Now that we have talked about online marketing, establishing your budget and where to spend your online marketing dollars, lets look at some of the free ways of promoting your small business online.
Social Media for Small Business: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google Plus are great places to get customer attention and to give product information. These social channels are also a great way to get feedback from customers. Let’s talk about how they can work for your small business.
Just having a social media account or page is not enough. In order to maximize the effectiveness of your social media page, you need to engage your customers and prospective customers. You need to provide them with a reason to follow your page and continue to engage with you. Our blog on small business social media tips might help you to develop you social media strategy.
Appreciate your social media followers. Offering rewards and incentives to keep your followers is a great way thanking them for following you – but you can better appreciate them by rewarding them with good content that they really want.
Pay back the likes and loves. When followers on your social media givs you respect and kudos, be sure to check out their posts and followings. You might just find something you like that they are doing – but you might also find new followers of theirs who are looking for your products or services.
In addition to social media, there are other ways to promote your small business for free.
Be found on Local Listings. Claim your business listings on sites such as Google Plus, Google Maps and other directories. Appearing in the local search results is key to gaining the business of consumers and other businesses who are searching for nearby firms that offer what they want. Be sure to read Local SEO Best Practices to learn more about how to rank higher in local search results. It can be tricky, but it is worth it.
Take advantage of local business classifieds. Post regularly on sites like Craigslist and Kijiji. Your customers are searching there, plus the search engines are favouring them to deliver searchers for the product or service you are offering.
Where are your customers reviewing you? Keep in mind that a large number of customers can now review you or read reviews about your products or how you deliver your services. Keep on top of review sites, especially ones like Yelp. Most of all, do not forget to address negative reviews with a timely, honest and believable public response.