How can I advertise my business?
Advertising for businesses can be done online, on social media with Google Adwords, but also in conventional or offline media, which are also important.
When starting a business, it’s essential to have a good marketing strategy, but this requires a few steps to be properly implemented. Advertising without a strategy is a waste of money; however, if done right, it’s your best investment and an indispensable tool for growing your business. .
If you want to learn how to create more effective and successful campaigns, today you’ll learn how to create a successful business advertising campaign in all the necessary areas without any extra costs. You’ll also learn how you can find the help of a professional publicist to achieve the same results as an agency, or even better.
How to advertise for free?
First of all, you should know this: The only 100% effective free advertising is word-of-mouth advertising. That is, positive testimonials from customers who recommend you. However, you can attract customers to your business for almost zero dollars. This is achieved by implementing inbound marketing strategies, or attraction marketing, as it’s also known, and SEO strategies, so you can sell online by attracting customers to your website .
How to make advertising more effective?
For effective campaigns, whether in digital or traditional marketing, we must know the preferences of our target audience, as well as plan the optimal means and schedules for each market segment, as we will see below in these 12 steps:
1. Segment your target market as much as possible
Segmentation is the process of dividing the total available market or universe of potential customers into more personalized chunks. A fundamental thing for a good strategy is to segment your target market as much as possible, especially if it is advertising on social networks. That is, you must know your target persona well, obtaining more information about what they like: Who your buyers are, what problems your product or service solves and through what means you can reach them.
It is also important to know data such as their age ranges, country or geolocation, as well as their tastes and preferences, interests, lifestyle, devices from which they browse, etc. Even the browser they use.
This way you can launch more personalized campaigns.
2. Make several small campaigns instead of one large one
In addition to the above, once you have your market segments defined, you can design several small campaigns instead of one large one.
For example:
Instead of launching a Facebook ad that lasts 15 days, you can put 3 out of 5 days each. Thus, advertising is not repetitive and recaptures the attention of those who did not notice your ad before.
The same applies to marketing through Adwords. This type of advertising is more attractive to people if it varies and they are short campaigns.
It’s better to have several small, frequent campaigns than a single large campaign that then disappears.
3. Make posts of interest and recommend your brand
A good option to promote yourself and get closer to your customers is through content of interest to them in which you also introduce the solution to one of their problems with your products.
Have you seen those recipe magazines where they recommend the ingredients of the sponsoring brands?
The same principle applies. If people find a solution they were looking for with a specific brand, they are much more likely to purchase it.
You can do this through a sponsorship in an existing media outlet or by creating a publication of interest yourself. You can send this to your subscribers physically or electronically through email marketing.
Another option is to have it on your website for free download as a PDF, video tutorial, etc.
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4. Promotions and gifts for your followers on social networks
One way to attract more visitors to your social networks, get more followers and give more publicity to your business is to run promotions in which you give something away to users on the network.
You can offer samples of your product or a gift.
The dynamics that manage to attract more followers are those of sharing and putting hashtags, answering questions and tagging friends, sharing and liking, etc.
Another good idea is to give a discount for purchases or referral code. For example: “First people who send inbox get a discount code.” Another option is: “share this code with a friend and get discount”. Or you can also give away points, memberships, purchase bonuses, or product upgrades for referring friends who buy what you offer.
The important thing is to take advantage of social networks to promote yourself and, in addition, obtain statistical data from your followers.
5. Offline advertising
Of course, it is important to have advertising on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the like. But one front you should never neglect is advertising in Traditional Media. Of course, well planned and well distributed, carrying out a study of what would work best for you, depending on the tastes of your customers or by what means it is easier to reach them.
What can it include?
- Ruffles
- Brochures in kiosks
- Posters
- Billboards
- Muppies
- Radio Spots
- Advertisements or inserts in the local newspaper
- etc.
While you don’t need to spend too much on advertising on non-digital media, it’s important to allocate a portion of your budget to it. Keep in mind that online advertising can sometimes be blocked or bypassed. But if you add eye-catching advertising on physical media, you can attract the eye of thousands of people and familiarize them with your brand.
Don’t stop advertising in media such as TV, or you can go to a local radio station and participate in a space, giving something away during your intervention on the air. There are many radio stations and sections that offer short free slots or swaps to promote your brand. You can also seek help from an audio track editor to run an ad in the form of a radio spot.
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6. Choose strategic places and times
Think of places where other companies or businesses that are your competitors don’t usually advertise. Those places of opportunity, where your competitors aren’t reaching. In addition, you can try at unusual or different times than usual.
Many times you manage to capture more attention that way than when there are thousands of other ads that the potential customer overlooks.
You can think about advertising by putting your ad on food court tables, taxis, parking meters, seats, shopping carts, etc. The idea is to promote your business in unexpected places for greater impact.
7. Personalize all customer touchpoints
Part of your brand’s presentation and professionalism is that all customer touchpoints reflect your business’s colors, logos, typography, etc.
Don’t wait until you are a big company for it and don’t just have your logo on promotional products for fairs and events. You can find a designer Expert in branding or promotional design to create your stationery, envelopes, cards; but also things like pens, notepads, diaries, delivery packaging, stickers to identify your products, etc. Even delivering your purchase in a nice bag with your logo gives your business status. Much more than if you give it only in a manila envelope or any gift bag.
Take every opportunity to brand the customer with something with your logo or contact information.
8. Reward your most loyal customers
Keep your shoppers loyal…
Offering them special benefits by their preference. This is not something to be taken lightly.
Customers like to feel recognized and treated in a special way. If you’re thinking of the typical dot or stamp card, that’s fine. But thanks to technology you can go one step further.
