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Ideas For Advertising A Small Business
As a small business owner, I’ve spent years finding fresh and authentic ways to deliver what I have to offer to those who need it.
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I have tried many small business marketing ideas and learned from countless mistakes. I’ve discovered that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to have an effective marketing strategy.
There are many free and affordable ways to advertise your small business. The key is to try different ones to see what works best for you.
When you think of digital marketing, you might immediately think of running paid ads on Google or Facebook. But when you change the way you think about online advertising, you’ll find that there are countless ways to sell online services that don’t even cost as much as paid advertising.
As Digital Marketer says, online marketing is simply a route to customer value that aims to strategically build relationships with new leads and convert them into loyal, repeat customers. This means that digital marketing is simply finding ways to truly connect and help people online.
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One of the best ways to help people is by answering their questions, and nowhere else do people ask more questions than on Google.
Think about what you’re selling and what questions your ideal customer would ask when looking for your product. You can start a blog and write articles to solve these problems while earning the reader’s respect and trust.
As with any free marketing tool, many people try to implement this strategy. So, you need to learn some search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to stand out in the search results.
SEO is not as scary as it seems. You just look at the question you are answering, go into the head of the person asking it, and include as much useful information as possible to answer the question.
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The key to building trust on social media is offering authentic content and consistent display. If your content is purely promotional, or if you only post when you have a sale, not only will potential customers not trust or follow you, but the platform’s algorithm may be hiding your content. This can prevent you from reaching even your current followers.
Instead, choose one social media platform to invest your time and post educational, aspirational, or entertaining content in addition to your promotional content. It’s also important to know where your potential customers spend their time.
For example, Instagram and Facebook are currently the most searched platforms in the United States, with Instagram having more users under 30, while Facebook users have a higher average income.
Some social media small business marketing ideas include posting product comparisons to show how unique your product is, inspirational quotes your ideal customer might like, or sharing a meme that sheds light on the problem your product is trying to solve. You can also use direct messaging to connect with your followers like Mary Gui, founder and CEO of Sock Candy.
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“When I get a new follower on @sockcandyofficial IG, I send them a private message thanking them for following Sock Candy and offering a welcome discount code for their first order. It worked for me and resulted in loads of conversions,” said Gui.
You can be as creative as you like when it comes to your social media content. Remember, the more creative you are, the more engaged your audience will be. And that can lead to higher profits for you.
Ninety-four percent of American consumers aged 18 to 44 use YouTube at least once a month, making it a great place to connect with potential customers.
YouTube is owned by Google, so you can take many of the SEO principles you use for written content and apply them to your videos.
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If your ideal customer has questions that are easier to answer with a demo or other image, YouTube is the best platform for that. You can even reuse YouTube videos on your favorite social media platform and embed them in your blog posts.
Keep posting your video. Be sure to include links to your products or services in the video description or notes. You can also add links to your other YouTube videos to further build your relationship with your viewers. And once you’ve built up a following on the platform, you can make money on YouTube with ads and sponsorships.
Self-publishing a book on Amazon is a great way to establish an authority in your field and reach people who are willing to make a purchase to help solve their problem.
Writing and publishing a professional-looking e-book is extremely affordable with minimal costs. Be sure to use the book as a way to learn the solution to the problem and wait until the end to mention your business as a way to more effectively achieve the solution.
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The best low-cost marketing ideas for small business owners are those that allow them to connect directly with potential customers. Answering questions in forums and Facebook groups does just that.
When answering a question in a forum or group, always try to be helpful first before serving your business as a solution. If you have an online course and you come across a question that you’re teaching an answer to, don’t answer it with a link to your course. Answer the questions as you would in the course. Then, after making contact with the person who asked the question, suggest a course that covers it in more detail.
This helps build trust and confidence within the group and, as a result, makes people more likely to buy your products.
An email list is the backbone of many successful online businesses. While every other platform controls your access to its users, you always have your email list and can take it with you wherever you go, even if you change your company name or create a new website.
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One of the easiest ways to collect email addresses is to give away a free digital product such as a cheat sheet, PDF guide, template, etc. You can use your blog, social media account, e-book or simple landing page to showcase your digital product and send it to their email address using a service like Constant Contact or ConvertKit.
Once you have their email address, stay in touch at least once a week with valuable and relevant resources to build trust.
Facebook groups are a great place to build a community of people with similar interests or problems to solve. Creating your own group can attract potential customers to you and make you an expert in any group.
Jacob Bouvier runs a boudoir photography studio. His Facebook group has attracted more customers than any other channel. He says it’s because they get to know him as a person before they decide to become a customer.
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“Nine-tenths of what I post there is about my mission of body acceptance, self-love, and being my authentic self, but it’s not directly related to my photography. About 1/10 of the content is related to my photography,” said Bouvier.
Creating a group will take some time, but you can speed up the process by posting relevant questions and engagement opportunities daily with Facebook’s post scheduling feature and replying to each member. This will help them feel part of the community and that you really care about them.
One of the most popular and effective small business marketing strategies for online businesses is to hold free online classes or seminars. Think of a problem your ideal customer is facing that you can help them solve in an hour or less. It can be as simple as turning a blog post or video into slides and presenting them, then answering questions at the end.
You can easily do this for free by live streaming on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. If you want something more personal, Zoom allows you to conduct classes for up to 100 people for free for 45 minutes.
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Challenges are a great way to bring your offline business online. A personal trainer can organize a fitness challenge, a cleaning company can organize a 7-day cleanup challenge, and a groomer can organize a sit stay challenge for people with hyperactive dogs. Anything that will make a potential customer aware of the problem realize that he needs help in solving it.
Organize your challenge via Facebook group or email. You can continue from 5 to