Competing with established industry giants- with years of experience and large market shares – can be very difficult and daunting for a small business with limited resources. But with the right strategies in place, even the smallest ventures can make a big impact.
In this blog, we’ll explore four budget-friendly strategies that can help small businesses reach out to potential customers without breaking the bank.
Content marketing
Content marketing involves sharing valuable, entertaining, and relevant content to attract and retain an online audience. The content can be in various formats such as blog posts, videos, podcasts, infographics, social media posts, and more.
Examples of content that can inform and engage your audience include:
- Tutorials on how to use your products, and videos/photos of your product in action.
- Industry-related news or trend reports.
- Unique benefits of your products.
- Your take or spin on a social media trend.
- Behind-the-scenes of your office/shop, showing the care and effort with which your products are crafted.
- Discussion starters that ask the audience’s opinion on something.
Creating and sharing this type of content regularly will ensure that your business stays on top of your target audience’s mind.
Giveaways/contests
Who doesn’t love some freebies? Giveaways are great because you will not only be rewarding your current customers for their appreciation and support for your business but will also attract new potential customers.
We recommend collaborating with other small businesses that aren’t competitors to offer the participants a huge selection of products. This way you will also be able to promote your business to the followers of the partner business.
Two types of giveaways that are great for increasing engagement include:
- Q&As or creative caption/answer contests, where participants have to answer questions about your products or suggest a caption for a social media post for a chance to win.
- Photo contests, where the participants have to post pictures or videos of them using your product.
Clearly communicate the duration and the time when the winner(s) will be announced so that interested individuals have ample opportunity to take part in the giveaway.
Influencer partnerships
The importance of influencers is in the word itself- they “influence” the decisions of their audiences. They have highly engaged followers on social media who look up to them and trust their opinions. If an influencer recommends your product or praises your services, their followers will be interested in trying them out too.
Send them one of your best-selling products so that they can try them out and share their experience with it. If they like your product, they will recommend it to their followers which will translate into increased followers for your socials. To further incentivize their followers to shop from your business, give the influencer an exclusive discount code.
Give the influencers all the necessary information about your business and products to ensure that their audience gets a fair idea about what you do and offer. This includes the use cases/benefits of your products, the links to your social media accounts and website, any promotional offer on your products, and your business’s physical address (if any). Then give the influencers creative license to deliver this information to their followers however they deem fit.
Print marketing
Yes, print marketing is still very useful for promoting a business, especially in your locality. It enables you to market your business to potential customers near you, whom you might’ve missed through your other marketing efforts.
Your printed material should be eye-catching as well as engaging. Here are some essential components of effective print collateral:
- Bold colors and fonts.
- The products and services your brand offers.
- Your brand logo.
- Your contact information (e.g., your phone number, email address, social media handles, and website).
- Calls-to-action, e.g., “call us”, or “visit us today”.
Pass out your flyers in places where your target market is, for example, local neighbourhoods and malls, etc. Similarly, you can put up your posters in popular public places they might visit, such as coffee shops or public roads.
With PosterMyWall, you can effortlessly design print collateral for your business. Browse through the professionally-designed small business flyer templates, select the ones that closely resonate with your brand’s personality, and customize them to convey your messaging. Then you can download your designs and get them printed for a very low cost.
Email marketing
Email marketing can enable you to generate and nurture leads for your business- and it’s free!
Kick off your email marketing efforts by building a quality mailing list containing people who have previously shown interest in your offerings. Collect the email addresses of your prospects through pop-ups on your website and links to landing pages with sign-up forms placed in the bios of your social media accounts.
Add a few short questions related to the demographic characteristics and interests of an individual in the sign-up form. Doing this will make it easier to segment your mailing list and personalize your emails to better cater to the differing needs of your prospects.
Share useful tips/advice, information about new product launches, and industry news with your email subscribers through your emails so that your business stays on top of their minds.
Conclusion
From social media to email to print collateral, you have a variety of different tools at your disposal for marketing your small business. They help you connect with your potential customers and generate leads without being too heavy on the pocket.
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