One idea is to have an affiliate program for them to earn commissions for referrals. Also, you can see, for example, on social networks, who are your most frequent visitors, who comments on your posts or who shares your content the most.
You can offer gifts such as planners or collectibles to those who buy more or to those who return to your store in the same month.
Another idea is to offer better prices to those who buy from you “by lot”.
This is one of the most commonly used advertising methods by subscription web services. They offer you a better price if you make only one purchase for the year. You can think of a similar idea. Best price for more hours of service purchased in advance or for more of the same product purchased in the same purchase.
9. Cut costs without losing effectiveness
You can save costs on your media advertising, especially physical ones, by reducing the size of your ads a bit or adapting the art to make the most of the space.
A simple example:
You can change a two-page ad in a magazine to a single ad on the right page (the right-side pages are seen first by readers). This way you maintain visibility at a lower cost.
If you have a 1-minute radio ad, you could opt for 30-second ads later. The voice-over time is less, but the effectiveness is the same, so it is cheaper and you get the same results.
Another type is that, when making a reverse and right flyer, you ask your designer to mount the front and back art on the same side “head to head”, so that the printing press uses the same plates in the throw and removal. This saves the cost of 4 plates in the printing press.
You could also think about advertising in two tones only or very eye-catching art, but in grayscale. This way you save on the production of advertising material and you don’t lose effectiveness.
10. Participate in events or organize your own
You may have noticed that the major brands of almost anything are sponsors of charity or sporting events related to their brand or where the attending public can buy what they offer.
You can copy their strategy by participating in local events in communities or tournaments. Of course, you must be selective. The criterion is that the event is attended by the target person of your interest and that you prepare a sales strategy.
If there are not enough events, you could partner with friendly companies (suppliers or non-competitors) to hold an event. Why not? It’s an effective way to network and gain visibility, as well as authority within your niche.
It can be anything from an informative breakfast, a course, a forum, a sports meeting, an art exhibition, etc. Involve the community and show your logo and your products during the realization of the project.
You can invite local media to cover the event to write a press release or a short article about it.
11. Do email marketing
When it comes to advertising online, not everything should be only through your Facebook page, as people tend to skip advertising more frequently. This is a tool that can be very effective if you know how to use it.
- Don’t overwhelm your subscribers with newsletters, make only important announcements . There are very good software and tools that you can use without costing you more.
- Remember to customize as much as possible. Never spam or offers of little interest or too general.
If you don’t know much about how to use tools for sending mass emails, you can seek help from a professional in email marketing services. Or you can ask the publicist you hire for help with help.
But beware of spam:
Send emails only and exclusively to your customers or subscribers. And give them the opportunity to unsubscribe from your newsletter or resubscribe whenever they want. Don’t buy databases of companies that are dedicated to it, because not only can they sell you ghost emails, but the real few will be poorly received and marked as spam by potential customers. This decreases your chances of business with such users and you also don’t want your communication to be penalized by the email service.
On the other hand, a good newsletter aimed at your real subscribers and including relevant content is always welcome.
To improve the quality of your content, be sure to check the spelling and grammar. If you wish, you can use online tools such as a spell checker to avoid mistakes and ensure your communication is clear and professional.
In addition, your email marketing strategy should not fail to include follow-up via email to sales that were about to be closed or that were postponed.
You can use a CRM (customer relationship management) program)for this. Even simple jotted reminders to rewrite to a client work. The idea is that you don’t neglect contact and that it is as personal as possible.
12. Offer apps, plugins, and notifications
If you already have a website, you might seek the help of an app developer to help you implement your own.
The function of an app can be anything from remembering information or saving data of interest, to shopping online or getting in touch.
Before you rule out this option, think about this example:
If you have a bakery, you might have an app for home ordering. Or one that allows you to see the menu and gives a discount if you book from the app. If you have a grocery store, an app that allows you to make a shopping list, save your preferences, or suggest something you’ve bought before.
In other words, it does not matter that your company is not an electronic service. Your app can even be just a tool that gives your contact details, points of sale, location on the map and blog with news.
Another idea is to develop browser plugins from where they can access your site or that offer them a useful tool, connecting to the app itself and making it easier to use from the browser.
Additionally, you can seek the help of a web developer to help you create notifications for your site so that your customers receive them when there is new news.
If you’ve looked at local media websites in the last few months, you’ll see that it’s a trend that’s gaining importance. This can also be seen on social networks such as Youtube, Facebook, etc.
How to hire a freelancer for my advertising strategy?
As you can see, there are many strategies you can implement, but they should be as personalized as possible. All this, of course, without neglecting the consistency and image of your brand.
That is why it is necessary that you consult with an advertising expert. If you are starting your business or if you are an SME, You don’t need an agency of very large advertising or a huge amount of money. In fact, it is best to work with an individual advisor who studies your business, your market target. Someone who will propose ideas tailored to your needs and within your budget.
It is best to hire the services of a publicist or commercial advisor by the hour or freelance. That way, you won’t have a fixed contract that you don’t need with an advertising agency. In addition, you save costs and get professional results.
An additional tip:
Compare several offers before choosing. Remember to review the advertiser’s portfolio. See if they’ve developed strategies for companies or brands similar to yours.
In the end, regardless of the type of advertising you choose, the important thing is that it’s eye-catching, original, relevant, and targeted to your target market. In short, that it’s effective. And, above all, that it doesn’t cost you extra.
To receive and compare various offers and choose the best in terms of price, delivery time, and quality of services offered, you can register for free as a customer at SoyFreelancer.com .
Publish your project or request to more easily find many professionals willing to help you .
Get started and start implementing business advertising for your company. Choose the strategies that best suit your needs and grow your brand.
Author: Patricia Gutierrez, content writer for Soyfreelancer.com
