8 Ways to Market Your Small Business for (Almost) Free

“Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department.” ~ David Packard

Are you looking for ways to market your small business? Marketing a business can be fun, exciting and creative. It can also be very frustrating and expensive if one doesn’t know what outcome they are looking for or how to evaluate cost effective methods of marketing.

If you’re a small business owner or are just starting out, you may not have a lot of money to spend on marketing. That’s okay, there are many ways to market your business that costs little or nothing to implement. Here are some ideas:

Set up a blog and post to it regularly. This is a way to establish credibility, and build relationships with prospective clients. Eventually people will come to see you as an authority on that topic and it may lead to interviews, speaking invitations, book contracts etc. Blogging is also a good way to keep current clients informed of what’s new in your business. Make sure to use search engine optimization (SEO) to ensure your website appears as the top result when people search for keywords related to your business.

Set up Google Business Profile. It’s a free, simple way to put your business “on the map,” and it lets you be in control of how your business shows up in Google searches. It allows you to interact with customers and can point them to your website. You’ll want to make sure your information (hours, website, phone number, and location) is always up-to-date.

Use social media sites such as LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. Figure out what your goals are. Are you trying to drive more customers to your website? Do you want to boost the presence of your brand? Are you trying to share coupons and special offers? Do you want to communicate more with your customers? Are you trying to market and sell products directly? After you come up with a plan, remember that posting regularly is essential in helping establish awareness of your business and build relationships with potential customers.

Use e-mail marketing to stay in touch with your customers and potential customers. One of the easiest ways to build an e-mail list is by offering an “irresistible freebie” in exchange for their e-mail address. It could be a coupon, a free report, or anything else they’d be interested in. Start collecting your customer’s email addresses today and keep them informed of any bargains and special offers going on in your business.

Submit a press release. In talking about ways to market your small business, another idea is to submit a press release or story to a local media outlet. Write about an upcoming event, accomplishment, new product or service, etc. related to your business. Make it as interesting and newsworthy as possible.

Ask your customers for reviews. People will often only purchase products or services based on recommendations from the people they know and trust but since this is not always possible, reading testimonials from your past clients is the next best thing.

Share useful, relevant content related to your niche. For example, if you are marketing for a health-food store, you might want to write an article on the benefits of using coconut oil. Sharing relevant content is a way to bring targeted traffic to your website, build trust and establish yourself as an expert. You might even want to record and share a podcast. Listeners can find most podcasts for free on different platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Podcasting doesn’t require expensive equipment; Many people use their phones.

Do cross-promotions with another business- one that’s complementary to yours, but not in direct competition. Make sure their services or products are good quality and will offer value to your customers. Here are some examples of how this might work: a salon and clothing store might send discounts or freebies to their e-mail list for each other’s business. A health food store and a chiropractor might display or hand out business cards or brochures for each other at their place of business. There are many different ways to cross promote. Think about which one would work best for your business.

There are many ways to market your small business. Executing a marketing strategy is important to your success. Once you have a plan in place, allocate the resources (time, money, staff) to make it happen. And remember to measure the results of your marketing efforts so you can adjust your strategy as needed.

Getting more customers doesn’t have to be difficult. Develop a plan to attract new business and keep your existing customers coming back by picking the ones that work best for your particular niche. And remember, excellent customer service is always important to encourage repeat business.

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