Ways to Promote your Small Business for Free

In 2019, there were 5.8 million small businesses in the UK. Yet only 39% of the small businesses actively marketed their business online. Marketing boosts sales and allows small business owners to engage with customers online. It also keeps customers busy beyond store hours.

If customers search for your brand name online and fail to find any results, it will demotivate them, and you don’t want that. What you want is to start promoting your small business online.

Looking for ways to market your small business for free?

In this post, we discuss ways to promote your small business for free.

Write Informative, Relevant and Evergreen Content

Content marketing done correctly can do wonders for a small business. Research shows that 60% of marketers create one piece of content every day. As a business, writing high-quality content that is worth sharing boosts your brand reputation online. To reap the rewards of content marketing, dedicate adequate time to content creation.

First, create a hook that grabs the reader’s attention immediately. Research shows that you have three seconds to hook readers after the headline. This means the first sentence of the first paragraph should capture their attention and lead them to the next point.

Second, focus on one key message. Keep this in mind when writing your content. Do your research on the topic you’re writing about. Include data, statistics and metrics. This helps to establish credibility and support your message.

Third, write in a unique voice. The voice you choose to use in your post should reflect your company’s personality. By doing so, you align your writing with your brand persona, business goals and target audience.

Don’t forget to write short sentences, paragraphs and use bulleted lists. By incorporating SEO best practices, your content becomes searchable and ranks high on search engine pages.

Lastly, proofread your work. This allows you to polish the rough edges of your writing.

Create Click-Worthy Headlines

Headlines are the most important part of your blog post. It’s the first thing that grabs your readers attention. As the first point of real connection with your online visitors, you need to get it right. To create click-worthy headlines…

• Select words that evoke powerful emotions
• Add numbers, parentheses, brackets, dashes and colons
• They help you get more clicks
• Read The Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Powerful Headlines.

Optimize Your Posts for SEO

Over 93% of online experiences begin with search engines. Also, 57% of marketers state that SEO generates more leads than other forms of marketing. Before you publish your posts, optimize for search engines. To optimize your website or blog for SEO…

Conduct thorough keyword research

• Analyse your website data
• Speed up the pages
• Get quality backlinks
• Optimize for mobile

Learn more about Search Engine Optimization.

Add Social Share Buttons

There are 3.5 billion social media users worldwide. As of January 2021, there are 53 million active social media users in the UK. This translates to a social media penetration rate of 77.9% of the UK population. If you create sharable content and don’t have social buttons on your blog, your readers will be unable to share your content on social media. We recommend adding social share icons. If using WordPress, install a plugin like Sassy Social Share.

Add Graphics, Photos and Videos to Your Posts

Images, graphics and videos are super important in your posts. Imagine reading a post with no images, graphics or videos. You’d probably click off right away. That’s what your online visitors will do. To boost traffic to your blog and increase your conversion rates, add high quality and relevant graphics, images and videos. If using stock images, make sure they’re royalty-free.

Guest Post and Backlink to Influential Sites

Backlink to influential sites to direct your readers to additional information relevant to your post. Alternatively, you can guest post for influential blogs. If done right, your traffic will increase. Using landing pages, giveaways and free downloads, you can convert prospects into customers.

Invite Guest Contributions on Your Blog

Besides writing guest posts, you can invite other businesses to guest post on your blog or website. For example, if you’re a florist, you can invite a local wedding dress shop owner, a florist or a professional photographer.

This is an excellent way of forging positive relationships with other businesses. In turn, these businesses will boost your exposure by sharing the guest post on their social media channel or blog. Remember to have a dedicated web page on your blog for guest posts.

Increase Blog Traffic With Ego Bait Post

Ego bait refers to content that features industry influencers on your blog or site. Just like guest posts, ego bait posts encourage influencers to share on their social media channels or link to your content. By doing so, your blog or website gains high visibility among your target audience.

If you want to increase blog traffic, a celebrity post will boost your brand as long as their profile fits your niche and target audience. For example, if you run a bakery, you can request a celebrity baker to write a post and publish it on your blog. By doing so, you gain exposure to people looking for a baker for their wedding or events.

Remember, the celebrity you select needs to be clear with their followers about the ego bait post.

Set up a Twitter Profile

Set up your Twitter profile and use it to promote your small business. You can tweet about your products and events relevant to your industry and those that your customers would find interesting.

Besides setting up your profile, you can follow influential Twitter profiles in your niche. Following Twitter profiles in your niche will boost your brand reputation. It will also establish your online presence on Twitter.

Include ‘Click to Tweet’ Quotes

Adding “Click to Tweet” quotes in your posts allows readers to share your content on Twitter. All you’ve to do is find catchy and share-worthy quotes and head to Click to Tweet site and turn them into shareable links. You can add a border to make them stand out.

Share Your Posts on Social Media

As of February 2012, Facebook has 2.8 billion active users, Instagram has 1 billion users, Twitter has 187 million globally. In the UK, TikTok has 11 million users, Facebook has 44.8 million, Twitter has 16.45 million, and Instagram has 30.57 million users. If you share your posts on social media, your content will get a whole new audience. With Twitter, you can use SmarterQueue to share your posts to other social media platforms like Facebook.

Create YouTube and TikTok Videos

YouTube and TikTok are effective video platforms for small business marketing. Videos are extremely engaging. By creating your YouTube and TikTok channel, you offer your followers a centralized platform to view and engage with your videos.

