As a first-time business owner, marketing is one of those things you’ll be keen on to build your customer base. But instead of rushing into it and probably getting it wrong, you’ll need a systematic and well-planned approach to sell your product or service the right way. And yes, it doesn’t have to be heavy on the pocket for you to turn a profit.
So, where does this exciting marketing journey start? It starts by asking yourself two important questions. Why is your business different, and who is your audience? Before beginning any marketing plans, consider what makes your product or service stand out. Why should customers come to you and not the competition? Once you answer that question, you can tailor your marketing efforts around it.
Secondly, you need to evaluate your target audience. Who are your potential customers and what’s their purchasing behavior? It’s important to know this beforehand so that you can sell to the right people.
After you’ve answered those two questions, you can employ the following marketing tactics.
Circulate Flyers
Flyers are one of the traditional marketing methods that are simple, less costly, and can work wonders for your small business. If your company is in a particular area, you can drop flyers in different household mailboxes to spread the word.
The secret to having the perfect flyer is to briefly highlight the product you’re selling or the service you’re offering and include your contact details. To make it even more attractive to customers, you can consider adding a free coupon or a discount for your first customers.
Place Posters Strategically
As you walk around in public spaces, supermarkets, and malls, you’ll find free bulletin boards with spaces to add announcements or ads. They provide an ideal opportunity to market your business for free, and even though they are a hit-or-miss, they can still work for you.
The first thing you need to do is make your poster visible to capture people’s attention. You can consider having different colors for posters in various locations and provide removable tabs that customers can present for discounts. That way, you’ll notice which poster brings in the most customers and you can target more ads (flyers or local ads) in that specific area.
Offer Value Addition
What more can a customer get from your business? That’s what value additions or value ads are, and they are a powerful tool to turn a new customer to a returning one. You don’t have to spend much on it, but it could be something simple like a guarantee on products, discounts for returning customers, point cards, or small freebies for first-time customers.
Freebies and free trials are excellent marketing strategies that give your customers the chance to try your product or service for free first to know what they are missing out on. The concept of having a free trial is common in various industries, and the gaming sector uses it to give players a free play or demo option to try out games before they can purchase or play for real money.
Almost all online casinos offer a free-to-play option for games such as slots, blackjack, and roulette, so that players can familiarize themselves with the titles. The option is even better for sweepstake casinos which are 100% free to play. New sweepstakes casinos will give you free Sweep Coins or Gold Coins to play various games and reward players with prizes. That’s why sweepstakes casinos are becoming more and more popular, attracting more players.
So, don’t shy away from offering freebies, but do it in a sustainable way for your business.
Referral Program and Follow-ups
One happy customer will bring another—this is one of the best marketing strategies. So for every customer who markets your business through word of mouth and brings in a new customer, you can offer an incentive. You can also have business-to-business referrals where you can refer your customers to neighboring shops for different services and vice versa.
After a customer makes a purchase, the marketing journey shouldn’t stop there. Make sure you follow up to get feedback on what you are doing right and what you can improve on. This can be done by asking questions like: What made you purchase? How did you hear about us? What can we improve in the future?
Marketing Is A Journey Not A Destination
The marketing process can be frustrating at first because it takes time to see results. However, don’t panic, rather, keep on pushing. Even the most brilliant and heavy-budgeted marketing campaigns convert about 10% to 20% of leads.
Think of marketing as a journey and not a destination. Breaking it into small realistic goals that are achievable as you aim for an end goal that will turn your small business into a big and thriving business one day.
