How to promote your business online for FREE
Did we have you at free? 😏
As a small business owner, strategic promotion is the key to success. We get that people who run small businesses might not have millions of extra bucks to spend on multichannel marketing campaigns.
But, we’re feeling generous today so we’ve decided to spread the coronavirus some valuable knowledge by giving you these spicy tips to promote your business on the world wide web. You can thank us later!
These options for marketing your business will cost you nothing other than time. But trust us, it’s worth it.
Use business listing services
Being seen in the right places makes a difference! Online directories like Google My Business and Bing give you the chance to register your business for free on their website. This simple set up will allow your business to be found more easily through google searches and google maps. Spend a bit of time (it’s a matter of minutes, really) setting it all up and you are good to go.
Step up your social game
Getting friendly with social media is important for your brand exposure, customer sentiment and top of mind awareness. The biggest social media platforms to be on are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Now you don’t have to create an account for each of these, pick the best ones to suit the industry you’re in.
If you sell anything, we would definitely recommend using Instagram as a visual way to promote your products. But remember it’s a visual platform, so carefully curated, high-quality photos and videos will go a long way. Think *aesthetic*. If you’re a B2B company, then a strong presence on LinkedIn is the way to go, it’s great for building your professional network!
Whichever platforms you choose to use, remember to keep it active with posting and engage with your online community on the daily!
Start a blog
Ready to have your mind blown? Having a featured blog as a key part of your website gives you a 434% better chance of being ranked higher on search engines! 😱
A blog can be a powerful channel when it comes to connecting with your consumers. It can help you deliver useful information and drive traffic to your website. If you’re reading this right now, you’re on the Spicy Blog. Come on in, grab a drink and explore our other blog posts here.
Blog posts about your business and industry can be used to increase your businesses credibility and increase website traffic enormously. People like to be able to trust businesses, and if you know your sh*t and it shows in quality information then they’ll start building trust with you. Winning!
Email Marketing
Email Marketing is more powerful than you think! It’s proven to get great results from a contact database. Especially businesses which feature a high number of repeat customers, have frequent exciting updates or regular offers to promote.
Take advantage of free email marketing services. With the free version of MailChimp, you’re allowed up to 12,000 emails per month and 2,000 subscribers. That’s a lot of subscribers and a lot of emails at zero cost to you.
To get started with email marketing, you first need a database. You may already have an email list from past customers but to build your email list you could offer a free service in exchange for the consumers’ email address, nothing crazy that it takes up all your time but valuable enough so people will be willing to hand over their online address. Something like a free online report or ebook.
Keep your emails regular, but don’t bombard your database by being over promotional. Otherwise, people will hit unsubscribe quicker than you can say email marketing!
Upload to YouTube
Google owns YouTube! Nuff said. But seriously, you’d be crazy to ignore the rise in video content over the last few years! YouTube provides an incredible opportunity to share videos relating to your product, service or industry.
If you’ve got something useful to say, why not say it on video! You don’t need *lights, camera, action* to get good video content. Pop it on your website and push on socials for highly shareable, marketable content.
SEO
Now is where you can really put your digital marketing cap on! This can’t be the first time you’ve come across the acronym SEO so it’s about time you learnt what it stands for (if not already), Search Engine Optimisation! SEO cannot be underestimated in our world of constant google searches.
The goal is to build excellent content while ensuring you optimise your sites on-page and off-page SEO. Things like your sites speed, mobile usability, link profile, reading level and content quality all count when optimising your site. It might be a good idea to pick up a ‘how-to-guide’ book on SEO and prep your site for maximum performance. Or better yet, get in touch with us!
Press Releases
A good old press release is still effective when it comes to promoting something noteworthy about your business. Let’s not underestimate these important tools that can help generate good publicity and free distribution.
A press release that’s well-written with a healthy link profile can help you with SEO, while allowing you to communicate important company news. Any publicity is good publicity, right?
Be part of the community
Part of marketing your business online is to establish yourself as a reliable industry expert. To build this authority, spend time exploring industry forums, blogs and social media discussions. Join the conversation, give suggestions and offer genuinely helpful insights. Yep, you can be a thought leader!
via GIPHY
Don’t go in dropping links to your website and being all spammy. No one likes spam. Only promote your business when the context is appropriate. People will appreciate your input and will hopefully turn into a customer!
Create a branded email signature
So simple! Think about how many emails you send a day. Each email that’s read is like a little reminder to the recipient that your business exists and is at their service.
Include social media links, contact details and even a small tagline or catchphrase about your business and its mission as well. This helps to subtly promote your business to people you’re in contact with every day.
Encourage happy customers to give online reviews
Word of mouth is still one of the best ways to market your product. People trust the opinion of other people, especially when there are many great reviews.
If you have a happy customer or client, encourage them to leave you a positive recommendation on Facebook or Google. It goes a long way, and the more the better!
Here’s to working smarter, not harder. We hope these little tricks help you out in one way or another. Pass this on, share the love, and if you’re still lost, then we’re here to help!
Send us an email at info@spicybroccoli.com, or give us a call on +61 2 8084 5554!
