When you’ve got a great business, you need to promote it, and the internet can be a great resource. If you’re stuck or not sure how to start, here are five tips that can help you promote your local business online.
Get Listed on Google and Yelp
Google and Yelp can garner new customers for you. You can list your business for free on Google and get your profile going on Yelp. Statistics show that 92% of consumers are more willing to make purchases after visiting companies’ pages.
You might already be on Yelp if a customer has visited, rated, and reviewed your business. Claiming your profile allows you to set store hours and control what information is posted.
Doing this can help you garner positive reviews, avoid negative ones, and connect with the community.
Join Social Media
Don’t avoid social media. Social media might feel a bit intimidating at first, but learning the ropes can help you with networking and content marketing. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are great ways to connect to consumers, and LinkedIn is a great way for B2Bs to expand their reach.
You might assume that social media marketing is time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be. There is an array of tools that lets you minimize the time you spend on social media and maximize your business’s marketing reach. For example, scheduling software lets you set up a queue of posts that will publish as often as you want without you having to focus on it.
Host a Giveaway
Once you get your social media profiles set up and have a core base of followers, you can attract more attention to your business by hosting an exclusive online giveaway. Create fun, business-related posts that encourage your followers to participate, and use your product as a prize. An internet service provider might post trivia questions about the creation of the internet and reward the person who answers first or gets the most questions right with a few months of free internet.
Contests further your reach because current followers can invite their friends to join and increase their chances of winning. This is a winning situation for your business, too. It doesn’t take much time to set up a contest and pick a winner.
Connect with a Local Influencer
You can also connect with local business with similar products and missions to yours and reach out and ask them to partner. Cross-promoting along your respective social media channels benefits both of you.
This doesn’t have to be expensive. A few hundred dollars might be all it takes to get some promos going. You can even offer some of your product to cut down on the cost. Doing so might also help them formulate a positive review about your business.
Offer Special Online Discounts
You may want to also offer some online discounts. Discounting products or offering limited-time free shipping will draw more customers to your site. If you have a physical location, utilizing your business’s website can help you attract a wider group of customers who may not be able to travel to your store.
You may worry that offering discounts will lower your profit, but if your base prices are in a cushy enough spot, short-term discounts shouldn’t hurt you and should help you retain customers in the long run. If you can’t afford discounts, consider raising your prices before offering a discount. This could make customers feel like they’re getting a sweet deal on a high-quality product while they’re paying your usual price.
In the future, you can do things like set up a newsletter subscriber list, create a mobile app for your business or start a customer referral program to reel in even more devoted clientele. Just remember, customer service is key, whether it is conducted in person or online. Their word-of-mouth is some of the best promotion you can get.