Promoting your business is an essential step to success, there is no denying it.
Simply put, you could have the best business plan, idea, or product in the world yet if nobody knows about it, you’re just not going to get very far.
So ensuring you have methods in place to give your brand and your products some publicity is absolutely vital.
Of course, a lot of the promotion tactics that are available come with a big fat price tag along with them. And this is fine for those bigger-up companies that have a ton of money behind them.
But what about small businesses that haven’t really started to generate the kind of income to afford expensive advertisements? What do they do?
They find ways to promote their business in ways that don’t cost a dime. You may be thinking well there aren’t many options then. But that’s where you’re wrong.
There are actually tons of different ways that you can promote your business that are completely free.
So, settle down, get comfy, and read on for 10 different ways that you can get your business ideas out to the masses without touching your bank account!
Top 10 Free Promotion Tips
1. Take Advantage Of Social Media
In today’s current society, you have the ability to send a message to hundreds and thousands of people all over the world with just the touch of a couple of buttons.
And this isn’t something that you should ever underestimate.
Individuals today spend hours on their mobile devices scrolling through social media, so you want to ensure that your business has its own social media presence.
Then, what I would do next is start to promote several social media promotions via these sites. For example, maybe you have an exclusive offer or discount available through Facebook.
There is nothing a customer loves more than a good deal. If you can give out a freebie, a discount code, or something of value, you’ll be surprised at the wonders this does for you.
Not only will you gain a bunch of followers, but it’ll work as a great marketing strategy.
You may lose some money on individual products from promotion codes, but you’ll tend to find that the volume of sales is exponential. And it won’t involve extra fees or spending for the promotion itself.
2. Register Your Business With Online Accounts
Now, it’s worth noting that this option won’t make you thousands of sales overnight.
It’s not a quick-fix solution by any means, but it will promote your business in the long run. It will also give it a more professional feel, which will build your trust with new customers.
Yahoo Local or Yelp are just two online accounts, but there are many more options if you put in the research to find them.
It does get your name out there and it will increase your visibility which will result in more custom overall.
Keep your focus on being local as this will yield the best results.
3. Press Releases
You’ll need to get creative and keep your thinking hat on for this one, but if you can come up with a unique or exciting story to tell then it can work really well.
Writing and submitting a press release for your local magazine or newspaper is completely free to do. And if you get published, you can reach quite a wide audience.
Of course, a magazine or newspaper isn’t going to publish a story without an interesting hook, or a unique angle. ‘New Small Business Opens’ isn’t going to be headline-worthy.
By a long shot. But if you can find an interesting angle it is some great publicity.
Try to think about charity work, how you can help your local community, and anything that can get your store into a headline.
4. Referral Program
Referral programs are easy to set up and are completely free, but they will also get you a ton of new clients and will promote your business.
A referral program is where customers who refer a friend to your services get an incentive for doing so. Maybe it’s a discount, maybe it’s a reward.
Whichever you choose, you’ll have the same effect. It will get people talking about your business. And this will spread the word quicker than most campaigns will.
One client tells a friend, then they tell a friend, and so on and so on until the whole town is raving about your services.
5. Follow-Ups
Have you ever heard the phrase customers vote with their feet?
Essentially, this means that if you provide good quality service or products, you’ll know because your customers return. You want to keep your customers always coming back for more.
This is why it can be really effective to send follow-up messages to customers you haven’t heard from in a couple of weeks or months.
You can send them a quick email to ask if there’s anything you can do for them.
Be prepared to get a fair few no’s in reply, but there is a very good chance that you’ll also remind a customer of a consideration they’ve been putting off or forgotten about.
It’s good practice to send at least one email each quarter, so make sure to set yourself those reminders.
6. Free Events/Conferences
It’s not what you know, but who you know. This is another really common phrase that really highlights the importance of networking.
Networking is one of those tactics that will never fall out of style. It’s a timeless effective strategy.
So make sure you are signing up for all the free events and conferences that you can. You can build invaluable relationships and connections this way that can be so beneficial for your business.
And don’t just stick to events that relate directly to your business. Keep your customer in mind at all times. Follow the customer you wish to attract, not just what's relative to your service or industry.
7. Provide Free Incentives
There is nothing that the public like more than a freebie. And this doesn’t even have to be a particular product.
It can be some type of service or any incentive that will hook them in and draw them to your business. But you’ll find that something that is free is something that customers just can't refuse.
You may opt for a free consultation, a free phone call, a free meeting, or a free item on purchases over a certain spend. The option is yours.
But you’ll find by offering this, you’ll draw in clients with the free incentive that might otherwise have not paid much attention to your business.
8. Blog
Blogging can work wonders for promoting your business, providing you do so well.
You want to do some really in-depth research into your business and put your mind into that of a customer. Or even try the Alien technique.
The Alien technique is where you picture an out-of-earth being learning about your specialized topic for the very first time. They know nothing about this topic.
What questions would they ask you? What would they need to know? What would they want to know?
You can then write articles answering these questions. Whether they are informational or ‘how-to’s.’
It provides expertise in your field and also helps beginners know the answers to their questions. Again, it’ll also help build trust between you and your clients.
9. Videos
With the introduction of apps such as TikTok, consumers currently like to consume their content quickly. And one of the best ways to do this is through videos.
It can work a lot better than long pieces of information and is also just more visually stimulating for your consumer.
Again, put yourself in the mind of your customer. What content do they want to see? What will be beneficial to them? What will keep them watching? These are all answers you’ll need to find the answers to.
10. Cold Calling
Last, but not least, you have the cold calling option. I’ll admit that this one is pretty old-school but it can still work. It’s not the best method, and you’ll certainly have your fair share of hang-ups or nos.
But there’s a reason it still happens and that is because you do get some yes’.
It can help you to learn more about your clientele and marketing as a whole and you may even get some new customers from doing so.
Final Thoughts
It’s important to note that no advertising is truly free. You might not have to spend any cold hard cash, but you’re still going to have to pay in other ways. Instead, you’ll pay with your labour and your time.
But that doesn’t mean that you won’t yield great results from doing so.
And if you don’t quite have the funds to fork out on expensive promotion tactics, then these strategies will definitely still help you boost your business to a wider audience and help you generate that all-important publicity which should then convert to sales.