How to promote your business for free.
You may have found that the current business climate has made it hard to know what to do next to keep your customers informed of your offerings. If you are a small business owner and you're not sure how to connect with your clients online then keep reading. This page includes useful information that will help you get started for free.
WHAT? What exactly are we offering
Just like you, we operate a small business and we are here to offer ideas and tips on how you can promote your business in the midst of our current economy.
HOW? How are we helping
You may say "How would YOU be able to help me?" Well we are glad you asked: In the sections below, we outline strategies, tools and tips you can use to market your business for free. What we mean by free is, the stuff we list below are things you can do yourself, right now, without hiring anyone. Things that we believe will help those who need your services, to be in the know. Tools you can use to "put your small business on the map", strategies you can use to create an information page for your business and tips on how to engage with your patrons.
WHY? Why are we doing this
You may not have the time to think about this right now or even realize the need, but it's nevertheless important to the survival of your business. It is even more important now that everything has gone virtual. You need to let your customers know what you can do for them. Whatever you’re offering, be it food/catering, cleaning services, repair shops, or any other products or services. While we cannot guarantee that any the suggestions below pays off in the long run, communities have a long term memory. We know you’re fighting to keep your business alive and what you decide to do right now will matter in the long term - a lot.
If you want to explore the options we have outlined below, then let's jump in.
THE STUFF
We've divided the content into three groups. You may already have one or two of these covered. Even if you have all three of these covered, take a look at each anyway to see if there are any additional ideas you could implement.
The three main topics are: Claim your Business, Create an Online Presence and Engage with your Patrons.
+ Claim your business
Most people today use their mobile devices to look up places of business. When they look for services and especially food options, (whether knowingly or unknowingly) they rely on the mapping software on their phone to tell them about each business they find. You have to claim your business and update at least the basics
Maps
- Your TO DO list:
- Claim your business (if you have not done so already)
- Update your business description and offerings
- Update operating hours
- Link to a page you can easily update (see further below on how to create an online presence)
Start by claiming your business on Google Maps and updating your business info on Apple maps
Claim your business on Google maps
Update your business information in Apple Maps
+ Create an online presence
There are many social media tool available today that you can use to engage with your audience. Facebook (FB) and Instagram (IG) are two popular platforms that are simple to set up and use as your starter online presence tools. You do not need to set up both. Just pick one and start with that. You can always add more as you get the hang of it. Find someone in your family or business (a millennial) who can own this for your business, bribe them if you must :)
- Your TO DO list:
- Find photos of your business (one for your business profile and one for your cover)
- If you have an image of your business logo, find that
- Come up with a description of your business
- Create a personal facebook profile
- Create a business page
- Think about what you'd want your patrons to get out of by visiting your facebook page
- Come up with a clever "handle" for your business and make sure to use the same for both FB and IG.
- Find photos of your business (one for your business profile and one for your cover)
Facebook (FB)
Instagram (IG)
+ Engage with you patrons
Engagement is what online aggregators look for when ranking your online presence. While there are many ways to engage with your patrons, responding to all reviews and posting frequent updates are two of the easiest ways and must haves.
- Your TO DO list:
- Think of what is most important to your customers right now
- Hours of operation, services or products you have available
- It's ok to repeat some of the important info a few times
- How can your patrons purchase your services or products
- Do you deliver and in what area
- Make sure you have a way for your patrons to get a hold of you when they have questions
- You may not have time right now to look at every possible review so think about who in your family or team can help you with this
- And if you delegate this to someone, make sure they have the proper guideance from you on how to handle the negative reviews (see further below for some ideas)
- Think of what is most important to your customers right now
Post updates
If you're inviting your patrons to visit your Instagram (IG) or Facebook (FB) page, make sure you give them a good reason to do so. Nothing is more frustrating when someone says "Follow us on Facebook" and once you go there, there is nothing to look at there. No next steps, no updates, outdated info, etc. Make sure to keep it up to date (see more below)
- Ideas for updates you could create
- Please make sure to follow any safe practices required by your local government
- Introduce your products or services (one at a time)
- Introduce your team and/or staff (one at a time)
- Get a friend or family member or better yet a customer to say why they like your business
- Create a schedule where you might alternate between the three topics
- See the helpful guide from Facebook on "staying connected with your customers"
- Now that you have an online presence, let every customer you've ever had know.
- Get a short link or a QR core for your website or FB page
- Write it on your receipts
- Prepare a list of updates for the next few days in advance so you can send them out more easily.
- Don't forget to keep posting and keep the posts relevant
- If you don't post for a while, people tend to forget or lose interest.
Respond to reviews - both positive and (especially) negative
Most people visiting your place of business never leave a review. It takes some effort to write something up. So as a result, those with a poor experience at your business are more likely to write up something nasty.
- Never buy positive reviews. While it may get you a good start, the word will get out and any new customers may be suspicious
- Check sites where people can leave reviews:
- Yelp
- Respond to negative reviews
Be sincere. Apology is not always needed, sometimes things are just out of your control. But somehow acknowledge the poor experience your visitor had and let them know that you want to make it right the next time they visit. You can also offer a way for them to reach out to you so you can understand what happened and correct what went wrong.
There are two things this results in:
- Most importantly, your new visitors see that you care about your customers
- Equally important (perhaps even more important) a poor experience, which has been corrected may lead to your best customer
- Respond to positive reviews
While those are easy, again, acknowledge that they took the time to write something and show your appreciation. Even if it's just a simple "thank you!"