Large companies usually have marketing teams that spend millions of dollars on resources to advertise to a mass audience. Businesses that are starting out don’t get that luxury. You don’t have to spend millions to have a successful campaign. There are a couple of things you can do to start getting your name out there. The internet has made it possible for businesses of any industry to thrive in today’s market. The connectivity and immediateness of news makes it easier to reach your target audience.
In a previous post we talked about The Importance of Lumpy Mail. That is just one of the ways that you can advertise to potential customers. In this post we are going to touch on some other ways that you can advertise to a larger group of people. The greatest thing about Marketing is if it doesn’t work out, you can always change your strategy.
Marketing Tips for Small Businesses
Explainer Videos
These are pretty much self explanatory. An explainer video is a video that showcases exactly what a product or service is. People are visual learners, and can recall information that they have seen visually a lot better than information they have read. Explainer videos help get information across in a clean and organized matter. The videos don’t have to be very long, though it depends on the amount of information that you are wanting to present. There are countless websites online that offer “video templates” that can help you get started. They usually have monthly plans and annual plans that you can look into getting for your marketing. Free trials help you try them out beforehand. It might be worth the money to invest in some good video editors if the videos can bring in more potential customers.
Facebook Video Ads / Regular Ads
Facebook has become the data center where everyone’s personal information is stored. You can quickly learn about a person’s interests by looking at their Facebook feed. What are they sharing? What articles are they reading? How long do they usually spend on their page? This information is readily available to you and can be used wisely. Facebook lets you create a “target audience” based on characteristics that you set. You can customize who to advertise to by area, demographic, interest, gender, pages they have liked, and much more. If you truly take the time to create the perfect “audience base” you can acquire qualified leads directly from your social media following. For ideas on creating Facebook ads that work you can check out Hubspot’s article 11 Examples of Facebook Ads That Work and Why.
Fun Newsletters
ITC has something we like to call “5 Nugget Fridays”. This is our weekly newsletter were we post all kinds of fun stuff like new books, podcast suggestions, movies to watch, and much more! The newsletter is curated to be something fun to read on Friday mornings. It’s a nice change of pace from all other marketing that we do. Look into doing a newsletter for your office. A newsletter is a great way to let clients and potential clients know about events happening in your office. You can curate it to match your small business. Dental offices can post discounts and fun dental tips for families. Tech companies can post “tech tips of the week” or fun tech news that is currently trending to keep people informed. You can check out our newsletter on our website for guidance! Don’t forget to subscribe on your way out!
Giveaways / Social Media Contests
Who doesn’t love giveaways? The best way to get interaction on your social media is with contests and giveaways! Hootsuite has a built in feature where you can create sweepstakes right from their website. If you are a dental office you can offer a discounted or even free service. Tech companies can offer gadgets or discounted computer repair. Apart from creating interaction, you can also use this as an opportunity to gather emails from potential clients. Create a form where they have to enter their email and/or company they work for and your contest can also be a lead generator. There are multiple websites online that list tons of ideas that you can use for your next giveaway or contest. Don’t forget to set a deadline and let the winner know they won!
Marketing doesn’t have to cost millions of dollars. With the right strategies and tools you can advertise to a large audience without having the biggest budget. Here at ITC we strive to bring different content to our clients. We like to be fun and show a little personality while also showcasing why companies can trust us to be their reliable IT partner. Need help getting started? For more information you can check out our previous blog posts or visit our website to Schedule a Free IT Analysis today.