To promote a product, a business, or a service, you don’t have to have a big budget and spend a lot of money on advertising. Today I am going to demonstrate this by showing you 12 promotional strategies that you can use in your business to attract customers, increase your sales, and generate more benefits.
These methods can be put into practice whether you have a physical store or an online business, or if you sell your products or services on a website, on your blog, or on a Facebook page.
But best of all, most of these promotional strategies won’t cost you a dime.
So if you want to have more sales in your business, but you don’t have money to spend on advertising, read on and put into practice any of these 12 promotional strategies.
Social media is the perfect marketing tool for the 21st century entrepreneur.
Opening an account on a social network will not cost you anything, and you will reach hundreds and even thousands of potential customers. But you must know how to use them effectively.
To promote a product or business on social media, it is not enough to create a profile and wait for fans to arrive.
Here are some basic steps to implement this method and make the most of it …
2. Encourage shopping with discount vouchers
A discount voucher is a tool that can make you not only get more sales, but also retain customers.
The secret to making this promotion strategy work is to limit the time this discount can be used (for example, a discount that lasts only 5 days), and which can only be used by a small number of people.
This will create in the client a feeling of exclusivity (only he or she can use it) and of urgency.
How to offer this discount? There are several methods:
3. Send your product to bloggers and youtubers
This is a method that both large and small companies use because the results are very good and hardly cost money.
It consists of locating blogs with good visits and popularity, but related to your business, and contacting bloggers to send them your product for free in exchange for them talking about it to their readers.
If you have a clothing store, look for fashion and beauty blogs to send them a T-shirt, skirt or dress.
If you sell mobile apps, look for YouTube channels that talk about technology or video games and give them free access to your app to show it to their audience.
4. Offer free samples to your buyers
There is no better way to attract customers and buy from you again and again than by allowing them to try your products first.
It is true that not all businesses can do this (a computer store cannot provide a computer as a sample); But if your merchandise allows it, giving a sample of it is an excellent promotion strategy.
You can give the free samples in your own physical store when a person makes a purchase – this way the client will feel special and will buy from you again – or distribute samples at home in the mailboxes of the houses.
If you have an online store, send a sample with each order or allow people to request a sample without buying.
In the event that you sell digital services or products (eBooks, mp3 music, consulting services), give them free access to that service for a couple of days or send them a part of that service for free (for example, a couple of chapters of your free eBook).
If you have an online store, or have created a website for your physical business, it is a good idea to create a newsletter or newsletter to keep your buyers and future clients informed of your news or promotions.
So you can advertise better and get more customers who are interested in what you sell.
6. Start a contest
Who doesn’t like free stuff? Starting a contest in which the prize is one of your products or services can help you a lot to promote yourself and get popularity for your business.
Not only will you make yourself known, you will also create curiosity about what you sell to the people who participate.
The best method to start a contest is to do it on social networks.
On Facebook ask your fans to share their publication in their profiles in which the photo of your product appears and a link to your website.
Perhaps you are thinking that with this promotion strategy you will have to send a product for free; But that action will help you publicize it, and the award winner will talk about his reward to his friends and family, and on his blog or YouTube channel if he has one.
The rest of the contestants will discover what you are selling, what is your online store, website, or address of your business, and they will surely be interested in your products and will make a purchase.
7. Write a guest post on other pages
Writing a guest post on other web pages or blogs in your sector will help you get to know potential customers and expand the presence of your business.
This promotion strategy is similar to sending a free product to bloggers and youtubers, only here, in exchange for a little advertising, what you will give is an article to be published.
In this article, you can write about an important topic and, in a subtle way, promote your product so that the people who read it are interested in it.
8. Collaborate with other businesses
A good idea is to look for other businesses that are not your direct competition, but that have clients in common with you, and thus collaborate with them to send you the clients of the other.
For example, if you have a cell phone store you can partner with a computer business.
When someone comes to buy from you, tell them about the computer store and give them a discount for that business, and have the computer store do the same to their customers.
This is an excellent way to get excited, get to be better known, and to increase your customer base by helping other entrepreneurs like you.
9. Hold demonstrations or small free courses
Offering free demonstrations of your products in your business is another good way to attract the attention of your customers to publicize your small business.
Not only will you awaken their curiosity in your merchandise, but you will also increase the desire to buy it when they see the benefits they can provide.
One way to do this is to offer small courses lasting no more than two hours where you teach how to use that item.
Make the demonstrations on days that you have more clients in your business so that more people see the test.
The big company Apple often uses this method and they have verified that it is a great way to increase their sales.
They usually do small workshops every so often (3 months, 6 months) that only last a couple of hours an afternoon, and show the operation of the new iPad, the new iPhone, or any other accessory that they have just launched on the market.
10. Pass out business cards
Printing some business cards will not cost you a lot of money and you can make a good professional impression with them by giving them to people who can promote your business.
Create cards that include the logo of your business, a small slogan or phrase that describes what you sell, your email, phone number, address of your premises or your website.
Do not be shy: give these cards to anyone who can advertise for you – friends and family who distribute them to their acquaintances, or even clients to remember you or give them to other people.
Talk to owners of establishments that are not your competition and ask them if you can leave them there so that their customers can take them …
11. Create promotional bookmarks
Create a fun bookmark with the link to your website or blog, the address of your store, the name of your brand, and go to the public library in your city.
Ask the librarian if you can leave some bookmarks there for people to pick up. Or if he can give one of your bookmarks to anyone who takes a borrowed book.
Inevitably, readers of those books will see it and surely many of them, if only out of curiosity, will enter your website or visit your physical store and will be interested in your services or articles.
12. Advertise in mailboxes
This last promotion strategy is the most traditional and best known to all.
It consists of creating some brochures or advertisements announcing your business, and putting these papers in the mailboxes of the houses near your establishment.
If you are low on budget, print these flyers yourself; But if you have a little money, you can design a nice advertisement to print it at a nearby printing shop where they don’t charge you much.
It is better that you use this method for a physical store or business, and that you distribute the advertising in the houses near where your store is located.
As you can see, most of these promotional strategies will not cost you a penny, and in the rest you will have to invest very little money to put them into practice.
They are techniques that, although they seem simple, work very effectively, and are used around the world by both large and small companies, as well as by people who are beginning their way in the entrepreneurial world.
Which of these promotional strategies have you used and which ones worked best for you? Leave me a comment below telling me your experience.
This Post was originally published on localadvertisingjournal.com