When you first started your business, it’s likely you followed your passion or an industry you are greatly interested in. While these things are great, it doesn’t necessarily mean that marketing your business comes natural, or that it’s even something you picture yourself doing. If you’re not at the stage of hiring someone full-time in a marketing role, don’t worry.
There are a lot of things you can do to get the word out about your business, and attract new customers with a few simple and free tasks.
Be Active On Social Media
Just like for personal use, using social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are free services that encompass a large community of online users all over the world. Increase your reach and strengthen your brand by posting photos of your business or services, mentioning sales or ongoing promotion deals, and interact directly with your customers online to sort out any issues and receive feedback.
Having rich social media profiles can help increase your web traffic, and make communication with you customers quicker and easier. Although older generations tend to steer away from technology, social media is one that shouldn’t be ignored.
Recent research has shown promising statistics for the power of social media. There are over 2.56 billion social media users around the world, with an increase of 1 million every day.
Those numbers are hard to ignore, especially when the time spent on social media constantly increases. In fact, social Media Today reported that 30% of time spent online is dedicated to interacting through social media making this a playing field you don’t want to miss out on.
Incentivize Your Customers
Depending on your type of business, your relationship with your customer relies on their experience and feedback. Gaining feedback reviews through your website and managing your online reputation helps you do business better because you know where you stand with your customers and where you might need to improve. RepCheckup is an automated software that can help improve your online reputation!
When it comes to gaining new customers, incentivizing them with discounts codes, free samples, or frequent buyer programs give them a reason to do business with you. If you’re in an industry with a lot of competition, one thing that will set you apart are the prices of your products and services.
Consider the revenue lost on a free sample versus gaining a new customer who will repeatedly give you business over a long length in time. That would make it pretty much worth it, wouldn’t it?
Get To Know Your Competitors
There’s nothing wrong with a friendly Google search on who the other players are in your market that you’re competing with. This can actually give you a good idea of how far you want to take your marketing endeavors.
One of your competitors may be really strong with their social media posts, while another might position themselves as an industry leader by giving industry insight on their company blog.
If they’re your competitor, then they are targeting the same customers you are. Having a strategy and understanding the behaviors of your competitors can help you gain customers before they do.
Aside from online search, you can also see how they perform on social media, since likes and comments are public and doing this is absolutely free.
Still wondering how to tackle marketing? If you’re still intimidated by not having a strong enough skill set with marketing your business, don’t be discouraged.
There are a lot of online resources and articles to help you increase your knowledge, or take the load off you and have a professional do the work for you for a fee.
Just remember that marketing your business can be seen as part of the passion that made you start your business in the first place. You’re trying to connect with customers through the value that your company offers, and no one knows that better than you.
