Being a small business owner is hard, there are a lot of costs and the revenue stream is not always there to support them. One thing that seems to be the first thing cut for any small business in a time of hardship is their marketing. However, a small business does not need to spend a lot on marketing, in fact here are 6 effective ways to advertise a small business that should not cost you an arm and a leg.
*Interns. The first thing you should consider doing is hiring a marketing student to do some part time work for you. These people are typically hungry to prove themselves and won’t mind working for a wage that is a small fraction of what larger companies charge.
*Facebook. More and more it is becoming apparent that small businesses need some kind of presence in social media. Facebook is the king of that platform with the most active users of any service. As such it is also incredibly simple to set up and manage a page.
*Twitter. Twitter is another social marketing platform. It is a bit harder to target a local market, but if you have a web store you can still drive some sales through it. In addition it can be automated with a few programs to greatly increase your success rate. Just remember with Social Media, your clients are expecting a human response to their questions, so be sure to check it daily.
*Sponsorships. Often times little league sports teams will need some sponsors. For a small fee you can have your name in a place where little other advertising occurs, making sure your message is here. In addition a good community out-reach shows your community how valuable small business is, and their supporters will in turn support you for it.
*Traditional Advertising in Nontraditional Places. With Technology growing at a rapid pace, it’s becoming easier and easier to have traditional advertising in nontraditional places. Look for a podcast that broadcasts information your customers might like, or a local free newspaper. These are great spots to run your traditional styled advertisements for a sliver of the cost it would to run on the radio or newspaper. This also include the use of embossed business card or two sided business cards.
*A Strong Referral program. There is nothing stronger than word of mouth marketing. You can harness this by offering your customers an incentive to bring in their friends. The short term costs are negated by the long term benefits of new customers.
With these six techniques you should have no problem attracting and retaining new customers even in the toughest of times for your business. The key to small business advertising is putting in the time to make a decent piece of marketing material, not in spending a lot of money. If you are willing to get your hands dirty you can out-maneuver big companies with no trouble.