Launching a startup comes with countless logistical questions, adjustments to strategy, and management decisions that can make managing your own business sound like an impossible task. In addition to figuring out these issues, there’s also the challenge of spreading the word about your startup. You’re the new kid on the block, so you’ll likely need to put forth substantial effort to build up your customer base and start turning a profit.
If you’re breaking into an untouched market, you could have the automatic advantage, but you still need to stay on your A-game if you want to keep the upward trend in motion. And if you’re launching with a superior product in a saturated market, you’ll really need to prove yourself in order to see success. Whichever situation you’re in, learning how to promote your business is an essential skill all business owners should know about.
Lucky for you, we’ve made it simple. In this article, we’ll discuss 4 tips that can help you boost your business’s brand awareness.
1. Use social media to meet prospective customers
Social media has become one of the most important marketing tools out there—and the best part is, it’s mostly free! It will cost you if you want to run ads, but using social media to boost your street cred doesn’t actually have to cost you a dime. People actually like following businesses that post interesting, creative, and local content. So as long as you have good design and a personable voice, building a following on social media isn’t so difficult to do.
Social media is especially effective for lifestyle brands and eCommerce businesses because these products create great opportunities for customers and influencers to share their reviews of the product and help you spread the word across their social circle. Of course, your audience has to exist on social media in order for this tactic to be successful.
If you’re a B2B organization and your customers don’t have a substantial social media presence, but conventions are their main locale, you might focus your marketing dollars on a custom trade show display instead.
It’s all about meeting your audience where they are!
2. Understand the importance of search engines
The last time you were looking for a haircut, you probably went straight to Google (or Bing, or Yahoo) to research “hair salons near me.” From there, you likely looked through the first few results and made your decision without considering the businesses on the second page or even fourth line.
And guess what? You’re not alone! Thousands of consumers follow the same behavior which has made SEO (search engine optimization) such an important development in digital marketing services. SEO strategy aims to get your business to appear as high as possible on search engine results when a user types in keywords that are related to your business.
To find out how you can better optimize your website, you can request an SEO audit service from a marketing agency. In this process, the agency will likely give you an overview of technical issues with your website as well as provide content recommendations that can also contribute to rankings.
SEO audit is the process of analyzing your website’s on-page and off-page elements to see how they affect the visibility of your website on search engine results pages. This includes relevant keywords, backlinks, optimization, meta tags, and more. With an SEO audit you can better understand what areas need improvement in order to boost traffic and rankings.
3. Hire enthusiastic employees
Your employees are some of your most valuable assets for a number of reasons. First, they’re the ones who keep projects in motion and help you get things done. But, whether or not they’re in a sales position, your employees make for excellent sales people—if they’re happy and enthusiastic about their place of work.
From recruiting new talent to generating leads, your employees can help spread the word about your business and help shape the public perception of your organization. Of course, finding great employees isn’t always easy to do. A recruiting platform is one strategy you can use to get the right talent in the door.
4. Participate in local happenings
In addition to building your online presence, you also need to consider how you interact with your local community. By connecting with other businesses, you can find business partners and reach potential customers who you might not have come in contact with before. Check with your local Chamber of Commerce to get news on upcoming networking opportunities in your neighborhood.
Boosting awareness about your business isn’t easy but if you use these tips, you’ll certainly have an easier time finding your audience!
