The online arena has thankfully provided tons of avenues for cheap or even free promotional opportunities for business. And if you’re on a budget, this could be just what you’re looking for when it comes to marketing your company and bringing in more revenue (without spending too much). If you’re not quite sure where to start with your online promotions, you’ll probably need to at least get a website and a Facebook page up and running, but from there you have a lot of options. Here are just a few ideas to get you started with making your company a household name.
- Ad exchange:
Many ad sharing services are free, although some require payment (and what you’re generally paying for is posting on sites with better exposure than yours). All you generally have to do is sign up and then agree to host related ads on your site in return for having your own ad (banner, link, pop-up, etc.) hosted on other member sites. Although you will have to include unpaid ads on your site, you can limit it to one rotating banner if you think it will upset your visitors/customers. And the payoff is that you get your ads placed on other sites for free. - Create brand ambassadors:
One of the best ways to promote your business is by creating customers that are willing to talk you up all over the web (and in the real world). To do this you need to have excellent quality assurance so that your products/services are always top notch, you should take steps to ensure that customers have a good experience on your website, and you must provide incredible customer service. In short, you need to endear consumers to your brand so that they’ll do your advertising for you. - Join industry forums:
Sometimes it’s your colleagues rather than your customers that will help to promote your business. By joining industry forums you can not only get advice on how to run a business online (or in the real world), including promotional ideas, but you may also find that networking brings new business opportunities, potential partnerships, increased workflow and revenue, and even a chance for cross-promotion. At the very least, you’ll get to meet some of your peers; and you stand to get a lot more from the experience. - Viral videos:
Making a video could cost quite a bit, but viral videos don’t necessarily have to be high quality if they have something in them to catch the public mood. If you can create some kind of promotional video that is interesting or funny enough to go viral and post to services like Youtube, it could generate a lot of traffic to your website and increase general interest in your business. - EPK:
An electronic press kit (EPK) is widely used in the entertainment industry (amongst others) as a way to efficiently disseminate information to media and other sources. These kits are often delivered via tape or disc and they contain a compilation of video clips (also known as b-roll), press releases, sound bites, and pretty much anything else you would like clients or the press to see. And you can definitely tailor them to your own needs. While most large businesses will contract with DVD or CD distribution services, those that are on a budget can easily burn their own discs.
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