Regardless of whether you run an online or a physical store you will benefit greatly from advertising. When done right, it is a highly effective way to grow any type of business.
For many people doing this is a daunting prospect. We all tend to think about advertising as something that only big firms do. As being too expensive or complicated for a sole trader or small business to wrangle with.
If you feel like this, read on. As you will see there are plenty of low-cost, easy-to-implement ways to advertise that will provide you with a good return on your investment. Because we know that a lot of you run some form of physical business to support your online efforts we have focused on methods that work well both on and offline.
Free advertising
In this article, we are going to look primarily at free or virtually free methods. Clearly, those ads provide you with a great Return on Investment (ROI). Provided, of course, implementing them does not burn up a lot of your time and the advertising actually does convert. Here are some approaches that tick both of those boxes.
List yourself on Google My Business
It takes minutes to list yourself on Google. Yet, it is incredibly powerful. Being listed instantly builds trust and boosts your brand and there is a huge amount you can do once you have been accepted, including spreading the word about your business This article and the others you will see when you scroll down the page explains some of them.
Even if you do not have a physical outlet, still get your GMB listing. It is not hard to do, provides your website with a link and ensures when someone searches for your service you are in the results mix. Plus, it will help suppliers or potential partners to realize you are legit.
Sign up for Google Merchant
Those little product ads that you see at the top of the page when you search for physical items are generated by Google Shopping. If you sign up for Google Merchant Centre, when someone in your area searches for something that you sell, your products could be the ones that are displayed there. This one takes a bit of time to implement. But it is not complicated and can convert well. Here is how to do it.
Add yourself to the main business directories
Showing up at the top of the page for “XYZ near me” searches is not easy. Particularly, if the firms you are competing against have big SEO budgets. This is why it is worth adding yourself to some of the bigger directories e.g., Yelp. Do a “near me” Google search as if you were a customer and see which directories rank highest and get yourself listed on those. That includes the directories that are shown in Google´s Find Results On the slider, which is usually near the top of the page.
There are many other ways to advertise for free. Most of the 40 ideas listed here are viable for any type or size of business. The majority are effective regardless of the marketplace you are operating in. But do take the time to do a little extra research to work out which approaches are best for you.
Apply what you learn from physical advertising to online campaigns
If you run a physical store, clinic, salon, restaurant, bar, café, workshop, or gym, alongside your online business maximize your in-store advertising. This is the case, whether you trade year-round out of these locations. Or take advantage of other types of lower-cost physical retail formats. For example, popup opportunities, markets, festivals, concert stalls, or run a food van or other form of mobile business.
When your customers are shopping with you in a physical setting, you have their attention in a way that you do not have at other times. It is important to take full advantage of that time to boost your brand, remind your customers of what you have to offer. As well as to promote your key products or services. The items that have a good profit margin or are so tempting that they generate repeat custom. For all of this, you cannot beat digital display ads. The use of digital signs for in-store advertisements has grown rapidly in popularity. Largely, because it is so effective and extremely easy to do.
Using the software and stock images that are usually provided by the advertising screen company, you can create a customized ad and deploy it in under 20 minutes. Once up, using your sales data you can monitor the effectiveness of that ad. If sales do not rise, creating and deploying a new one is just as easy. When you find an ad that works, it can be used online. On your site, for social media ads or for banner ads that are displayed on websites that your type of customer visits regularly.
As you can see, advertising need not be expensive or hugely time-consuming. So, why not aim to try out a new form, once a month.
