Here are five tips on how to market your small business effectively.
Business Cards
Business cards are a fantastic way of marketing your business. They can be handed out to people you meet, included in your product orders, or maybe even left at other local businesses (with permission) for their customers to pick up. If you have a printer at home it is possible to make your own business cards. However if you want to create high quality, professional-looking cards, it is best to order them from an online company that offers printing services. These companies offer large quantities of cost effective business card printing, and can usually send them directly to your door within just a few working days. You can either pick from a selection of their artwork, or upload your own designs, to create cards that reflect your company colours and branding. Make sure you include information such as your business name, the service or products you offer, your contact details and your website address.
Social Media
As previously mentioned, social media websites are extremely popular, and provide a great marketing platform for businesses. Create a separate account for your business and use it to inform your customers about your latest products, including external links to your website. You can also use these websites to widen your customer base, and interact with your existing customers. Websites like Facebook and Twitter are a great way of showing just how excellent your customer service is, by responding to customer queries quickly and efficiently. One way of widening your social reach and retaining customer loyalty is to conduct giveaways and competitions where your followers have to participate in your marketing campaign, by posting tweets and sharing links.
Blogging
Whether you are skillful with the written word, or prefer making videos, blogging and vlogging, are both great ways to market your small business. Use your blog posts to inform your readers about your latest products and include key words, which are great for improving your business’s SEO. Blogging also encourages audience participation in the form of comments. Video blogging, also known as Vlogging is a fantastic way of showing your products in action. It can often be hard to tell what a product looks like, or what it does, from a single product photograph, so having an accompanying video is sure to be beneficial. Blogging is a great way of boosting your brand and driving traffic to your website at virtually no cost.
Online Directories
Many online directories offer free business listings, where you can advertise your business to potential customers. Make sure you include information such as your website URL and contact details. If you have a premises that your customers can visit be sure to include a map and your opening hours. Often online directories also double up as review websites, where customers can leave feedback about your products or service. You should encourage your customers to leave feedback, as this may influence other customers to purchase from you in the future.
E-newsletters
Developments in technology have meant that it is no longer necessary to print out newsletters and post them through peoples’ letterboxes. E-newsletters can be emailed straight to your customers’ inbox, informing them about your latest products and keeping them up-to-date with what your business is doing. This is a cheap way of marketing your business, and is a great way of getting customers to visit your website, using hyperlinks. Create mailing lists by including a small registration form on your website, or by asking customers visiting your store if they would like to sign up. Giving your customers the choice to opt-in to emails, suggests they are more likely to read the emails, making this marketing tool more worthwhile.
