When it comes to owning a business, or even trying to branch out as yourself, everyone knows that you must do some advertising and marketing. Though this can feel like a daunting task, it doesn’t have to be! There’s a multitude of ways to advertise yourself and your business whether it be for free or if you have the freedom to spend a little cash.
Marketing Yourself
Before we start with advertising your business, it’s important you market yourself just as well! As a business owner, the way you present yourself has an impact on your business. Even if you are not a business owner, it’s just as important to create a good name for yourself. First and foremost, you want to be yourself! Being authentic allows those similar to you to find you and gives way to the kind of company you want to be a part of/are a part of. Next, become a master in your field. Although a big part of being a professional in a job comes with experience, you can still take time to study, read, or even watch videos about different topics in your field. Having a wide range of knowledge and lesser known information in your field can give better insight to more problems and helps you to stand out from everyone else.
In our digital age, social media is a necessity that can expand you (and your business) anywhere you want it to go! If you are creating a new social media, there are various choices in picking the right platform, so think about your target audience and what you think will reach them best. Stay true to yourself as customers will be more likely to bond with you/your company when they see a genuine side to you. Another way to stay online is to join an online community. This may help you expand out more and/or learn more from others all over. Outside of the digital world, don’t be afraid to network! Going to tradeshows, local events, or skill workshops can open an opportunity to meet like-minded people and talk about you and your business even more.
Advertising your Business
When it comes to advertising for your business, there are many ways to make your business more distinguishable than the rest. For starters, everything begins with a quality website. Even though having a website will usually cost you money, it is a must have expense. Websites are your home base for everything; it shows what your business has to offer, ways to reach out to you, and gives an idea of what your company is like. In your website, consider creating a blog. The blog should center around answering questions or giving advice to certain topics that are in your field. Having a blog grants the opportunity for more clients to find you when searching for information related to what you’re writing. This is because search engines pull keywords from the text you write; so the more you write, the more likely you are to be seen. According to a study done by First Page Sage, consistent publication of high-quality content is the number one factor in high search engine optimization (SEO). Additionally, think about having an email marketing campaign. You can send your blogs out in the email campaign or simply update customers on the newest things that are happening. Don’t forget to add a call to action in your emails! A call to action prompts customers to get in touch with you quickly and efficiently about any questions, comments, or concerns they may have.
Earlier we brought up SEO. SEO can be extremely beneficial as a means for free advertising for your company. There are a considerable amount of ways to improve SEO as it is a collection of different algorithms that improve your ranking on Google. One way to help improve SEO is to make sure you fill out every category on your Google’s business page with the most important being your company’s name, address, and phone number. Furthermore, creating a (free) Google My Business account will allow you to verify your business page on Google, increasing your SEO as well. Another way to boost SEO is to create listings on major directories. Directories show off your business’s contact information. By adding yourself into the larger ones, the lesser known ones will automatically pull information from the bigger ones; thus, your business will show up in more places. Some examples of free and large directories include: Yelp, Bing, and the Better Business Bureau. Bear in mind, there are multiple ways to increase your SEO and it takes time to increase so don’t stress if it doesn’t all change immediately!
Now that we’ve talked about quite a few ways to advertise for free (for the most part), there are a few ways to advertise by spending some money. First off, and the most straightforward, Google, YouTube, and Facebook Ads. In Google, this puts you above organic listings; automatically giving you a headstart in advertising. Next, creating promotional merchandise can have a profound effect on your company. In a study done by the British Promotional Merchandise Association, 77% people said they appreciate promotional merchandise with 78% of people keeping their merchandise for a long time. When creating merchandise, keep in mind that you will want these products to serve your target audience well. Also, take into consideration if these items will be reusable or if they are eco-friendly as these factors impact customers. In addition to handing out promotional merchandise, you could also host giveaways or competitions to win them instead. This gets the word to spread about your business and creates excitement within your community.
In what other ways is advertising important?
Advertising is more than just how many sales you can bring in. It helps to inform customers of your products/services and introduces new products/services as well. Advertising influences the way people see your business too. By showing your values and having a strong mission statement, this enhances customer trust and magnifies your business’s identity. As your business grows and your advertising reaches more people, this makes it easier to monitor supply & demand as well as see your target audience more clearly. Last but not least, working for a business that is well received and talked about will make employees feel good about their jobs. All of this boosts employee morale and means employees are more likely to spread the word about their company.
Advertising and Marketing Comes in Many Forms
In regards to advertising and marketing, there are numerous ways to make your business stand out from all the rest! Don’t forget to check out the following blogs, from us: Business Models & Their Importance, Social Media Presence, and Kindness & Its Value In Your Business, as they tie into many things we talked about earlier. (Having a target audience, social media tips and why it’s important, and why having high employee morale is important alongside the significance of reviews!)
