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Marketing 101: 5 Simple Ways to Promote Your Business

marketing is one of the best ways to promote your business

Often, one of the things that sets you apart from a competitor is the experience a customer has in arriving on your doorstep (real or virtual!). Much of that is marketing – the ways you promote your business to attract customers.

Marketing is a conversation you have with customers and other businesses before actually talking to them, so make it meaningful and memorable.

Whether you have recently started a business or want to grow your presence, a good understanding of marketing will serve you well. With millions of resources online, finding advice that’s straightforward and practical can be daunting.

Luckily, we’ve done the hard work for you and found 10 simple ways to promote your business.

Top 4 reasons why marketing is one of the best ways to promote your business

Why is it a great ways to promote your business? Because it:

  1. Helps raise awareness of your business, to bring in new customers
  2. Serves as a type of customer service to deliver information
  3. Helps you compete with other businesses in your industry
  4. Provides insights about the market (customers and competitors) so you can make informed business decisions

Tip 1: Start with business cards

When you’re starting out your budget can be limited. Much of your promotion will involve calling, emailing or meeting face-to-face with potential customers, suppliers and partners.

Not all marketing needs to be online, which is why business cards are so useful. They allow you to introduce yourself and your business, while also appearing organised and therefore professional to the receiver. Kudos to you.

It’s important to give your business card to anyone who can help you. From old and new colleagues to friends and other local businesses. Think about what your business offers – what problem it solves – and talk to the people who need that solution in their lives. Or the people who can access them for you!

These days, you don’t have to stress about adding graphic design to your budget. To design your business card at little cost you can leave it to a printing company like Vistaprint. Even Officeworks can design and print your cards for minimal cost.

When using such printing services, explore their range of business card options. In place of traditional cards, you could make your business card a magnet. This may make it more likely for people to keep it – and put it on display too, e.g. whiteboard or fridge in their office.

Alternatively, you can get creative and use a free online design tool called Canva. Canva has thousands of completely editable business card templates for a wide range of needs, such as, logos, promotional material, and letterheads. It also has an extensive image library and allows for your files to download in many formats. Great for printing and sharing digitally.

Tip 2: Build your online presence

For some businesses building an online presence is overwelming. With plenty of online channels, like Google My Business and LinkedIn, choosing what to do where can be a struggle (hot tip: Google My Business is simple but super important – more on this later).

And when you factor in realistic time and cost investments, it’s understandable why some businesses aren’t online.

Let’s talk business websites. If you think of your website as your online shopfront, you may consider it a worthy investment in the future.

Some of the key benefits of a website include:

  • Tailorability to your business needs – for example, allowing customers to ask questions, submit requests or make bookings online (plenty of people prefer to deal this way)
  • Fast information delivery – all your information in one place and avilable 24/7 to help encourage customers to take your journey
  • Content control – you can own and control your business’s ‘message’ to the public, by what you feature on your website
  • Better promotion – you can link to, or display your website on, any promotional material

Websites can be created by web developers or by using simple online website builders (such as Wix or Squarespace). Some are even free. We recommend taking your time to research before deciding which is the best investment of time and money for your business. Learn more here.

If you’re designing a website – one of the best ways to promote your business – here are 7 top design tips.

Tip 3: Share your business on Facebook

It’s estimated that over 16 million Australians are active users on Facebook. With these figures in mind, it’s clear to see why almost 50% of businesses use the platform to connect with customers.

Setting up a business page on Facebook is a great way to expand your online presence. It can also be a useful substitute if you don’t have a website.

Researching competitor businesses, building industry connections and establishing your goals are some of the steps to take when kicking off a business page on Facebook. Additionally, sharing good quality information, images and videos can help make your profile eye-catching and drive engagement.

Most importantly, factor in time to regularly check and update your page so it remains current. You can also ask colleagues and supporters to share your page, as this is an easy way to expand your reach.

Tip 4: Ask for reviews

One of the many benefits of your Google My Business account is reviews. Ditto with Facebook. The words of other customers can be very powerful to prospective customers, which is why positive reviews are so important.

As your business grows and more clients come your way, you can encourage them to leave a review of your business and help strengthen your reputation.

When customers or businesses interested in your business want to contact you, they’re likely to search for you on Google. Your Google My Business listing simply refers to your address, contact number, type of business and you can even include photos. You can also link to your website if you have one.

By having a Google My Business account, you can manage your business listing and ensure you don’t miss out on potential clients. Setting one up is simple, here’s where to get started.

Tip 5: Make your email billboard stand out

According to technology market research firm The Radicati Group, around 126 emails on average are sent by a single staff member each day. Think about the kind of emails you or your staff send, such as quotes, invoices, out of office messages and communicating with your network.

Your mailbox/es can experience strong traffic, Hence can be one of the best ways to promote your business..

While your contact details are very important at the bottom of an email, the remaining space here is very generic without putting some work in. If you think of your email signature as a billboard, you will start to see the potential for it as a valuable promotional opportunity.

You could be subtly sharing information and offers with your suppliers, partners, customers and other contacts without the hassle of a sales pitch.

There are many ways you can approach your email signature to benefit your business. Looking at your contacts’ signatures is a great place for ideas. Here are our suggestions:

  • Share details about your services
  • Include your logo and use similar colours
  • Encourage consultations or demonstrations
  • Promote an offer or event
  • Raise awareness of an award or customer review
  • Link to your own content, website, or media coverage about you

For some inspiration, below are 4 email signature designs you may like. Simply click here if you’d like to start building one in Canva.

Now that you’re equipped with some great ways to promote your business, remember to review your Professional Indemnity and General Liability insurance to ensure your business nest egg is protected. And head on over to our next blog article – 5 more property services business marketing tips.

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