How to Market Your New Business

Whether you are just opening a new business or have been a establishment with decades of operation, knowing how to market yourself is important for success. There many different types of strategies, many of them free or low cost, to use when promoting a new business.

Pitch Yourself

Use any place or situation as opportunity to promote. Always have business cards on hand to give to people you meet or leave them places such as bulletin boards for individuals to find. Don’t be afraid to interact with others, you are one of your biggest promoters and sometimes just word of mouth is crucial in getting your name out there.

Create Buzz

Know of a community event that’s upcoming or reoccurring? Hand out fliers or place an ad in a program or newsletter. Get people talking or spark their curiosity in anticipation of a grand opening or after the initial launch of your business. If your community has a local paper or an online news source, submit story ideas to them and any other media venue such as radio or TV stations.

Network

Connect with as many people and/or other businesses as you can. Follow them on their social media platforms. Join Facebook groups made up of other entrepreneurs and business owners like yourself. Also look into joining networks of bloggers; they write on many different topics and have connections to many other people who can be a great resource in advertising you.

Collaborate

Reach out to other local businesses and do a joint promotion; bring in a receipt or ticket stub from one business and the other gives a dollar off something. If money and logistics are too complicated to figure out, do some simple like shout outs to each other on your social media pages. Work with a blogger or influencer to write or post about your business; it’s great promotion for both parties.

Online/Social Media Presence

Make sure you have a website and social media accounts that are both eye catching and easy for potential customers to interact with you. Besides a website, set up a Facebook page and Instagram and Twitter accounts which all have millions of users and are the easiest way to promote your business. If you employ more than just yourself, assign someone to handle one or all social media accounts. Look into using Facebook ads as well; the money you spend can be well worth it to make sure your target audience sees these ads.