5 Simple Marketing Tips for Small Businesses
It’s easy to want to go all out when marketing your small business. The bigger, the better, in terms of launching your small business with an awesome start from advertising, right?
Wrong. Going too big, too fast, and too expensive in the beginning is a sure way to make your small business fail. Instead, focus on the small, simple – and even free – ways to market a business. Utilize tools that cost little to no money to get your business noticed without spending beyond your means.
#1. Win at Trade Shows
Digital marketing is definitely on the rise, but there is still something to be said for a good, old-fashioned trade show. People still enjoy meeting others face-to-face, learning about products directly from the business team, and getting hands-on demonstrations. You can’t do that on the internet.
Creative trade show booth ideas can have a serious impact on your trade show success. Although it may be easier to stick with tried-and-true methods of setting up some products and demos at your booth, you should focus on what makes your business different. Make it stand out, and you’re sure to get your business noticed in ways you never thought possible.
#2. Use Reddit
Reddit can seem awfully confusing, at first, to those who are unfamiliar with the content curation site. Basically, it’s your one-stop shop for finding online content in a ridiculous number of categories, from general to highly-specific.
Reddit is the newest place marketers are targeting to get their content shared all over the web. You can share content to Reddit, and its users can “upvote” or “downvote”. Content that gains a lot of upvotes can move to the front page, which can cause content to go viral immediately.
The best way to get your content noticed on Reddit is by submitting it to super-specific categories it fits in. People who really want to learn about the subject will see your content.
But, be sure to engage with the content of others and share other content from your industry. Reddit doesn’t like self-promotion, and you could end up with your account deactivated, or your website unable to be added by others, if you’re not careful.
#3. Hold Giveaways
A simple way to bring tons of attention to your blog, website, or social media accounts is through a giveaway of products or services.
Promote a giveaway of a free product or service on your website, Facebook, or Twitter. Encourage your followers to sign up for your e-mail list, follow your social media accounts, or share the post with their followers for entries into the giveaway.
People love free stuff. You can quickly gain new social media followers, e-mail subscribers, and exposure to your business website by offering a giveaway once a month. Best of all, all it will cost you is the price of the product or service for an insane amount of free advertising.
#4. Create Infographics
An infographic, the term for an informative graphic, is an effective piece of marketing that costs nothing to create, unless you hire someone to do the job. If you go that route, you can hire someone on Fiverr to create an infographic for a mere $5.
Infographics are so effective because they’re visual. The bright colors, eye-catching fonts, and handy visuals stick in our memories longer than words do. Plus, they’re perfect for sharing on social media, especially Pinterest, and can easily go viral.
Create infographics that provides helpful information related to your business or industry. Make sure you add some branding to the infographic so your audience knows who provided the information. If your audience found it helpful, it’s likely they’ll want to learn more about your business by following you. Congratulations, you just became an influencer!
#5. Create a Referral Program
You can relieve a lot of pressure from yourself by letting your valued customers do some of the work for you.
Consider creating a referral program that rewards your most loyal customers when they bring new customers to your business. Rewards can be in the form of a commission of sales, discount codes for a certain number of referrals, or a free product or service. Whatever you think will generate some buzz, without costing your business too much, is a perfect solution.
Remember to offer a reward for your new customers, too. If they sign up for your e-mail list, for example, you can offer an exclusive discount code to encourage them to make their first purchase.
Continue reading here: The Ultimate Guide to Micro-Influencers [Gifographic]
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