Contributed article in our business series. Enjoy! – Kimberly
The very success of your business relies on marketing. Without the necessary influx of clients, you are not going to be meeting the profit margins necessary for your business to survive, let alone flourish and grow. As a small business, you need to build yourself a solid reputation as a reliable company with good quality service, and that can only be achieved by a well thought out marketing plan. There are many aspects of marketing, from the promotion of your services to public relations in the local and broader community, and therefore there are many different aspects you need to consider. If you are looking for affordable and effective advertising techniques, then here are a few simple and cost-effective marketing strategies to get you started.
One-to-One flash marketing
As a small business owner, everything that you do in your day to day life will have an impact on your business, and as such, you should always have your game face on. That means you should always be prepared with an elevator pitch, so that when an opportunity arises, you can seem professional and knowledgeable, and can easily engage with someone about your business without floundering under pressure. As people have very short attention spans, if you find yourself in a room with a potential client, or even possible investors, a short planned speech which concisely describes who you are and what your organization is, is the perfect way to peak their interest until you can set up a time for a meeting to talk in more detail. Accompany your elevator pitch with a professional business card, and you’ll be golden.
Online Marketing
Having a strong online presence is very important for businesses nowadays, as so much of daily life is spent online. You should try and post semi-regularly on the appropriate social media sites to suit your business, such as Instagram for beauty, fashion and design outlets, or Facebook and Twitter for less visual companies. It is also important to have an informative, aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate website as a central base of operations for your online marketing. If you are unsure of the best method for marketing yourself, then you can always employ the help of an advertising agency. Many companies specialize in the promotion of a specific sector, so you simply have to find the best one for you; For example, if you run a clothes store, then you might want to enlist the help of a retail store marketing agency.
Be involved in your community
Small businesses often rely on the support of their local community, because it only takes one bad review for your company’s good reputation to come crashing to the ground. You can hold events within your community to get them involved in your business and make them feel a part of the experience so that they are just as invested in its success as you are. You could consider partnering with local schools or colleges, either in the business sector or within your field of working, so that you can make your business better known to a wider audience. For advertisement purposes, sponsoring local sports teams, or other events can be really great for low-cost promotion of your business.
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Thanks for sharing this article.