10 Free Ways to Advertise Your Small Business
One of the biggest challenges in running a small business is getting your name out there. For many small businesses just starting out, most have little to nothing set aside for marketing. Which means every opportunity for free marketing needs to be taken advantage of.
To help you take advantage of all the free options that are out there, we’ve compiled a list of ideas that are completely free and can be used to help you build your audience and your brand.
Here’s a list of 10 FREE ways to advertise your small business
Create a website and use SEO tactics to optimize for organic search
Use Social Media Platforms to Promote your Business for Free
Create engaging content and distribute it through email marketing
Utilize Google My Business to increase visibility in local searches
Take advantage of free classifieds websites to post ads and reach potential customers
Have fun with interactive content
Create more reels and video content where you show your face
Partner with another small business owner and promote a partnership
Start a blog/be a guest blogger/ be a guest on a podcast
Hand out Business Cards
1 // Create a website and use SEO to optimize for Organic Search
It’s hard to promote a business when you don’t have a presence on the Interwebs. Getting your website up and running and having proper SEO will help immensely in helping people find your business. While this is not a fast process, it’s one of the best things you can do to make sure your site is easily found by search engines like Google or Bing.
2 // Use Social Media Platforms to Promote your Business for Free
Being on social media is completely free! The largest investment here is your time to create content that attracts followers and explains who you are as a business and shares the “business personality.” Be consistent, be entertaining, and be informative. While working on this, give your audience a reason to trust you and what you have to say.
3 // Create Engaging Content and Distribute It Through Email Marketing
Along with having a consistent posting schedule for your social media accounts, collecting email addresses from your audience and sending them emails is another great way to draw attention to your business. Whether you use email marketing to send out newsletters or to advertise upcoming promotions or sales, this is a great way to advertise. The big thing here to watch here are open rates for your emails. If at least 35% of your audience is opening your email communications, you’re at a good starting point. If you can increase this to upwards of 50%, you’ve done a great job connecting with your audience, and they value the communication you are sending out.
4 // Utilize Google My Business to Increase Visibility in Local Searches
If you sell a product or service, then being on Google My Business is a MUST, even if Google isn’t your primary way of attracting customers. Google My Business is a tool many consumers use to check the credibility of a business. Potential customers or followers will look at your reviews on google, check out your website, and may even look through any photos you have on your business profile. Make sure this is professional and has all the basic business info of contact information, address, hours of operation, email address, website, and connections to social profiles.
5 // Take Advantage of Free Classifieds Websites to Post Ads and Reach Potential Customers
Many cities and neighborhoods have free newspapers or online presences that go out from time to time. See if you can get listed on one of them. While it may not grab you a lot of clients initially, it helps your local audience see the company name and build awareness. Depending on the product or service you offer, it could give you an opportunity to connect with someone who may not have found you otherwise. Be sure to track what leads you get from anything like this to make sure it remains worth your time to keep it running.
6 // Have Fun with Interactive Content
Social media, especially platforms like Instagram, are great places to interact with your audience. One of the best ways to interact with your audience is to give them something to react to! Put up a funny meme or quote, or even be brave and try to copy something that’s trending. You never know what people will share. The biggest thing is continue to find and create content that invites your audience to engage with you!
7 // Create More Reels and Video Content where you show your face
One of the foundations of content that we work with our clients on is getting personal. This means showing your face and being willing to let your audience see you in real life. Maybe it’s a quick photo of your super organized desk, or you make a video talking about how you helped a client deal with something frustrating and made it better. Reels are video are extremely important, as they are the most watched content across social media right now.
8 // Partner with another Small Business Owner and Promote a Partnership
This is a fantastic way to connect with other businesses in your area. Collaborations are a great way to build excitement around BOTH brands. Maybe there’s a giveaway as part of the collaboration or some other way of really capitalizing on driving action from your audience. One key here, is to ensure that the collaboration benefits BOTH parties. This may take some negotiation or creativity, but when others see that you want to benefit them as well, they are much more likely to join with you.
9 // Start a Blog/Be a Guest Blogger/Be a guest on a podcast
Starting a blog is a great way to share your expertise and knowledge with your audience. It’s also a great way to let them see a bit of your personality and what you might be like to work with. Blogs can be short, blogs can be long, the biggest thing is to be consistent about posting. Whether it’s once a week, twice a month, or something different, be consistent in your schedule so your audience knows when to expect more from you.
Another option here is to be a guest blogger for someone else you know in the industry who already has a blog. This is great because it brings you credibility by them allowing you to post. Take advantage of these opportunities to share your knowledge and be seen as an industry expert.
Being a guest on a podcast is also another tool for free marketing. Being a guest on a podcast is another fantastic way to share your knowledge and insights. Whether it’s industry specific or something more personal, podcasts are more long form and conversational, and gives you the chance to really expound on your knowledge. Definitely take advantage of these and come prepared. One side note, make sure you’ve listened to the podcast before agreeing to be on one. It’s very important to be familiar with the way a host will ask questions and how they interact with their guests.
10 // Hand Out Business Cards
This is a little old school, but still works really well. Always, and I do mean ALWAYS, keep a few business cards with you wherever you go. Nothing is more frustrating than having a conversation with someone and then not leaving them a way to remember you or contact you. Whether you’re at a networking event, or a grocery store, or simply buying a tank of gas, having a business card at the ready can possibly mean the difference of gaining a new lead or customer and losing them because you had no way to follow up. One final secret trick here, if they don’t have a card but you want to get their information, write their info on one of the business cards you keep with you, make a note in your notes app, or even send yourself an email with their contact info.
One final thing here, is if you get an email address, make sure you add their name and email address to your database so you can contact them in the future and also receive email communications you send out for the company.
Advertising for your small business doesn’t need to be complicated, it needs to be consistent and creative. As you try out different methods of free advertising, be sure to keep track of what comes in from these efforts to see if the time has been worth it, and then lean more into those efforts that bring you more opportunities.