Looking for expert-approved, budget-friendly tips on how to promote your business online?
Selecting the right platform is half the job done. Imagine this: You sell baby clothes online, and you’ve been promoting the products on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Something doesn’t add up, right? Promoting products on Facebook Marketplace and Instagram makes more sense and helps deliver a personalised experience.
McKinsey highlights the importance of personalisation for a positive customer experience:
- Leads to 20% higher customer satisfaction rates
- Boosts sales-conversion rates by 10 to 15%
- Increases employee engagement by 20 to 30%
Brands, whether big or small, should be where their audience is and not the other way around. So, in this article, we will look at the platforms and strategies you can leverage to create a rock-solid online presence.
7 Cost-Effective Places to Promote Your Business Online
Leverage Social Media Platforms
Given the dynamic digital landscape, you can create awareness for your website on popular social media platforms such as:
- Facebook: Statista claims that there are over 2.96 billion monthly active users on Facebook. You can strategically reach out to this gigantic base with targeted ads based on their personal interests, demographics, and more. Common Facebook ad formats include images, videos, carousel, Instant Experience, and collection.
- Instagram: This platform, too, boasts more than a billion monthly users. If you want to target millennials and Gen Z, Instagram is the ideal platform for your brand. It has many different types of ad formats, including images, videos, carousel, Stories, reels, and so on.
- Twitter: You can use Twitter Ads to promote your Tweets (which appear as an ad on people’s timelines), Promoted Accounts (where your account will be featured in the “Who to follow” section), and more.
- LinkedIn: With over 900 million members, LinkedIn is an excellent promotional platform for B2B brands. You can go for the “Sponsored Content” option (where your images/videos will appear as an ad on people’s feed), Text Ads (which are text-based ads that appear on the right-hand side of the user’s LinkedIn feed), and more.
Pro tip: Determine which platform your target audience uses.
Create a Google Business Profile
This intuitive Google feature enables business owners to capture the pulse of the local audience. Google claims that business owners can see a 2x increase in organic traffic with this feature. Plus, marketers can:
- List the business information on Google Maps and search results
- Stand out on a competitive landscape by personalising the business profile with relevant details
- Convert people who find the brand on Google Search and Maps to lifelong customers
Enlist on Business Listing Websites
You can also list your website on Yelp and TripAdvisor. Think of these as a platform where your customers can leave a review about your brand.
You can create banner ads, set up a listing for your business, and respond to online reviews.
READ: 4 Best Online Directories to List Your Business (and Boost Your Web Presence!)
Set Up Shop on Online Marketplaces
Another strategy that works wonders for promoting any online business is using online marketplaces, such as Amazon, Etsy, or eBay. These marketplaces have developed a solid reputation throughout the years. They generate a massive amount of traffic, giving you access to all these people who shop through the platform.
In other words, if you sell your products on Amazon, Etsy, or eBay, you increase the chances of more people finding out about your business.
Use Content Marketing and SEO Tactics
In an effort to build an online presence, remember to fine-tune your brand’s website. Here are some best practices to follow:
- Optimise your content at all times
- Engage in building backlinks as well as driving SEO efforts
- Communicate your brand’s story and how it came to be to resonate better with your target audience
READ: 10 Clever Content Marketing Tips to Improve Your Small Business Website
Try Email Marketing
Email may not have the same buzz as social media, but it remains the most cost-effective marketing tool with a huge return on investment (ROI) of $36 for every $1 spent.
Email marketing helps brands reach a targeted customer base through strategically conceptualised newsletters. Sending a weekly or monthly newsletter to your email list is a good way to announce a product launch, create awareness about existing products and offers, and stay top-of-mind.
Go for Paid Advertising Options
Paid advertising includes the likes of Google Ads and/or Facebook Ads.
Google Ads helps create text, image, and video ads, which come up as people search for specific keywords related to your business. You will only pay for the ad if someone clicks on it. This allows you to control your budget and spend comfortably.
Facebook Ads allow you to create and run promotional campaigns using various self-serve tools. You can also track campaign performance with easy-to-read reports. A staggering 1.6 billion people globally are connected to a small business on Facebook.
Begin Your Online Advertising Strategy
There are hundreds of smart ways to promote your business online. You can leverage a mix of the platforms outlined above and create a robust marketing roadmap for your business. However, it’s important to find the right mix of platforms that work best for your specific business and target audience. Don’t follow the herd. Every brand is unique, and by extension, so should its marketing strategy.
If you’re just starting out, the first step to get your website running is selecting a relevant domain name. You may also want to experiment with your website’s layout and design. Crazy Domains’ Website Builder empowers business owners to create a professional and mobile-ready website in minutes. You can also rank higher on search engines and improve your online visibility with Managed SEO.
To take your online venture to the next level, think about fine-tuning the functionalities and arm your website with features that customers love.
