Small business owners often wear a lot of hats. If you have been in business for any length of time, you know that one of those hats, which can be quite daunting, is that of the marketing manager or strategist. While it sounds impressive, the role of marketing manager carries a lot of responsibility, especially when you are the only one to carry it. It’s even more difficult to be success in that role if you have little to no budget set aside for promoting your business.
The good news is that marketing doesn’t have to be expensive to be effective. The internet offers a plethora of opportunities for small businesses to affordably get their information out to their target audience.
Below are 10 popular marketing strategies that any business, regardless of size, can benefit from, for little to no expense. Try one or try them all, then come back and tell us about your experience.
1. Create great blog content
Fill you blog with original, informative, quality content and it will become the foundation for your promotional efforts. Through your blog, you will be able to to create and build relationships, generate leads and attract customers, new and existing, like flies to honey over and over again. To sweeten the deal, all that focused, relevant content will make you a sweetheart of the search engines.
2. Distribute your business cards
Create visually appealing business cards and carry them with you at all times. Hand out 2-3 cards at a time for others to distribute. Drop cards in the fish bowls at restaurants and leave some at doctor’s offices, grocery stores, coffee shops and other locations that your target market frequents. Cards can be created online or uploaded at Vistaprint.com. Customize your design and they will print and mail your cards for a minimal fee.
3. Upgrade your signature
Update your email signature to include your business name, website url, address and phone, and 2-3 lines about our business or a customer testimonial. Use this signature EVERYWHERE you use electronic and non-electronic communications. This includes email, newsletters, blog posts and comments, message boards, social media accounts and pages, article submissions, flyers, post cards, etc. (I cheat. I created a Word document and saved it to my desktop. So any time I need it, I just copy and paste my signature from the document to whatever I’m working on.)
4. Build a mailing list
Having a mailing list is probably one of the most powerful tools you can have in your toolbox for marketing your business. If you have a list, regardless of size, you are holding in your hands a confirmed segment of your target market. By opting in to your list, they are indicating that your products and services are important enough to them that they want to know more. How cool is that?
Building a list is as easy as adding an opt-in form to your website or blog or having a paper sign-up form at an event. There are many online services today that allow you to manage and communicate with your list. MailChimp has an account that is free for up to 2000 subscribers. If you have a larger list or are looking for more features and functionality, you can sign up with Aweber whose plans start @$19/mo after a free trial period.
For links and more information on other email marketing service providers, see my post on 10 Spring Cleaning Tips for Your Website. I’ve included a list of links in the under Tip 8.
5. Speak up
Public speaking is probably not one of the first things that comes to mind when you think of marketing but it is a good way to get some publicity. There are many ways to get a speaking engagement. Register as a featured speaker at an upcoming public or industry event. Hold an instructional class or workshop at a local community center or library. Register for a booth at an upcoming event and schedule mini-presentations through the event.
6. Partner up
While some of the ideas on this list are focused more towards the individual business, many businesses can benefit from partnering with a similar or complimentary product, service or company. Often referred to as joint ventures, you and your partner can expand the reach of your campaign by working together. The reach of the marketing effort, be it a book or product launch, event or a campaign offering discounts for one company’s product or service for purchasing a product or service from the other, expands when both partners market the other partner’s business along side their own.
Joint ventures can be tricky. It’s important that you find the right business to partner with, not only in regards to your products or services. A certain amount of trust and integrity are required from both parties. Negotiate all the details up front so there won’t be any surprises on the back end, If a joint venture proposal doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. Your existing customers and your reputation are not worth the cost.
That being said, the right partnership can benefit all parties greatly. I’ve worked on a number of book launches for my clients that demonstrate this concept well.
7. Share your thoughts and knowledge
This one goes back to a few of the items I mentioned in the #3. Upgrade your signature. Your updated signature should be used when leaving comments on other people’s blog posts. This allows you to not only get your name out there but also your voice. Commenting on product or industry relevant posts help you to establish yourself as a knowledgeable source within the community and your industry. It also allows you to build relationships with other bloggers.
And don’t forget to respond to the comments left on your own blog. This is where you build those relationships with your readers.
Another option is to offer to submit a guest post to someone’s blog. Full-time bloggers are often looking for more material or for more content and welcome the opportunity to give more information to their readers. Many bloggers have specific formats or requirements for guest blogs. If they accept your post, be sure to adhere to their guidelines and you’ll likely be asked for more. This exposes you to a much wider audience and can draw more readers to your blog or website as well.
8. Social media
I have to admit that this is one marketing tactic I don’t use much. But that’s my own preference. I know many small businesses that do a large portion, if not all, of their marketing through social media services and it’s been a wonderful tool for them. Creating a Facebook page gives you yet another web presence to direct your customers to. And it makes a great alternative to a full-blown website if you are just starting out and funds are limited. Pinterest, Twitter and LinkedIn are also valuable tools to keep your customers and potential customers informed about your products and services. Research each service and decide which one will provide you with the best access to your target audience ans supports how you would like to connect with your customers.
9. Update your online business accounts
Have you ever googled a business and been asked “Is this your business?”. Many search engines have local search functions that allow a business listing to be claimed by its owner and updated with additional information. Google_My_Business, Yelp, Yahoo! Local all allow you to create or claim your business listing.
10. Networking
Regardless of the size of your business or the industry you are part of, networking is always a good idea. Interacting with like-minded individuals or businesses, especially ones more experienced than you, can provide your company with many growth opportunities. Not only can you draw on their knowledge and experience but you can find opportunities for joint ventures, complimentary products and services to your own, guest speaker or blogging opportunities. A good place to start is your local chamber of commerce. Meetup events, Facebook and LinkedIn groups are also a good place to network. Can’t find a group to join? Why not consider starting your own?
Hopefully, this list will give you a good place to start marketing your business or ramp up whatever marketing strategy you currently have underway.
Do you have a marketing strategy that you’d like to share? What has worked well for you and what has not? Let us know in the comments below. We’d love to hear about it.
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