If you are a small business owner, then you know that marketing can be challenging. You have to find the small amount of time in your day to do it, and then hope that it will bring in enough customers for your small business. In this blog post we will go over 46 creative ways to market small businesses so that you can get more traffic and make more money!
What is the best way to market my small business?
First thing’s first – define what success would look like for your small business.
What are you trying to get out of marketing? Is it more customers, leads, engagement on social media or something else entirely? Figure this out first and foremost so that you can define how success is going to be measured for each tactic below.
Next, you need to understand your small business’ target audience. Who are these people? Where do they hang out online and offline in the real world? What are their interests? These questions will help determine which marketing tactics would be most effective for your small business. The more targeting that can happen when it comes to who is seeing content or ads, the better your small business’ return on investment (ROI).
If you’re still not sure where to start, then begin with these 15 creative ways that small businesses are marketing themselves today:
– Make a video about what makes your small business unique and share it across social media platforms. Just like this blog post!
– Start a blog and share your small business’ story, mission, products/services and industry insights with your target audience.
– Host a contest or giveaway on social media – make sure to promote it using relevant hashtags!
– Provide valuable content (like this blog post!) as an e-book, whitepaper or report that your small business’ target audience can download for free.
– Offer an online course to teach your small business’ target audience something new they may be interested in, like how to grow their Instagram following or use social media effectively.
– Create a podcast and share your expertise with the world (and encourage others within your small business’ industry to do the same).
– Sponsor or participate in local events that are relevant to your small business’ target audience.
– Connect with other small businesses in your industry and collaborate on content or marketing initiatives that will reach a larger audience than either business could do on their own.
– Make use of paid advertising options (like Facebook Ads, Google AdWords or LinkedIn Advertising) to specifically target your small business’ target audience.
– Speak at an industry conference or relevant local event to share your small business’ story and advice with others in your field.
– Develop relationships with key media outlets and journalists who cover stories related to your small business’ target audience – offer them exclusive content, interviews or insights you know they’ll find valuable.
– Use email marketing to create valuable content that your small business’ target audience would find helpful, like an e-book or checklist on how to do something relevant to them.
– Create social media profiles for your small business on all of the major platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) and populate them regularly with engaging content.
– Integrate interactive elements into your small business’ website like quizzes, calculators or games that will engage potential customers and keep them on your site longer.
– Invest in search engine optimization (SEO) so that potential customers can easily find your small business when they search for keywords related to what you offer.
– Collaborate with other small businesses in your area on a community event that will benefit everyone involved as well as attract new customers or clients – through this partnership, you can also partner on paid advertisements together too!
– Give back to your local community by volunteering your small business’ time or resources to a charitable cause that is relevant to them.
– Attract new customers and clients through referral programs – offer current customers and clients incentives for referring their friends, family members or colleagues to your small business.
– Utilize social media influencers to promote your small business to their large followings – make sure the partnership is a good fit for both of you and that the influencer’s values align with your own.
– Make use of online tools like Hootsuite or Sprout Social to help you manage all of your small business’ social media profiles at once.
– Host small business workshops or seminars to share your small business’ expertise with others and attract new customers in the process!
– Build a FAQs section on your small business website that answers common customer questions, like how long it takes for you to deliver products/services they purchase from you.
– Provide testimonials from current customers on your small business’ website to help convince others who may be looking for a similar product or service.
– Create YouTube videos that teach people how to do something related to what your small business offers – this is a great way to show off your expertise and attract new customers in the process.
– Create a small business blog and regularly post engaging content to it – try using WordPress for your small business’ website.
– Write an eBook that shares advice relevant to what you or your small business has expertise in, like time management tips if you run a small company with limited resources.
– Make use of Google Alerts so that when someone searches for small business related to what you offer, your small business will appear at the top of their search results.
– Invite local journalists or bloggers out to lunch so they can learn more about your small business and what it offers – this is a great way to get exposure in the media!
– Write an informative press release that shares news related to your small business and distribute it online.
– Run a marketing campaign that features small businesses like yours as part of the story – this could be through an ad, article or even video campaign.
– Start blogging consistently on your small business’ website so visitors can get to know who you are and what you do before purchasing from you.
– Reach out to small business owners in your community and ask if they want to join a small business network that meets on a regular basis – maybe one of the small businesses you’re part of is looking for another company with similar offerings!
– Invite local small business owners or entrepreneurs from complementary industries over for coffee so they can learn more about what your small business does and vice versa.
– Reach out to local small business owners in complementary industries for informational interviews so they can learn more about how you started your small business and offer advice that may be helpful to them too!
– Host a networking event at a function space in the area where everyone brings their small businesses cards and business literature to exchange with one another.
– Sponsor or participate in a small business trade show – this is a great opportunity to get your small business’ name out there to potential customers!
– Offer discounts to current military personnel, first responders (police officers, firefighters, paramedics) and teachers as a way of saying thank you for their service.
– Give small business gift cards to customers as a way of saying thank you for their support – this is a great way to show your appreciation and attract new customers at the same time!
– Create an online contest or giveaway that’s open to anyone who enters with a small business related prize package as the grand prize.
– Make small business brochures that you can give out at networking events or local small businesses in the area.
– Start giving small business seminars to share your expertise with others and attract new customers in the process!
– Reach out to your small business’ current clients via email or by phone, letting them know about any upcoming small business related events, sales or discounts that they may be interested in.
– Give small business gift baskets to customers as a way of saying thank you for their support – this is a great way to show your appreciation and attract new customers at the same time!
– Offer small business gift cards to customers as a way of saying thank you for their support – this is a great way to show your appreciation and attract new customers at the same time!
– Create small business coupons that are redeemable with specific small businesses in your area – these can be an exciting giveaway item or even something people can use themselves.
– Develop small business case studies to share with potential clients – this is a great way to show off your small business’ skills and successes.
Small Business Marketing
Here are some of the most creative marketing techniques you can use to grow your small business. If you need help, give us a call! We would love to chat about how we can make your website look good and bring in more customers with our SEO service. What is one marketing technique that has worked for you?
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