The online business field has never been more competitive than it is right now. Millions and millions of different companies are all vying for the same customers, so how do you get your company to stand out? Unfortunately for small business, the marketing budget tends not to be very generous. If you’re trying to garner some attention on a shoestring then fear not, there are some tried and tested ways that you can get maximum bang for your buck, helping your budget stretch further.
Give Something, Get Something
One of the masters of free marketing are online casinos. They don’t need to spend thousands on flash adverts, because rather than reaching people who’ve never considered playing casino games before, they simply need to attract more of the people who do. People who frequently play at online casinos are usually wise to the deals that they can get as a new member. Many casinos offer no deposit bonuses to new sign ups, so they need only to list themselves on a couple of websites and brand new customers will come to them.
The trick with this kind of marketing is to have absolute faith in your product. If you know that all you need is for someone to try it and they’ll love it, then giving free samples could be the perfect way to market yourself. This works particularly well for brands who’s product doesn’t actually cost them anything. Casinos don’t have to pay for spins on a slot machine, so giving away free spins costs them nothing. Similarly, giving new customers a 10% discount on their first order doesn’t cost you anything until the point of sale. By then you’ll have a new customer and 90% of the proceeds.
Email Lists are Your Friend
Although many of us, in fact, most of us hate spam emails from companies we barely remember signing up with, a well put together email, with interesting content and maybe a special offer is often well-received. Make sure to explicitly ask your customers if they would like to be added to your mailing list and try not to send out emails too frequently. Generally speaking once a month is about right, more than this and customers are likely to feel bombarded, much less and they might just forget about you.
Which brings us onto the next point. Email marketing is largely to develop brand recognition. Whilst plenty of your customers will be delighted to receive exclusive offers and information on movements in your business, the main purpose is to get your brand name to stick in their head. Ensure that your content is engaging, your message is clear and friendly, next time they’re looking for what you sell, your name will be the first to come to mind. To make things quicker there are various services that help you collate lists and create beautiful email marketing, MailChimp is just one of them.
Use Social Media Wisely
If you want to connect with your customers on a more personal level, then social media can be a big asset. There are so many brands who spend a great deal of time on their social media channels, only to see little success. There are plenty of mistakes that are so easily avoided, but here we shall focus on what you should do, rather than what you shouldn’t.
The first rule is to be consistent. Your followers will expect regular posts from you, but if you’ve nothing to post then don’t post for posting’s sake. If your business sells clothes, then you’ll likely have lots of different styles to sell and should aim to post a high quality piece daily. If on the other hand your business helps to organize conferences, then you might have fewer good quality images to post. In this case, aim to post twice a week.
Your social media channel can also be an excellent way to gain clicks on your website. If you take the time to keep an up to date blog then it would be silly not to notify your followers about it. Create a link in your profile that leads to your blog, to generate traffic and help boost your search rankings simultaneously. If you follow these rules, create high quality, regular content, that links to your website, then you’ll see a definite return on your time invested.
