In the modern business environment it’s important to help your company stand out from the rest by promoting yourself in the best way possible. While you’ll always need to provide a quality product and service to back it up, using a few tried and true promotional techniques can go a long way to giving your business the exposure it needs. In this article, we’ll look at a few of our favourite ways to promote a business, from embracing social media to using promotional bags to spread your message.
1. Increase your Web presence
With the popularity of the internet these days, it’s essential for any business to know how to use the Web to its advantage. This involves more than simply having a great-looking and functional web site (though this is a big part of it!). You’ll also need to embrace social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter to engage your customers, keep them apprised of developments in your business and build loyalty towards your company. You should also consider keeping a blog with constantly-updated content to establish yourself as a voice of authority in your niche and help achieve better rankings on popular search engines.
2. Have excellent branding
Branding is about defining your company’s identity, whether it be through your name, logo, signage, graphic design or any number of other factors. It should be memorable, impacting customers at the first point of contact and differentiating you from other businesses in your niche. You can help develop your branding by printing things like business cards, maintaining a great web site and advertising in print and other forms of media. Branding shouldn’t just be about getting customers to pick you over the competition; it’s about getting customers to see you as the only answer to their problem.
3. Give out complementary items as promo
Further to the concept of branding, it’s a great idea to promote your company by giving out free items to potential customers. A great example of this can be seen with many gyms, which give new members a backpack or a drink bottle with the gym’s logo on it. This way, when the member leaves the gym with the backpack or gym bottle in their possession, it acts as a moving (and free!) advertisement wherever that person goes. Attend public events or buy booths at conferences and be creative with your promo.
4. Use environmentally-friendly practices
With the impact of climate change a major concern throughout the world, most businesses are making a point of employing environmentally-friendly practices in everything they do. This could be anything from attaching company environmental policies in email signatures to having recycling processes in place or handing out promotional green bags made from biodegradable materials at events.
5. Get your real life social network involved
One of the best resources you have at your disposal is your group of family, friends and
acquaintances. Many people espouse the values of networking, and the more you spread the word about your business among these people, the more they will spread the word themselves, resulting in greater business opportunities in the future. While this is embodied in the social media techniques we discussed earlier, it doesn’t have to be limited to the onine world.