10 Tips To Promote Your Business Quickly
In order for your brand to be a success, you need to adopt some effective promotional strategies. “Whether you specialize in products or services, a promotion and marketing plan can mean the difference between success and failure,” said Orange County Web Design firm Urban Geko’s CEO Reza Widjaja.
Fortunately, there are a lot of methods to choose from. Some companies focus on one method while others use many more. The right number of promotion methods that your business will need will likely fall somewhere in this range. It’s a good idea to choose a few promotional strategies to focus on and then test them. The successful one can be improved upon while the non-starters can be dropped. It will take some time to find the right mix of strategies for your business. Here are ten good strategies to get you started:
1. Promote With Prizes
Contests and giveaways are a great, low-cost way to get your name in front of the public. Do you have a product that you want to display? Setting up a contest that allows the winners to take home your products is a good strategy. After all, customers love to win prizes and winners are likely to tell their friends and family about their experience with your product. This is a good way to get your products or services into the hands of people who may never have heard of your brand. You can work with local radio stations and use your website to advertise a contest or giveaway. For a low investment, you can quickly spread the word about your product while also introducing your product directly to potential customers.
2. Staying Social
What’s the number-one way to advertise your brand and your products? Social media. The logic here is simple. Social media is free to use and requires a minimum level of experience. Practically anyone can set up a social media page and start reaching out to potential customers. Even more important, nearly everyone has some sort of social media page of their own. That gives you an instantaneous market channel that requires virtually no effort to approach. Of course, it takes a lot of effort to reach out to these people after setting up a page but it’s easier than ever before. In fact, if your advertisements are compelling enough, your audience will promote you on their own by sharing your page with their friends.
Consider making short videos that use humor and eye-catching visuals. If that’s not in your budget range, there’s nothing wrong with using well-written posts to catch the attention of customers. This is a low-cost promotional strategy that can have a big pay-off.
3. Direct Marketing
Although digital marketing is absolutely important, don’t forget about face-to-face marketing! Customers who visit your store whether online or an actual location, are a unique market so don’t overlook them. They already know about your brand and your product.
“Consider offering these customers a special offer, like a small discount, in exchange for their contact information. If you have their email address and/or home address, you can add them to a newsletter and send promotional materials directly to them. This can encourage them to continue visiting your store and to buy more of your products,” said Orange County Web Design guru Adam.
4. Samples
Do you have a new product that you’re trying to promote? Consider giving away free samples to customers, either in your store or through the mail. You may also consider setting up a booth in a public area or at a public gathering. Passersby can try your product and take a business card with them. You can also use a tip from the previous example and encourage people to leave their contact information so that you can contact them later.
5. Sell In Stores
If you don’t have your own storefront, you can still take advantage of marketing strategies that are store-based. Visit local businesses and find out how you can set up end-caps in their businesses. End-caps are display areas located at the ends of store aisles. They are typically used to display new products or special products that are on sale. You can also try to have your products displayed near the check-out counters. This is typically used to entice customers to buy the products as a last-minute, “impulse” purchase.
6. Customer Incentives
It’s hard to do all the marketing for your company by yourself. Get your customers to help you out! Try offering incentives like discounts, free products and prizes for customers who refer other people to your store. This is a great way to encourage brand loyalty while also driving more customers in your direction.
7. A Charitable Association
Customers like to feel good about the products that they buy. They may be more likely to purchase your products if they feel that they are benefiting others with their purchase. Consider associating yourself with a popular or local charity, like a food bank or an animal shelter. Donate some of your profits to this charity and let customers know that some of their money is supporting a good cause. This will encourage them to return to you for the products that they want.
8. Practical Gifts
According to Orange County Web Design’s branding guru… Handing out business cards and posting flyers is an important and useful promotional strategy. However, it’s not the only way to achieve your marketing goals. Order some ink pens, key chains and bottle openers that display your logo prominently. These gifts can be given to customers in your store or at promotional events. Because they are practical and useful, customers are more likely to hang onto them instead of shuffling them away into a stack of business cards.
9. Celebrate Your Customers
Your customers are the most important part of your business. Without them, your business would close immediately. So let them know that they are appreciated! Set up a day or a weekend to be a customer appreciation event. Hire a caterer, arrange entertainment and send out invitations to all of your customers. This is another good reason to encourage customers to give you their contact information. You can take this opportunity to personally thank your customers, introduce new products and portray your business in a positive light. Your customers will thank you for their continued patronage.
10. Collect Customer Information
You can use your customer’s contact information to send out surveys by email or phone. This is a great way to find out how your customers use your products and what you can do to improve your merchandise. Customers are more likely, to be honest in a survey so use this opportunity to ask a few key questions. Encourage customer participation by offering small discounts that can be redeemed after the survey has been completed.
Our Orange County Web Design team at Urban Geko believes with creativity and perseverance, you don’t have to spend a fortune to promote your business. Follow the steps listed above and you’ll be doing better business in no time!
