Top ways to promote your small business

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

By Henry Brown

As a small business, it is important that you get the word out there and promote yourself as much as you can. The more views, press and recognition you get, the more money you will make and the quicker you will grow. You can do this many ways, and it’s important to be realistic in your expectations, ambitious and happy to learn as much as possible.

You could look for a company such as an ecommerce consulting company that are experts in the field and help businesses to develop essential in-house capabilities as well as hiring others to help you grow. There are many ways you can work to promote your small business both offline and online and we have put together some below to get you inspired.

Look into a PR company or media relations company

There is a range of PR companies out there who specialize in a host of different industries. A PR or media relations company can be great when you are starting out (and when you grow) to help spread the word about your company or product. The main role of a PR is to get you mentioned in the press and other online outlets, linking back to your website and promoting your service or product. They will aim to get you published in places that your target audience will see and hopefully purchase from you. They will be the middleman between you and journalists and will provide you with a plethora of handy content to use as well as to outreach.

Do your research to find the right one with you and ensure you have a clear budget and set of instructions that you can base it on right from the beginning to ensure the correct expectations are set.

Throw an event

Events don’t have to be huge and lavish affairs, it can be just as easy throwing a small bash on a budget and still have great results. Events are a great way to promote your company, build up trust with your clients and customers, form real-life connections and help yourself to stand out from the crowd and get ahead of your competition.

There are many types of events you can throw, you could do a drinks and canapes evening, host a dinner or an afternoon tea. You could host a conference or a talk, or plan a networking event. Have a think about what you want to spend, who you want to invite and how big you want your event to be before getting to work on executing it. You could either throw this bash yourself or look to hire someone who could help you out.

Have a presence on social media

Social media is something that is going nowhere and it is vital that you have a strategy in place to grow on social media where possible. There is a wide range of social media networks out there, including Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Linkedin and Instagram.

Consider the type of business yours is and where your target audience is most likely to find you. If you are more of a corporate company then Linkedin and Facebook are likely to be your best bet. If you are a more fun and playful company that is aimed at a younger audience you are going to want to prioritize TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat to get the word out there about what you offer. Try to change up the content you post on each platform and schedule things to go out regularly. It is also important that you engage with your audience on these social media platforms rather than just putting content out there blindly and not actually doing anything with it.

Ensure your SEO is up to scratch

SEO is another vital component when it comes to growing a business and you want to be as well versed and knowledgeable in the world of SEO as you can. SEO (search engine optimization) is what will get you showing higher up in search engine results and can be a fantastic way of bringing organic traffic to your site that might not have found you otherwise.

There are many elements to SEO and it’s a good idea to do as many of them as you can. Firstly you will want to ensure your website is optimized; that means it has a quick loading speed and you have added all the relevant details such as meta tags, meta descriptions and keywords into your pages. You will want to make sure that all images are a maximum of 500kb in order to keep the site size smaller and also do what you can to keep the loading speed down. The quicker the site, the happier the customer and the more likely they are to come and shop with you again. Google and other search engines also recognize speed when it comes to favorably ranking sites.

Guest blog on other websites

There are many reasons to guest blog on other sites and this is something you can’t forget about. By having your posts published on other websites you will spread the word about your company as well as show that you are an expert in the field. Having backlinks from other sites is also a great way of showing search engines you are an authoritative figure and can help to bump up your SEO and chances of ranking.

These are just a few simple ways that you can use to promote your small business. By doing these you will soon find that your small business is much more successful. Remember that in business things take time and you won’t necessarily get an instant reward overnight. Take your time, measure what works and what doesn’t and don’t be afraid to try a different tactic or strategy. What are some ways you promote your small business? What do you find to be the best method for you? Let us know in the comments below, we would love to hear from you.

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Henry Brown is an online marketing executive. When he isn’t talking shop, he’s roaming the streets of London, uncovering the extra-ordinary in the ordinary.

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