Entrepreneurship is on the rise in Canada. Case in point, almost 17,000 new businesses started up in December of 2020 alone. While it’s encouraging to see, it also illustrates the importance of getting your business heard through all the noise.
If you’re a small business owner, you might not be able to hire a marketing firm to help you get the word out about your business, which means you’ll have to figure out the most effective ways to do this on your own.
Ready to get started? Keep reading!
1. Give Away Branded Apparel
Who doesn’t like free stuff? That pleasant surprise you give customers by including a free t-shirt, hoodie or laptop case could be enough to win their loyalty and convert them into repeat customers. At the very least, with your logo on it, you’ll have moving billboards advertising your business to people who might not have heard of you otherwise. But unlike a billboard, you pay for custom branded swag once, and it can last a lifetime. You can also run a contest to boost your email contact list and generate more leads by giving away that free apparel as prizes.
So how do you decide which is the most effective swag for your business? The keys are:
- Pick a product you know your customers will wear. For example, if your business caters to students, you might consider going with backpacks.
- Make it stylish enough that people will want to wear it.
- Use high-quality products.
Remember, these clothes or accessories represent your brand and communicate a lot about who you are as a company, so you want to make a good impression.
Still unsure about which to choose? T-shirts are cost-effective, unisex and worn by people of all ages. All you need is a professional printing company that supplies quality apparel and can help you with custom t-shirt ideas.
2. Live Stream a Day in the Life of Your Business
Live streaming grew by 93% in 2021, and it’s expected to be a $184 billion (U.S.) industry by 2027. Live streams are an engaging way to reach current and potential customers and can establish you as an expert in your field. All you need to get started is a cell phone and maybe a tripod or selfie stick, as all the social media platforms now have live stream capabilities.
This idea might not be the best if you’re an accounting firm. But if you run a barbershop, own a restaurant or a retail store, viewers will tune in to watch you give a customer the perfect fade, or to see what happens behind the scenes in the kitchen of a restaurant or to see the new fall collection before anyone else.
Even if you don’t have a huge social media following, don’t underestimate the number of people at home or work looking for a temporary distraction. They could very well tune in as people enjoy watching professionals do their thing; it’s the reason behind the popularity of a whole genre of reality shows. And live streaming is a great way to get them as new followers on social media.
Ideally, you want to be consistent with the frequency and timing of your streams – pick a time of day and day of the week, decide how often you’ll go live and stick to that schedule. Then use your social media accounts to promote your live broadcasts.
3. Get to Blogging
Blogging isn’t going to make you an overnight sensation (not many things will), but it keeps you in touch with your customers and is the slow and steady approach to long-term success. 72% of online marketers cite content creation (including blogs) as their most effective SEO strategy. In case you didn’t know, SEO stands for search engine optimization. And that’s the biggest benefit of business blogging, because 80% of major purchases are made after a buyer has searched for information online first.
When you write blogs, write about topics you know matter to your customers. Use a keyword research tool to find out what terms people use to search for information about your industry and write out detailed explanations to those questions. The goal is that, when people type those same questions into a search engine, your blog post shows up on the results page and brings traffic to your website.
Once on your site, you can encourage people to check out your products or services pages, read related blog posts or sign up for blog updates or newsletters through a call-to-action button at the bottom of the blog post.