Every business needs to be advertising themselves regularly. Whether you are a new startup or an established conglomerate, advertising is a necessity. It is how you tell your target market that you are relevant, available, and the solution to their needs.
The advent of digital technologies has removed the need for businesses to have physical storefronts. The new storefront is now the website of your business. Thus, website design is a crucial aspect of your entire marketing campaign. The way your website looks, the ease with which customers can navigate it, and how it gives out information and convenience can seal the deal.
Once you are sure of your online presence, it is time to start identifying all the unique opportunities out there for advertising your business in the best light.
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List Your Business
List your business on review sites so customers can leave reviews and feedback. Responding well to these can make people become repeat customers and attract new customers to try out your services. Online directories and review sites are a popular way for people to search for new businesses to try out, so it can be advantageous to make sure you are listed everywhere. Do not bother paying for listings, as there are plenty of free listing sites with a good reputation.
Fun Advert Videos
Make your advertising videos into shareable content on social media by focusing on the most inventive way to share how the product is useful and effective. This does not have to focus on your marketing campaign but can serve as a follow-up towards the tail end to continue keeping people’s interests. Fun videos have a good chance of becoming viral and driving even more people to your social media pages and website.
Optimize Your Google Listing
When people Google the name of your business, you want to appear on the very first page of the search results. Upload photos, complete your profile, add the operating house and up-to-date contact information. All this makes a big difference when Google searches to offer the best results for someone’s search.
Get Noticed
Start participating in local forums and online seminars about your industry and entrepreneurship. This will get you noticed by the right people and help boost your profile among trend-makers and business owners.
Offer a channel for customers to talk to a designated marketing person who can answer their questions about repairs, uses, and complementary products that go with your services and products.
This adds value. Sharing your willingness to add to the discourse on effective business solutions and giving the community good service will make your customers brand loyal. They are more likely to recommend your business to friends and family, thus enhancing your word-of-mouth advertising.
Start Blogging
Add to the value you bring to your community by blogging about relevant business-related innovations, the impact of your business model on the environment, and similar interesting topics.
Give your employees the opportunity to contribute to this blog. They can write about their interests that match the theme or field that your business is in so that there are more voices and opinions to attract a bigger audience.
As people will have to navigate through your website to get to the blog, there will be many advertisements they will be exposed to and have a subconscious effect of getting their attention. Include an unobtrusive banner over the blog page that shows different advertisements for various products, services, and rewards schemes that you are conducting.
Start a Newsletter
Once people become interested in your blog, they will sign up to receive notifications and updates. Use this information to send them newsletters about your business and promotions that you are running. As people will have signed up for this information, they are more likely to view the newsletter and seriously consider these promotions.
Give Out Merchandise
Go to business events and set up a stall or a kiosk to talk to attendees about your business. Be generous in giving out small merchandise like interesting badges and fun buttons that people can pin to their backpacks and tote bags.
People enjoy having small and fun badges on their bags and will likely not remove them. This means that everywhere they go, people will see the badges, and thus your passive advertising efforts will reach a wider audience for free.
Conclusion
Trying out these different creative advertising ideas will give you a feel for what works best for your business. This will inform your marketing choices for the future and help refine your message so that it reaches the target demographic who will buy your products.
Do not forget that your customers are one of your best resources. Ask them for referrals. Give rewards to customers in the loyalty program who bring in new customers. Offer points and vouchers to customers who do a shout-out about your business on social media. Testimonials are one of the most effective forms of advertising that a company can have.