How Can I Promote And Advertise My Business For Free?
If you’re just starting out, or looking for a cost effective way to promote your business online you’ve come to the right place!
Whilst it can be daunting to take your business to the world wide web, it allows you to be seen by anyone at anytime diminishing geographical and time zone barriers.
There are all kinds of great opportunities available, here are our top tips to marketing your business online for no cost at all!
1. List your business - attract new customers with your free Google listing on Google My Business. Your listing will appear when people are searching yours or a similar business on Google Search and Maps. The listing will showcase your business location, contact information and any reviews customers choose to leave. There are also business listing services available through Bing and Yellow Pages.
2. Social media - Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are the perfect platform to increase exposure, brand awareness and an online following for your business. Use Facebook to produce events and promotions from pages you create dedicated to your business. Use Instagram to expand your engagement using hashtags and handles to directly communicate with niche audiences.
3. Start a blog - A blog is a great way to get your business name and brand out there. Keep your customers and followers up to date with changes, new products and connect with your site visitors. There are multiple services with free blog websites, layouts and pre-existing templates.
4. Email marketing - Involves using email to send advertisements, special offers and updates to your customers. This approach can build loyalty, trust, and brand awareness. 47% of people use a mobile device to check emails, with a 32.9% overall open mail rate*. Include text links, buttons and images to grab your readers' attention and steer them towards your website or social media pages. Email marketing is an easy, free technique with promising results.
5. Customer testimonials - Reach out to happy and loyal customers to provide a testimonial that can be used on your website or social media pages. Alternatively, having customers post a review of your product/service on their own social media page increases exposure and can influence potential consumers to engage with your brand.
6. Newsletter - An emailed monthly newsletter encourages your customers to engage with your brand. It’s a cost effective way to inform current and potential customers of changes or reminders. Remember to make it interesting with images, it’s often worthwhile to open with discounts or offers.
7. Join an online community - Find an online group or community that shares a passion for your business niche. They’re a great way to receive feedback, advice, and getting your business out into the world.
8. YouTube - YouTube is a great platform to share business or product videos for free. Add tags that relate to your business to increase exposure with other users.
Promoting your business is crucial to its success, but you don’t necessarily need to pay to market your services and products. An innovative strategy means you can have organic reach to potential consumers without the price tag.
*Email Marketing Metrics Report. (2017). Vision6. Retrieved 16 October 2017, from https://www.vision6.com.au/metrics/