After acquiring knowledge on initiating a business, the next crucial step is to advertise it. Advertising your small business helps in spreading awareness about the exceptional products you offer. Without any promotional efforts, the likelihood of making profits online in the near future becomes significantly reduced.
Your customer is being constantly distracted. The high advertising costs are primarily caused by big brands with hefty marketing budgets. Additionally, social media channels altering their algorithms make it even more challenging for small businesses to connect with their established audiences.
Host a social media competition
By 2022, a staggering 92% of companies are expected to utilize social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to effectively engage with their intended audience.
When you consider that Facebook only displays posts to 5.2% of a page’s followers, combined with the fact that social media is a painstaking method for marketing a small business, it becomes evident why it can be challenging.
To broaden your social media marketing approach, incorporate a contest and take into account that scientific evidence shows individuals have a strong affection towards complimentary items. Hence, provide something at no cost, such as a package of products or a journey to your headquarters, in return for active participation on social media platforms. Encourage your followers to express their interest by liking, commenting, sharing, and tagging a friend in the giveaway post, thereby enhancing its visibility.
Collaborate with a local influencer
Even if you don’t have the budget to purchase a promotional post from an Instagram blogger who has 1 million followers, micro-influencers can still be equally or even more effective.
Who could be a more suitable candidate for collaboration than a blogger or an industry expert residing in your geographical vicinity?
The issue lies in figuring out how to locate such an influencer.
A mere Google search is not sufficient as it is likely to display prominent accounts and popular individuals rather than micro-bloggers.
In addition, it is challenging to direct Google’s attention towards a particular town for this task.
What you require in this situation is software for social listening.
These tools have the capability to locate accounts discussing specific topics, regardless of the number of followers they have.
Write your business into a local narrative
Stories are loved by people.
Creating and consuming stories is arguably one of the most crucial aspects of the human experience.
To enhance memorability, it is possible to construct a narrative centered around one’s brand.
Please create a character who consistently occupies a specific seat in your cafe while enjoying a particular drink, or come up with a delightful anecdote about the building in which your business is located.
If you think step by step, you can discover interesting and thrilling stories by researching the history of the town instead of making everything up.
By engaging in conversations with local historians, visiting archives and museums, you might stumble upon information that could attract a larger customer base.
When rephrasing the text while maintaining the same meaning, it is essential to think step by step. Ensure that no new information is added and none is removed. Once the narrative has been successfully modified, it can be seamlessly incorporated into your brand.
Share user-generated content on social media
User-generated content (UGC) is another effective strategy for promoting your small business through social media. This approach is highly influential as it significantly influences the purchasing decisions of 79% of shoppers. The reason behind this impact is its impartiality compared to branded content, allowing potential customers to witness someone who shares their experiences and adores the product.
Encourage your current customers to share photos, videos, and testimonials of them using your products with the help of incentives. Conduct periodic scans of your brand name or hashtag to discover unsolicited social media posts shared by users.
Produce video tutorials
Sticking with the social media trend, video marketing dominates on numerous platforms. Consider the success of TikTok as an example. TikTok’s one-minute videos gained such immense popularity that Instagram, which was originally focused on sharing photos, introduced its own version called Reels in response.
You can utilize a free video application in order to create content and promote your own business on various social media platforms. Some examples might include:
- Reviews from happy customers
- Behind-the-scenes of running your business
- Video tutorials that show how to use your product
- Livestreams co-hosted with influencers in your space
Jump on trending topics
Social media relies on trends. Consider this: TikTok is recognized for its role in making songs go viral; artists experience an influx of streams when a dancing trend arises. People share videos of themselves dancing to the same song.
How can you identify trending topics before your small business’ social media content becomes grouped with others who are also joining in on the trends? Spotting these topics in advance can help you stay ahead of the crowd.
- Asking your customers
- Reading discussions happening in forums
- Running a competitive analysis
- Celebrating annual events
Partner with other small businesses
If you have no budget, here is a fantastic marketing idea: team up with other small businesses that share a similar target market as yours, as long as your products do not compete with theirs.
Consider collaborating with another small business owner who specializes in selling handmade vases. By leveraging each other’s customer base, both businesses can execute a co-marketing campaign. For instance, since you own an online store selling handmade crockery, joining forces with the owner of the vase business can lead to mutually beneficial outcomes.
- Co-hosting a webinar
- Giving discounts to each other’s email list
- Shouting each other out on social media
- Becoming a guest on each other’s podcasts
- Going halves on fees to host a pop-up shop
Not only do you support fellow small business owners through co-marketing, but you also have the benefit of accessing an established audience without any cost, which differs from influencer marketing where many influencers require payment for promoting sponsored content.
Create search-friendly content about your town
First, by using local SEO, you can drive more traffic to your website, ultimately resulting in an increase in foot traffic to your physical store.
It may not be considered a creative marketing idea, but it is still something that every business should do.
The purpose of the content I am referring to is to provide entertainment and inform both locals and visitors about your town, while also promoting your business.
Make sure that you include both objectives in your social media posts, articles, or videos. Stick to a logical progression when creating content and ensure that you do not omit or introduce any new information.
Lists are an excellent form of content on this platform.
Mentioning your business organically and providing value to potential customers can be effectively achieved by writing an article featuring the top five coffee places in your area.
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