5 Cost-Effective Ways to Promote Your Small Business Online

What keeps you moving up the ladder as an entrepreneur is your business growth and revenue. The fastest way to achieve this is by promoting your products and services. And guess what? You can promote your business online for free.

Today, with the help of the internet, promoting a small business is no longer as time-consuming and expensive. In this post, I’ll be sharing some of the most effective ways to advertise your small business online without digging into your pockets.

1. Prioritize Social Media

Whether you want to acquire new customers, engage your leads or retain existing customers, social media is the one place to go.

Here are some tricks you can use to get the most out of your social media channels;

• Create interactive content strategies that are engaging and dynamic. You don’t want to bore your audience.
• Don’t underestimate the power of Facebook. It’s the largest social media channel which is perfect for acquiring leads and customers.
• Post Youtube tutorials and how-to videos using your products to attract viewers who are interested in your type of product.
• Run contests or discount offers to increase your referral on Instagram/Twitter

2. Create a Website for your Business

Now while it might be tempting to post all your available stock every day on WhatsApp or your other social media channels, it can create audience fatigue. You end up getting muted or unfollowed which can pose a serious setback for your advertising strategy.

Creating a website where you can showcase all your products and even categorize them is a better option. Later on, you can advertise one item from your catalogue on your social media pages and then redirect your users to the full collection on the website.

Also on the website, your customers get a better user experience and they can make a direct purchase without waiting for a DM reply. Another advantage of using a website is that you can run Google Ads or optimize it for SEO if you need to.

If you cannot create a website, there are many online e-commerce store builders you can use without the need for code like Flutterwave or Shopify.

3. Use Online Business Directories

Let’s say you’re new in town and you need to find a bookstore. By searching for ‘Bookstores in Lagos’, you get a list of all the bookstores in Lagos with their addresses. This is how business directories work. By getting your business listed in one of these directories, you also pop-up when visitors search for your business type.

This is perfect for attracting leads that you ordinarily wouldn’t reach because these listings already have the reach and credibility. It’s also great for SEO as your business gets more recognition on several search engines. Think about it as free advertising.

Some of the free business directories available in Nigeria include; Google my business, Finelib, and Vconnect.

4. Employ Customer Reviews and Testimonials

Nothing spreads faster than word of mouth. This is where testimonials come in. For every review about your product, you either reinforce or tear down your credibility. When your customers or users share their experience with your product, it nudges other people to check it out as well. So consider utilizing your testimonials a lot more.

Tip: these reviews shouldn’t be limited to your own website alone. It’s always better to have reviews spread across multiple platforms like Google Play, Yelp, your social media pages, messages gotten from users etc.

Also, reply to these reviews to show that you’re invested in your customer experience. It’s an excellent method because you can also resolve negative reviews which help increase customer retention in the long run.

5. Form Partnerships and Influencers

Picture this; you have a pet care store for grooming and veterinary services. When you reach out to a pet store that sells actual pets, you are merging your audiences together. Both of you have a common audience and that’s pet lovers. This is what partnership is all about.

Partnering with other small businesses is a verified method of reaching a bigger audience.

Influencer marketing is one way to push out your product or service. It’s like word of mouth only that in this case, it comes from a somewhat respectable and admirable source. Influencer marketing doesn’t have to be expensive as well. By offering a free trial or a bag of some of your products, you can get a review and a shout-out.

While looking for influencers or partners, ensure you get people whose values, style, brand and audience resonate with your business goals.

Bonus: Do you know that Buypower also helps your business grow? You can read on how we work that magic here.

And that’s all from me today. I hope this has been truly helpful. Which one of these business promotion methods will you be trying out today?

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