Image by Mary Pahlke from Pixabay

By Lizzie Weakley

One of the most effective ways to advertise your small business is to reach out to your local audience. Find local websites that will sponsor your ad campaign and gladly promote your product to the public. Here are three unique ways to start advertising your small business.

Advertise in local online business directories

In the past, consumers used to search for local businesses in their telephone books. Nowadays, they look through local business directories online where it is easier to update the information. Many people know about small businesses only by reviewing these listings and narrowing down the search criteria. Make sure that your directory listing includes the business’s name, address, phone number and website. Check the customer reviews that are often posted below. You can also remind your customers, especially if they have a positive experience, to leave a review. This can help expand your reach in such directories and on google.

Run your ads on local websites

Start by hosting your SEO advertisements on local news websites. Today, most people get their news online by reading articles or watching videos hosted by local news sources. To reach your local audience, pay for advertising spots on one or more local news sites. However, this is not the best way to reach your targeted audience because you’re advertising to the general public.

To reach your customers directly, look for local non-competitor sites that are related to your business. A small embroidery company may run an ad on a local, popular blog or site about fashion design. Make sure that your company’s name ranks highly on the search engine results pages. Create ads and content that contain the right SEO keywords that people will use to find your site. Before hosting your ads on a site, check its popularity ranking to avoid posting paid ads on sites that are rarely visited by anyone.

Promote a customer referral program

Reward loyal customers who promote your products and services through word of mouth. You have a competitive advantage because not every company provides a referral program. Reach out to your most loyal, long-term customers and provide resources to help them contact even more people. Provide a variety of incentives for new referrals, such as cash, discounts, free shipping, free products and other gifts that you know your customers will enjoy. Such a program can be complicated to implement, but once you get it running, it can create great dividends for your business. Word of mouth is an incredibly powerful tool that is hard to measure. However, there are many ways, like a referral program, to encourage people talking about your business.

Advertising is one of the most important tasks of doing business regardless of how small or successful it is. You have to continuously change your methods of reaching out to your local audience before you think of contacting a global audience. Only use methods that have been tried and proven to work for countless small businesses. The world of advertising changes constantly, but with some consistent principles and an adjustable plan, you are sure to succeed.

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Lizzie Weakley is a freelance writer from Columbus, Ohio. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors and walks in the park with her husky, Snowball.