How to Promote Your Business Online for Free

While it's an essential part of business, marketing is often considered expendable by some businesses owners, with advertising spending dropping in the face of the recent coronavirus pandemic. But what if I told you that there are many ways you as a small business owner could promote your business to customers at no cost?  

Don't believe me? Read on to find out how you can promote your business for free online.

Using social media platforms to target customers

The social media market is growing exponentially daily and has endless potential to connect you with your ideal customers. 

Recent figures have found that 3.78 billion people are using social media across the globe in 2021. Firstly, you must understand your target demographic and then determine which social media platform(s) will best reach this demographic. For platforms such as Linkedin, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok it is free to open up an account and use the platform. This is one of the most cost-efficient ways you can reach your target market.

Creating blog posts to engage consumers 

Not only does creating blog posts increase website traffic and promote your products, but it also positions you as an expert in the eyes of your consumer. Simply add a business blog on your website or a third-party blogging forum and start blogging! When writing blogs, it is important to keep content relevant to your products. The most successful blogs will answer frequently asked questions by readers and people within their target market. Creating content that clarifies and educates consumers on otherwise potentially confusing information will encourage readers to trust you and be even more interested in your goods or services. "Quality of content" is vital as it was voted the most important success factor amongst bloggers in 2020.

Optimising your website and online content for SEO 

 Search Engine Optimisation, also known as SEO, includes strategies that enable your business website to rank higher on search engine results. Search engines are one of the key ways consumers will look for solutions to their needs. That is why businesses need to have a strong SEO ranking. There are many ways in which you can optimise your website for SEO. One of the easiest ways to do so is to ensure you are using meta tags on your website. These essentially act as invisible tags to search engines. The use of a title tag and meta description is key in performing well in search engines. For a more comprehensive guide on SEO, I recommend reading this article for more ways you can improve your SEO here.

Strengthening consumer trust on review websites

Did you know that consumers are likely to spend 31% more on a business with "excellent" reviews? When your 

business is prevalent on review websites, has a large sample of reviews and a majority of positive reviews, this can attract a greater number of customers.

Choosing a platform is highly dependent on the industry within which you operate. For example, in Australia Zomato is a highly popular restaurant review website. For product and service businesses, trust pilot is a popular and trusted website. Reviews on social media platforms can also assist in attracting customers. It is free to open a business account on these platforms. Simply asking your customers to leave you a review will be of great benefit to your business!

Personalise your marketing through email marketing 

Firstly, you want to ensure you are collecting an email list from interested customers. This can be as simple as adding a pop-up on your website offering visitors to input their email for marketing materials. Email marketing is one of the highest performing marketing channels, with every $1 spent, email marketing generates $38 in return on investment. To take this one step further, we highly recommend personalising your email marketing. A recent study has found that 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase a brand that provides personalised experiences. Email personalisation can range from including the subscriber's name in the subject line, to creating specific content based on the subscriber's attributes. Creating content more relevant to the customer can build trust and in turn develop greater leads and conversions.

List on Google My Business 

Google My Business is a free tool that businesses can use to manage their online presence on Google search and Google maps. Using Google My Business, you can attach images to demonstrate aspects such as products, location and interior of the business. This tool is incredibly helpful and can not only promote the business but assist in directing customers to your business accurately. Furthermore, this tool also enables you to track how your customers are engaging with your profile, so you can see in real-time just how successful your profile is.

The internet has helped bring together buyers and sellers in a time where we may seem increasingly separated. We hope adopting these tips will improve your marketing efforts and keep costs down. For more information on how to run a cost-effective marketing strategy, check out this article or contact the Marketing Eye team to find out how we can help your marketing today!