In most cases, people start a business because they have a great idea, they are capable of executing it, and they have the budget to carry it through the finish line, which is starting the business.
Most of these entrepreneurs know their industry quite well and are able to supply what customers want. The next bit is a bit tricky, however. Now you have to take what you have to offer and put it in front of people.
In short, how do you promote your business? How do you market your brand? Below are some tips that can help your brand garner attention from potential customers.
How to market your brand
1. Guerilla Marketing
Despite its name, guerilla marketing makes use of creativity, originality, and imagination instead of relying heavily on a big budget.
Smart businesses with limited budgets often resort to guerilla marketing to compete with their bigger counterparts.
What’s great about creative guerilla marketing is there is no shortage of ideas. Below are a few examples.
If you have a physical store, you can commission street artists to paint an eye-catching mural or chalk art and post it on your website or in your brand’s social media account.
You can also send some of your products to a popular video content creator for an unboxing video or general review to help market your brand.
2. Social media marketing
According to research done by Pew Research Center Report of Social Media Usage: 2005-2015, as much as two-thirds of adults in America use social media. This is an almost ten-fold increase in just the last decade.
The most popular social media platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
Each of these social networking sites offers a unique experience and a different way to engage among users.
Instead of trying to master all of them, brands should choose to specialize in only a handful before venturing to other platforms.
3. Original content
There’s nothing more appealing to an audience than seeing a post that’s unique, original, and fresh from their favorite brand.
This is an even more effective way to get their attention than a flashy poster or creative tagline. Original content sticks to the minds of customers and makes the brand top of mind.
There’s no need for you to constantly produce original content for your brand. You can always turn to freelance writers, graphic designers, and even personal assistants to handle that for you.
In fact, delegating the task of creating original content means there’s always a fresh set of eyes to offer a different perspective or bring forth new ideas.
4. Giveaways and Contests
Everyone loves to win free gifts. It doesn’t matter what kind of gift it is, as long as its free people are going to try their luck.
Before, contests hosted by brands were complicated and involved a lot of mailing in contests ballots. Even the announcements of contest winners and receiving of prices takes so much time.
Going digital makes contests and giveaways more efficient and cost-effective. You simply have to post the contest criteria in any one of the brand’s social media accounts, the prize, and the deadline and you’re all set.
Just make sure that you properly plan and communicate what users need to do in order to qualify. You also have to ensure the prizes are valuable and appealing enough.
5. Social media influencers
Oh yes, so many people are quick to discount social media influencers but they do have a great enough impact in promoting your brand.
In fact, if you tap the right influencer, it could even spell success for the brand and launch it to mainstream consciousness.
It’s no wonder why so many people are trying to make it big as influencers. The clout is big and the returns even bigger.
More and more people have already signed up for one or more social media sites. The younger generation, especially, has been quite quick to adopt social media and integrate it into their lives.
For a brand hoping to capitalize that demographic, it’s not merely enough to have a social media profile, you need to tap the right influencer to spotlight the brand.
However, it’s very important that you make sure you partner with an influencer that aligns with your brand’s messaging and goals.
You can’t just select them based on their follower count. You have to check their activities, what they post, including the comments they share with their audience.
6. Scalable advertising channels
Traditional advertising channels like TV, newspaper, and radio ads have fallen by the wayside. They are typically seen as costly, not very targeted, and quite tough to measure its effectiveness.
Online advertising, on the other hand, is seen as cheaper and can be targeted.
Common options for such advertising channels include Google Pay Per Click ads and Facebook ads. You can also list your brand at free online directories like Google Maps, Google Business, and Yelp.
If you have a new product or service that you’d like to promote, here are a few cost-effective and sometimes free methods you can do:
- A message that talks about your new product that plays while customers are on hold.
- Landing pages that feature the latest products, deals, promos, and sales.
- Advertising is done on email signatures.
- Email marketing for customers who have subscribed to your newsletter.
7. Joint ventures
As mentioned previously, one of the most effective ways to promote your brand involves offering your product to the right people.
The easiest way to do this would be to find a niche that already has the type of audience you’re looking for and placing what you have to offer in front of them.
More often than not, that’s achieved through smart advertising. But another effective way is to partner with non-competing businesses that are already marketing to the same people as you’re hoping to reach.
Often termed as joint ventures, this is a method that is almost guaranteed to attract the attention of customers quickly.
A perfect example of a joint venture that benefited both businesses is between Vodafone and Telefonica who both agreed to share their mobile network. BMW and Toyota also collaborated for the research into ultra-lightweight materials, vehicle electrification, and hydrogen fuel cells.
SEE ALSO: HOW TO INTRODUCE YOUR BRAND HOW TO FIND YOUR CUSTOMERS
AUTHOR BIO: Sarah Brooks is a passionate blogger and frequent traveler who loves to write about digital marketing, seo, social media marketing, and more. She is currently working with Arcane Marketing, the leading Digital Marketing Agency serving in and around Idaho.