long, you’ll have the knowledge you need to market your products’ ineffective campaigns.
