This will be a topic I’ll bring up a bunch, as I come across more ways to do so. This is also dependent on your business and client base. If you’re specializing in a high end product but you’re situated in a low rent area where typical high end clients may not hang out, these things may not apply directly, but the general theory can be used. This is also highly dependent on your TYPE of client or knowing your customer. If you have a general type of client that always buys your product or service we can work backwards to find out where other similar clients are and market to them. Or, if you’re looking to branch out (via the blue ocean strategy) we can look how you can tailor a service to a different generation of buyer.
- Local paper. Yes, i know, they’re almost all dying, but, they’re still there in most towns. The most obvious example is to take out an ad and just keep doing it. The other option is to contact the paper to see if you can write an article every week/bi-weekly/monthly about your business and the benefits that current clients enjoy with it. It doesn’t have to just be a ‘buy my product’, but you’re doing it for branding. If they continue to open the paper and see your article people will get used to it, and if you have a great personality (you do 🙂 then people will respond, be interested in your article and want to visit your business. If not just to meet you, but then most likely buy something from the ‘local celebrity’.
- Business Development with other like minded businesses. If you’re on the chamber of commerce or just through being involved in the area you know other business owners. If you don’t you’re missing an opportunity to meet similar people that are looking for the same thing: more clients. See what kind of trade you can do with them to give them free advertising, then see how they’ll help. If you have an 11×17 poster that advertises your services that you can post in their window and vice versa. If they have an email list or some other mailer maybe you could split one. If you get a group of businesses the 5 or 10 of you could even do a bi monthly mailer with articles.
- Farmers Market. Not all places have it but it’s worth checking into. Maybe you don’t offer a product that can easily be sold there, but can you take something small that might entice people to sign up for your product/service? You can just put in some face there and maybe you’ll meet other business owners there and it can help #2.
- Social Media. (this ones free 🙂 This is the obvious answer and there will be a lot more articles on how to use social media to advertise and look for clients, but the easy one now will be to open Instagram or Facebook or Twitter and do a search by location. If you’re in a small enough area and someone goes to a lot of the local businesses either follow them or like their posts. Make sure you’re following all the businesses in your area, the alderman, mayor, etc and engage with their posts. Leaving insightful comments on the pages where a lot of your community people will be attending is a great way to get your name out there. Don’t pitch, but add to the conversation so people know to turn to you with questions. Get to know the community through social media.
Looking for help with your marketing? Reach out so we can discuss how we can help.