No matter how great the quality of your product or service is, this will not translate into profit if you have no customers. Most of the time products and services don’t sell well not because they aren’t any good, but rather potential customers don’t know they exist. Advertising and marketing have always been a challenge for small businesses because of their cost.
The internet offers free, cheap, and highly effective advertising options that small businesses can use.
Word of mouth remains to be one of the most effective and trusted methods to market or advertise a product or service even today. This can only happen by making sure that every customer is happy and satisfied. A satisfied customer will serve as an ambassador, an advocate, or an evangelist that will promote, protect, and convince other consumers to patronise your business. How do you make a customer happy? That’s pretty obvious. Make sure that your product or service works and that it adds value. Apart from this, make sure that the customer has the best experience ever while dealing with you or visiting the business site. At times, you may also need to encourage, motivate, and maybe even incentivise your customers to do the promoting. It can be as simple as asking for a review.
There are three beneficial things to gain when items or services are given for free. First, it lets people know of your business’s existence. Second, it gives you the chance to show that your product or service really works. Third, it offers your customers a great way to try out your new product or service without spending a dime. Once they find out that it truly works, then they will be willing to spend money on it.
All businesses need a website. Whether you go for a bespoke solution, or a solution such as aotearoaweb.com where domain fees, email, and a 3year refresh are included, your business needs an online presence that is professional and helps customers know what it is you do. Over 80% of word-of-mouth referrals will still check out your site before contacting you. 1768degrees.com plans include site maintenance and site refresh or replacement after three years. Each plan is offered at a reasonable price.
Social media has been continuously changing the way business is done today. There are multiple social media platforms but Facebook leads the pack with over 1.1 billion registered users around the world. That’s more than 15 percent of the global population. That means that most of your potential customers are using this platform. This makes it wise to register your own business on Facebook as well. Social media makes it convenient and easy to talk about your business. This makes it easy for them to share, Tweet, or post about your business.
Everybody likes to win a prize. So if you are selling a product, create a contest that revolves around your industry and offer your product as the prize. To create a buzz around the contest, use word of mouth and social media. Even if many of your customers didn’t win the prize, the contest will stimulate their interest in your products or services.
Discounts, coupons, and promo deals are like freebies too. Giving this is a creative, affordable, and effective means to drive more customers to your business. This is because people often see discounts and deals as a great way to save money and enjoy a good-quality product or service at a lower cost. It is also a good way to publicise your brand. Deals and discounts often influence the decision of consumers that they end up buying more than they initially planned. However, deals and offers should be time-limited or coincide with periods where you typically aren’t busy. If you use these often people will come to expect to not pay full price for your product or service.
We offer affordable ways to get online, leaving you to focus on your business. We are delighted to support small and micro businesses in their online journey.
