by Rachel Hazzard
July 18, 2024
Categories: Business Builder Workshops,
Marketing is critical to the success of your small business. It is often a prospective customer’s first impression and helps your business build awareness, attract customers, and drive sales. Effective marketing allows you to contend with competitors by establishing a strong brand and displaying what makes you unique. Small business owners often neglect marketing because they assume it’s too expensive. Luckily, there are tons of low-cost marketing options you can use to connect with customers and drive business growth.
PIDC is committed to helping the businesses that make Philadelphia great succeed, so we put together this list of effective and low-cost marketing ideas you can use to promote your business.
1. Step up your social media
Social media lets you communicate directly with your target audience, which can help increase visibility and awareness of your business. Social media can also act as a direct line for customer service, allowing you to address issues and answer questions in real time, helping you build trust and loyalty.
Most popular social platforms offer free business accounts, which give you better insight into your social efforts so you can better tailor your messaging. You can view key metrics to see how many people are seeing your posts, who your audience is, and what type of content they like best. You can even use business-only social tools to encourage sales. Features like shoppable posts, direct messaging for inquiries, and call-to-action buttons make it easier for your customers to make purchases or engage with your business. Jumpstart your social media marketing with this guide from Sprout Social.
2. Expand your email marketing
Email marketing regularly tops the list of best marketing return on investment (ROI). It’s inexpensive, but it’s one of the best ways to market your business. You can use email to communicate with current and future customers, and can tailor your messages to specific audiences so content is relevant and engaging.
Email is easy to start and scale as your business grows. You can send emails with business updates, product promotions, and special offers directly to a targeted audience, which can drive sales and increase revenue. And with detailed analytics tools, it’s easy to refine and improve your email marketing strategy as you go. Avoid beginner mistakes with Constant Contact’s Email Marketing Best Practices.
3. Get good press
When your business is doing great things, you want the world to know about it. If you have something newsworthy going on, consider creating a press release or pitching specific reporters that might be interested in covering your product or service. You can create a press release for product launches, business milestones, new partnerships, awards—anything you think is newsworthy. Post your press release on free platforms like PRfree and PRlog or pitch directly to journalists in your area or industry. Identify journalists and bloggers who regularly cover small businesses and send a personalized pitch explaining why your story is relevant to their audience and why they should write about you.
4. Create engaging content
Showcase yourself and your business as a thought leader in your industry by sharing relevant content. Blogging is a powerful tool you can use to enhance your business’s online presence, engage with customers, and establish your business as an authority in your space. And unlike the rest of your website content, which doesn’t change very often, blogs are updated regularly with timely content that can attract potential customers to your site.
Regularly posting blog content can improve your website’s search engine optimization (SEO). Creating relevant and high quality content using keywords that potential customers might search for makes it more likely for your business to appear in search results, driving more traffic to your site. Learn how to write an effective blog post with this step-by-step guide from HubSpot.
5. Perfect your elevator pitch
As a small business owner, it’s important to always be prepared to promote yourself and your business. Your elevator pitch is a quick explanation of your business. As the name suggests, a good elevator pitch should last about the length of an elevator ride—30 seconds to a minute tops.
Start with your name and the name of your business, then introduce what your business does and why someone should choose you. Highlight what makes you different from competitors and who your ideal customers are. End your elevator pitch with a clear call to action like a request to schedule a meeting or to check out your website.
6. Design professional graphics
High quality graphics can attract potential customers and showcase your business as professional, reliable, credible. They are often the first impression for your business, so grainy, cluttered, or dated designs can damage your business’s reputation. Good graphics give you an edge over your competitors, but you don’t need to hire a professional designer to achieve a professional look.
Canva has become a favorite tool for businesses large and small looking to up their graphic design game. This easy-to-use design tool allows you to create a wide range of visual assets for your business, including social media graphics, flyers, menus, business cards, and so much more. Canva makes it easy to create a consistent brand across all your marketing. Its drag-and-drop interface makes it easy for even the most technology-challenged business owner to use. With both a paid and free version, it’s perfect for any budget.
7. Don’t forget your Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile is a must for small business, especially when you’re trying to reach local customers. This free account makes it easy for potential customers to find you, improves your SEO efforts, and allows you to highlight key information about your business, including your address, hours, photos, and more. You can use a Google Business Profile to post updates, allow customers to schedule appointments, and attract business reviews.
8. Generate positive reviews
If people love what you do, you want them to share it! The most important part of generating positive reviews is providing an exceptional product or service. If you’re confident you’ve got that down, then you can begin encouraging your customers to share their experiences with others.
The simplest way to get positive reviews is to ask for them. You can do this in-person, through follow-up emails, or via social media. Make it super easy for customers to provide reviews by providing direct links to your review pages on Google, Yelp, or other relevant platforms. Include these links in emails, receipts, and on your website. And when you receive a review, respond to it promptly and professionally.
9. Consider targeted advertising
Paid advertising doesn’t have to be expensive, you just have to be realistic about your budget and goals. As with all marketing efforts, having a clear understanding of your target customer is essential. With paid advertising, it’s especially important since you’re often paying per click or impression, so you want your ads served to the right people.
Once you’ve identified your target audience, you can choose where you’d like to advertise. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are a great place to start with easy-to-use ad management tools that make it simple to create a new ad, choose your audience, and set a budget. And with low minimum budgets—sometimes as low as a dollar a day—you can start to advertise for less than you might think. Check out this guide from Hootsuite for more information.
10. Snag a business award
Awards can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. Winning an award can build your business’s credibility, give you a competitive advantage, and increase customer trust. Awards often come with media coverage and promotion opportunities, which can help attract new customers. Plus, you can promote your win on your website, social media, and in other promotional materials like emails and flyers.
A word of caution—be wary of vanity award scams. These scams often come from fraudulent organizations announcing you’ve won without even applying, and will charge a fee to receive the award. Legitimate business awards almost always require an application or nomination and do not charge you. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
11. Get involved in your community
Small businesses succeed with the support of their community, so contributing to that community can lead to growth and success. Host events that generate goodwill and help attract new customers. Collaborate with local organizations on projects, fundraising, or volunteering. And remember to join your local business association. There are business organizations and associations in every corner of Philadelphia, so find one in your neighborhood and take advantage of all the services they provide.
Getting involved in your community allows your business to make a positive impact and foster a supportive environment that benefits both you and your neighborhood.
Whatever marketing initiatives you try, monitoring performance is a must. Track key metrics like website traffic, impressions, click-through rates, and return on investment to measure the effectiveness of your marketing. Use those metrics to influence your marketing initiatives and spend more time and money on what’s working and less on what’s not.
Marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. Focus on establishing relationships with your customers and community and demonstrating your value to set your business up for long-term marketing success.
GROW YOUR BUSINESS
PIDC offers multiple business support services designed to support business growth. Grow your business with PIDC Business Builder Workshops.