Learn more about Starting a successful YouTube channel for your business. Read Everything your small business needs to know about TikTok.

Set up an Instagram Page

Like Facebook and Twitter, you can use Instagram to promote your business online. In the UK, Instagram has 30.36 million active users as of January 2021. Instagrammers are shoppers. If you post the right visuals, your customers will soak up your marketing post, and they’ll buy from your online store.

Basically, Instagram helps to convert passive shoppers into buying customers. To succeed, you need to set up an Instagram page for your business. This should be separate from your personal Instagram account. Complete your profile and include a link to boost traffic to your online store.

Upload a recognizable photo of your brand, add a memorable brand name and an interesting bio that will hook followers. Avoid a salesy tone when writing your bio. Don’t forget to include a hashtag in your bio.

Use Instagram Stories

Using Instagram Stories to market your business will drive more engagement and boost sales. To boost your presence on Instagram, create short and meaningful content. Customers want to see the problem your products tackle and the solution.

Use Instagram stories to create informative tutorials for your product. You can also showcase authentic emotional moments. For example, share your videos volunteering in your community. Alternatively, you can show how your products and services greatly impact people’s lives.

Market Your Brand on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of the best social media networks. Businesses can build brand awareness, network and market to potential customers. Small businesses can establish partnerships to boost brand awareness and generate leads. This is why LinkedIn is an invaluable asset for small businesses.

Unlike Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, LinkedIn can help you establish and reinforce relationships. Research shows that business marketing on LinkedIn generates 227% more leads than other forms of marketing. To grow your small business with LinkedIn, grow your email marketing list, and use sponsored updates.

Attend Business Networking Events

Another benefit of joining LinkedIn is connecting with local businesses. Business networking events raise your profile, enable you to gain more knowledge, and get fresh ideas.

When you attend business networking events within your field, you get to interact with ideal prospects. Through networking, you can educate prospects about your brand, products and services. The more networking events you attend, the more your brand becomes visible and gets noticed.

Send Marketing Emails

Now that you’ve your email list from LinkedIn, it’s time to market your brand, products and services to your customers and partners. Email marketing is one of the most effective forms of marketing. It’s accessible to all businesses, affordable and offers free tools.

Email marketing can boost sales, increase engagement, keep on top of trends and ensure a high engagement rate. To be successful in email marketing, have a sound strategy. This will help you achieve your marketing goals and objectives.

Start with your goals and target audience. Create high-quality content, set a schedule and perform A/B split tests. This allows you to measure success. If the open rate is high, send the newsletters to your email list.

You can use email marketing platforms such as Mailchimp, Aweber, Constant Contact and ConvertKit. In your newsletter, add a section called “In Case You Missed It.” This section will showcase your recent posts.

Offer Freebies

People love free stuff, especially if it’s super helpful and they don’t have to move from their sofa to get it. On social media, you can run sponsored posts where you offer freebies. Or allow your online visitors to download digital products from your blog or website.

For example, if you’re running a candle making business, you can offer freebies in the form of candles scented with new fragrances.

If you’re not sure where to start with digital products, try infographics, eBooks and coupons. Giving people free stuff will drive them to your website or blog. Also, you’ll get new email subscribers, especially if your site has an opt-in form.

Stage a Free PR Event

A PR event is an excellent way to showcase your brand, products and services to the general public. With a PR event, you want to be presentable, professional and engaging. A good example is the David Lloyd Clubbs “Run For Your Bun Cafe – Pay As You Row..” The PR event made David Lloyd the world’s first café to take exercise as payment.

The goal of the PR event was to encourage office workers to be more active. Research shows that the average UK worker spends 90% of their working day sitting down or not moving much. Thanks to the “Run For Your Bun” PR event, David Lloyd encourages sedentary office workers to be more active at work.

In exchange for a quick micro workout, they get a free lunch. To create a successful PR event, set a goal, be timely, pick the right venue, and make your PR event social.

Write a Press Release

Press releases are beneficial for letting the general public learn more about your brand, products and services. To succeed, make sure the PR release is well written. Link it to your social media channels and website.

You can also submit the press release to press release sites where journalists have access to. Alternatively, get in touch with local media outlets and tailor the press release for them. Before writing a press release, consider the following:

• Show that your press release has an impact on the general public
• Ensure the sentences are easy to read
• Give your press release a catchy headline
• Use a factual tone
• Add your business contact details

To impress journalists with your press release, be friendly, include a quality image and build relationships.

Attend Trade Shows

Trade shows offer an excellent opportunity to network and sell your brand. Exhibiting your products and services at a trade show is a great way to advertise to a target market. Also, it helps to create brand awareness.

Besides advertising to your target market, trade shows allow you to look at cutting edge developments in your industry. Let’s assume you’re in the fashion industry. By attending trade shows, you can learn the latest fashion trends, such as quilted skirts, puffer jackets and animal prints.

Trade shows also enable you to create good relationships. By creating professional bonds, you improve your operation, which leads to success.

Final Thoughts

Most small businesses do not have access to a huge pot of money that they can use to promote and market their business. That is why it’s essential to use free marketing strategies and methods. Such methods include writing high-quality content, promoting content on social media, and staging a free PR event and more.

If done right, these methods will boost brand awareness, increase sales, and help you achieve your marketing goals.