Unless you have a mega advertising budget, you might think that getting your business “out there” is an impossible task. The good news is that that absolutely does not have to be the case. There are plenty of options for advertising your business online for free — all it takes is a little bit of research, creativity, and time on your part. But the results are well worth it, and we guarantee that with a few additional advertising channels, you will see interest in your business grow. In this article, we sum up our top six suggestions on how to advertise your business online for free.
1. Google
Google offers its paid advertising platforms, but when budget is an issue then this isn’t something you can always consider. There is, however, still many ways to use Google to your advantage when planning out your advertising. Google My Business, for example, is a great way for any business, whether it’s a painting contracting business to a coffee shop, to get their name out online. Ensure that your business listing is up to date and work on your Google reviews. Google Analytics is also a very effective way to monitor and track your site activity. If Analytics is showing you that one page in particular is not getting many hits, or the average time spent on your pages is low, then take this on board and make the necessary changes to improve these stats.
2. Social Media
You don’t have to be on every social media platform you’ve ever heard of to have advertising success. It may not make sense, for example, for a financial services company to have a TikTok account, but it would certainly be a good idea for them to have a LinkedIn page. Do some research into what social media channels are available to you and use those channels’ readily available and free functions to boost awareness of your company. Create Facebook events and competitions, use relevant hashtags on Twitter, post content on your LinkedIn page. These are simple but effective ways to get your business’ name out there to the right audience.
3. YouTube
YouTube is a fantastic way to advertise your business for free, and despite what you might think, it really does not take much to do it well. Over half of all searches on YouTube begin with “how to”. Everybody loves how to video! So take that into account and provide video content for your target audience by highlighting what your company does and how you can help the watcher.
4. Email Marketing
Ensure that you have a way to capture email data on your website or through subscription drives at events. Once you have this data, you have a very clear path to your target audience — so use it wisely! There are a variety of email distribution platforms available for free email marketing, for example MailChimp. Email marketing is an opportunity to sell your product without being overly promotional and “sales-y”. Create some quirky and relevant content, such as “5 reasons you should be using XXX for XXX” style emails, or behind-the-scenes content.
5. SEO
You don’t have to hire an expert to run your dedicated SEO (search engine optimization) campaign. As long as you have an understanding of the basics then you can successfully increase your SEO and, ultimately, your website traffic. If you use WordPress or similar, make sure to install a free plugin to help optimize your SEO (such as Yoast SEO plugin) and spend a little time learning the optimal keywords for your business.
6. Blogging
This is an absolute must for businesses. No matter what your niche, there is always going to be content that you can write about for your blog. Offer your prospective and existing customers valuable information and tips, perhaps provide behind the scenes or meet the team posts, and be as creative (while remaining informative) as possible!
Conclusion
These are just six of our top picks for advertising your business online for free. Of course, some channels will work better for you than others depending on your business niche. The best place to advertise a painting business, for example, might be very different to the best place to advertise a veterinary clinic. So do some research into where your efforts will be best placed, and don’t be afraid to get creative!