By Alice Jackson
Every small business owner needs to advertise in order to increase sales. If you own a small business, advertising and hiring firms to promote your business could be very expensive. Does that dishearten you? Don’t let it. It’s time to think about more cost-effective ways you can promote your business.
1. Encourage Word of Mouth Marketing
When you cater the needs of the people perfectly by keeping the best quality products, attending them in the most courteous manner and giving them the required choices; you gain a satisfied customer. This customer of yours may not go and refer you to others, but a dissatisfied customer will always give you negative publicity which won’t be beneficial for your business.
So it is very important to satisfy and make your customers happy while they shop with you. Leverage word of mouth by asking your customers to refer you to other people. This will surely help you in getting several new customers.
2. Use Discounts and Offers to Attract Customers
There are various ways to attract customers by using discounts and special offers. For example:
- Sales: Having a sale at your business twice a year can attract a large pool of customers. They will have a mindset that the same product they wanted to buy will now be available at a less price, increasing your gross selling capacity.
- Discounts: By offering discounts to your customers, they are more likely to come back to you as they know that they will need to pay a little less. This is a big incentive you can offer to your customers.
- Freebies: You can always introduce free offers to your customers. For example, if they buy two products they get a free gift, encouraging them to buy more.
- Coupons: A coupon that provides a discount on the next purchase can get customers to come back again.
3. Build Relationships with Customers
It is very important to build strong relationships with your customers. Technology can easily help you in doing so by tracking your customers’ names, phone numbers, email addresses, birthdays, and anniversaries can give you a way to reach out to them on their special occasions.
Having contact information can also enable you to update them on new products and provide information about sales, offers, and discounts. A personal touch and connection with your customers are always beneficial for your professional growth.
4. Use Technology
Technology today has become one of the best ways to advertise without any cost or at a very low cost. There are many methods through which you can advertise your products to a large number of people. One of the best examples of using technology is social media. Every social media platform gives you the liberty to advertise your products freely. Groups are made of people who are interested in your product where you can showcase the products and also inform them the discounts and offers you would be giving.
5. Collaborate and Network
Collaborating with other businesses in your area can be a great way to cross promote. You should also participate in events held nearby where you can promote your business, as this would give you a larger set of customers. Whenever you get a chance to speak about your products, don’t waste it.
These are some simple ways to promote your business on a budget. Try one or two to start and see how it impacts your bottom line.
