Advertising can achieve wonders for a business. Wasn’t it Mark Twain who said small things have been made large through advertising? This is what many companies are looking to achieve with their advertising efforts. Of course, a good advertising campaign can cost a good bundle, something that many SMEs simply don’t have room in their budget for so here are some tips when marketing for small business.
If you own a small business and have but very limited funds to allocate to marketing, you need to be very judicious in selecting the avenue through which you want to channel your money.
The following are some low-cost but effective ideas you can apply when marketing for small business:
- Get involved and reach out to the community. This is a fundamental strategy on how to grow a small business. It’s a great and often inexpensive marketing tactic. It wouldn’t cost much to sponsor a Little League team or a fun run, but even smaller gestures like printing out bookmarks for the local library’s readers to use can already go a long way in getting your business noticed.
- Collaborate with non-competitive businesses. Agree to cross-promote. You can offer coupons for their customers while they can slip your fliers into their customers’ shopping bags. You can even do bundled promotions together.
- Volunteer to head workshops, seminars, lectures, etc. Being a business owner, you’ll be considered an authority in whatever niche or field your company belongs to. By establishing yourself as an expert and providing actual help, you effectively promote your business.
- Ask for customer referrals. If you’re a business owner, you probably understand that you can’t be shy about certain things and asking for referrals is one of them. Most businesses do this, but you can make people inclined to refer you by providing them with an exceptional customer experience. This is also how you keep them.
- Offer coupons. People get excited about discounts and freebies. They will go out of their way to use a coupon, so this is often a great move when marketing for small business that doesn’t have to cost you a lot, provided you have everything under control. This means that you did the math and know exactly what your limits are so that this effort doesn’t end up losing you money.
- Leverage social media. Learn how to play the social media game because the rewards are really worth the effort. You can expand your reach, reinforce your brand, gain new customers, etc. by making the right moves in social sites.
These strategies can really help you engage customers, establish relationships, and get your brand out there. Of course, you can also take advantage of affordable packages so that you can simply focus your attention on actual operations and leave the marketing for small business to the pros.
About Jeremy Littlejohn
I love web design and marketing and have a passion in helping business owners enjoy a results-driven online business. I am a loving father and husband, and legitimate business man with high integrity.
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