Bright ideas are often more important than big budgets. You may not fully agree with this statement, but reality constantly proves its validity. There are many examples of how million-dollar advertising budgets get completely wasted, bringing zero results. At the same time, you can easily find cases that demonstrate how a hundred dollars combined with a good idea can provide excellent returns for the business and add value to your company as a whole.
The following small business advertising ideas will help you re-discover your love of marketing and show you how to effectively showcase your business to an audience that is eager to learn about a company like yours. Keep reading to discover the best marketing strategies to grow your business and improve sales, but also help you appeal to your potential customers.
Effective Advertising Ideas Every Small Business Should Explore
When you research advertising ideas, it at once becomes clear that there are some staples that marketers have been successfully utilizing for years, but also some daring new approaches that can be an underdog when it comes to marketing. Today we will learn about both, keeping a keen eye on the most effective and straightforward advertising ideas that actually work.
Here are our 7 top picks that can really benefit any small business.
1. Share video tutorials
Video tutorials (see an example here) are among the top user-loved types of content right now – people love learning how to do things on their own. Yet, few businesses take advantage of this trend, because they avoid sharing their business secrets online out of fear that if people learn to do something themselves, they wouldn’t want to pay for such services. But there is a catch! Many video viewers will turn to you for services as soon as they try to do something themselves and understand how much labor, effort, and talent it takes to succeed on their own.
Similarly, many people choose to use professional services instead of completing challenging tasks on their own.
2. Set up creative email campaigns
Typically, the most engaged audience is those people who subscribe to your email newsletter. Therefore, it is important to provide up-to-date content that is relevant to your audience via email. Add a button that allows users to subscribe to an email newsletter on your website.
There are many services, such as SendPulse and Mailchimp, out there that automate the mailing process and offer many options for mailing list segmentation, targeting, and personalization, as well as many creative designs for putting together custom emails that will be appreciated by your audience.
3. Write helpful blog articles
Blogging is one of the easiest ways to showcase your professional skills and expertise, acquire new clients, as well as promote your business online. You can start blogging for free or with minimal cost, which makes it an extremely budget-friendly yet effective advertising and audience-building instrument. All you need is a platform to post on (can be your own website), time to write, and creative topics your customers will be interested in. Try writing lists with helpful tips, articles with step-by-step secrets for your industry and best practices, or share useful resources. You can ask your readers directly what information they are interested to read via your social media.
Example: How-to Articles by ExitAdviser
Blog articles are an effective marketing tool because they are often used by various people for research purposes.
4. Participate in online and offline events
It’s a good idea to not solely rely on online marketing tools to promote, grow, or sell your business, but also make an effort to communicate with individuals and companies that operate in your niece. A good way to do it is to host, visit and speak at various events, trade shows, exchange business cards, expand your network of business contacts, showcase your products and services there, share your expertise, etc. Such interactions will allow you not only to learn more about your potential partners and competitors, but also keep your finger on the pulse of changes and innovations in your niche, and of course – advertise your business to people who are actively interested in your offers.
5. Easy-to-understand infographics and other visual aids
One of the most engaging ways to present information on the web is with useful infographics that are clear and instructive. Infographics are not only fun and easy to read, but also easy to share, which will help spread the word about you and your business online to a much wider circle of people.
Below see recent information about content which the audience trusts the most – it showcases the effectiveness of content types mentioned in this article.
6. Be active online
To be recognized online, it’s not enough to simply register on social media and occasionally post a photo – you must be active. Consistently participate in the life of your online community. Focus efforts on the social media platforms where your audience dwells – share messages, reply to comments, like other people's content, and collaborate with other professionals or influencers.
7. Invest in local marketing
Nowadays most businesses strive to appeal to a global audience online, often forgetting that they can also greatly benefit from their local market. Target your advertising campaigns to a local audience, get advertisements in local social media groups, invest in posters, flyers, advertisements on billboards, etc.
How To Get Customers: Local Business Marketing | Adam Erhart
Efficient advertising generates business value
Advertising helps businesses to attract the attention of potential customers to the products they sell, to announce the appearance of new products on the market. It performs two important functions: informs about the benefits and features of the product, allows you to increase sales, and with them, revenue. Profit (and ultimately, business value) will be generated if a business spends on advertising, but earns back more on new customers, repeat orders, etc.
Related Article: How to Value a Business
A business should not give up advertising due to a lack of free funds. Modern marketing offers tools and methods that give a significant effect at a minimal cost.
The first 1.5-2 years of its existence are considered decisive in the development of a small company when the initial acquaintance of the consumer with the brand and products occurs. Promotions during this period are the most intense.
Get to work
Getting noticed is one of the biggest challenges for small businesses. There are different ways to promote a business: online advertising, utilizing social media channels, content marketing, and many more. Depending on your industry, some methods will be more effective than others.
Hopefully, our ideas inspired you to try something new in advertising as well as explore time-tested solutions. Get a head start, be consistent in your efforts, don't be afraid to find creative solutions, and your business will inevitably thrive!
Andrew Mazur is a freelance writer and advertising specialist at WritingUniverse. He constantly explores topics related to digital marketing, culture, and technology. His blog posts dwell on interesting study ideas and helpful writing tips. Follow Andrew to learn something new and get inspired every day.
