4 Free Ways to Market Your Small Business
Operating a business of any size from a sound financial position is necessary and wise. Assigning expenses to categories that make the financial sense drives every entrepreneur. Every business will look different.
There are many ways to market a business for free on a daily basis. Smart business owners will take advantage of every free opportunity. Let’s discuss the top 4 ways we recommend marketing your business for free.
Social media management (Facebook, Instagram, X, etc.)
Publish content & share
SEO tools
Business review websites
Social media management (Facebook, Instagram, X, other platforms)
Social media is a valuable tool to share news, updates, and information for your business. Creating content to share across multiple platforms is helpful for business growth. Increasing follower count is necessary to convert followers into customers. Conversion generally takes 8 interactions with potential customer prior to a sale.
Not every social media platform is necessary for every business. Our team is adamant that it does not make sense to use every platform. For our clients, we encourage Facebook and Instagram because Meta makes it simple to post the same content to both platforms. This simple step adds no extra work, so using the two linked platforms is smart. When considering additional platforms, it does not always make sense unless it suits the business model specifically.
Let's look at an example. One client wanted us to post on SnapChat, Instagram, Facebook and X. This client was also considering Tik Tok. Crossposting across those channels ensuring formatting is correct is time consuming and tedious. This particular client did not have content that made sense on a platform like X or SnapChat. Both of those platforms are great for more personal types of communication where a takes place, but that doesn’t mean it’s great for conversion to sales on a larger scale. This is when it helps to have defined marketing goals and strategy.
Don't fall for the lie that you have to use every platform. Attempting to post across many platforms can become an overwhelming distraction.
Publish content & share
Publish content that is helpful to your followers. There are two kinds of content to share. The first kind of content to share is content that engages your followers and invites them to get to know you. The second kind of content to share is content that is helpful, beneficial and leads to conversion.
Introductions to followers explaining your business and your mission is valuable because through social media, followers seek to connect with you. Social media creates the opportunity for individuals to interact with small businesses on a more personal scale. This interaction develops trust and leads to engagement, and eventually conversion. This type of content is also specific to the type of business you have.
For example, a cookie baker seeking both customers to purchase and customers to attend baking classes would benefit from a relational approach. A car detail business will have a different approach to engage customers and demonstrate their unique ability to provide an excellent car detail. Businesses must develop content that fits the business type but also engages customers on a personal level.
The second kind of content to share is helpful tips and information.
“But why give away my help for free?”
It’s important to not be shortsighted in the business world. Customers like to do business with people who help others. That doesn’t mean you give everything away for free. When businesses demonstrate their knowledge and expertise on a subject in a helpful way, it promotes trust with potential clients who may eventually become paying clients. That is the goal. You’re not a gatekeeper of information. The Internet enables anyone to learn about anything in a matter of seconds. Share information that you have found beneficial with others, and they will see their need for more of your services.
Anytime you create content, share it across all the channels available to you. Publish content on a business blog that can be shared to Facebook, Instagram, and even Google Business. The hits on your content across multiple platforms is beneficial with search engine algorithms.
SEO tools
Search engine optimization is necessary so that you appear in search engine rankings. Local SEO is invaluable for a local business. Keyword research should be conducted every 6-9 months because keywords do change over time. Keywords are a long-term approach to your marketing strategy, so you don’t want to focus a lot of time on this every single day.
One tiny point that can be helpful with SEO is using your Google Business Profile monthly update to see what search terms brought people to your website. This is just one small way to keep your keywords updated throughout your website in order to achieve better search rankings.
Business review websites
Websites like Google Business Profile, Yelp, and Facebook reviews are great opportunities to interact with clients who review your business. There are more niche review sites that may be considered. Research business specific websites to make a decision. There is plenty of competition among review sites, and it is worth your time to study if business referrals are a chunk of your business.
Every business needs a Google Business Profile. It’s free and offers the ability to reply to business reviews. Additionally, you can post updates similar to Facebook or Instagram using the same content.
There is a Bing counterpart to Google Business Profile called Places for Business. We are reviewing this to determine whether to recommend it to our clients.
What does Flywheel do?
Flywheel is a full service marketing company. We work with clients to create a strategy that makes sense for their business. Businesses are unique, and our approach addresses that. Most of our clients know what they want when they come to us, and we make recommendations that bring a solid return on investment as we partner to establish their brand online. Some clients ask for things that would generate more income for our business, but it doesn’t make sense to make them money in their business. There are some strategies that don’t produce results, and we know that from years of experience. We guide our clients (even if it means we lose money) to the solutions that provide the greatest return on investment for them. Our goal is your business growth and success, and with this approach we find our business grows as well.
We work with clients to find a marketing management path forward and to educate on what makes sense to stretch marketing dollars. We would love to work with you to grow your small business. Click the button to set up a free consultation where we will offer you recommendations based on your current online presence. We can start today!
