Visibility in your community:Join organizations locally that provide business networking opportunities, or start your own. Do some volunteer work for a large charity. You would be surprised at the marketing support such activities can bring.Submit information to blogs:Blog writers are always looking for content for their websites. Target appropriate ones and send them press releases or descriptive e-mails.
Participate in some online marketing groups:Search Twitter and other social-networking sites for groups meeting to discuss marketing. For example, Understanding Marketing holds a chat and Q&A session on Twitter that focuses on small-business marketing. It’s live each Tuesday from 8 to 9 p.m. eastern time. Search #smbiz on Tweetgrid.com.
Reward your present customers:Offer an exclusive incentive to your regular customers“only your regular customers. Notify them via e-mail and other contact methods, and direct them to an otherwise inaccessible page on your site where the offer appears.Get your customers to bring in new customers:Offer an incentive like a discount to customers who get new customers to make a transaction with your business.
Spice up your Web site:Stale sites don’t attract business. Fresh, frequently updated Web sites show your customers you’re a vibrant and active business. Let users subscribe to get update notices, then update frequently.Provide free and helpful information to your customers. Such content should be related to your type of business and can include tips and hints and reviews, and other information that can help drive sales.
Offer your noncompeting business customers a link exchange:A link exchange is much like a bulletin board at your business that holds your customers‘ business cards. The more links your business has to its Web site, the better your search engine placement, and the greater the number of people who see your business’s links, the more will visit you. Yes, use Facebook and Twitter:Having a Facebook page may earn you a new business.
Use downtime for marketing:When times are slow, keep employees busy contacting customers. Create e-mail marketing documents your employees can send to individual customers. Personal contact with customers gets results. Mass e-mails are less effective and, given today’s e-mail spam filters,they may not be seen by many. Go for quality contacts rather than quantity contacts.