Have you just started a new business? Then it’s important to get your name out there. Having a good reputation and being well-known is important to get customers, whether you sell products or services. Anno 2022 you need to have an online presence because there are multiple younger generations that look everything up online. Nevertheless, some old-school offline marketing might be needed too. In this article we give you tips on how to promote your business both online and offline.
1. Make sure you have an online presence
Nowadays, every company needs to have an online presence- even if you don’t sell products or services directly online. With that we mean a functional website with a contact form and an “about me/us” page. It’s also important you fill in your Google My Business profile. Everyone that googles your company name will then see your website, phone number, reviews, opening hours and more. Furthermore, having a good GMB profile with the correct keywords makes sure that people can also find you on the map in their area. For instance if you sell shoes and someone googles ‘shoe store near me’, you will pop up on a map with other competitors.
2. Get your name out there
If you just started your business, it’s important to get your name out there. A good way to start attracting customers is running Google Ads and Facebook Ads. Before spending all your money, it is important to know a bit more about your ideal customer. Luckily for you, you can target like crazy with both Google and Facebook. Do you want to target single women who love sports? It’s possible. Or couples over 40 with kids? You can do that too. We recommend looking into your ideal customer first, before you link your credit card to your account and put a lot of expensive ads online.
Next to ads, having a good social media presence is important to build a relationship with your customers. If they can reply to you or ask you questions on Facebook, Instagram or other social media, they’ll feel connected a lot quicker.
3. Offline marketing still works
While there are many people whose first instinct it is to google a company, there is also a big generation that trusts word of mouth and prefers to meet people in real life. If you for instance offer marketing services, it’s a good idea to go to marketing meet-ups in your city. Or to go to industry fairs. Make sure you have business cards with you and you might even throw in some other fun marketing tools. Printing your company name on a pen or a fun, reusable bag is always a winner.
If you sell physical things and your (online) store isn’t very well known yet, it can also be handy to book a stand at local fairs. Rent a van (Dutch: personenbusje huren) and fill it to the brim with the things you sell and work on your pitch whenever someone walks by your stand. Little tip: compare the price of a big family van (Dutch: 9 persoons busje huren) to a van with lots of storage space – sometimes you can get a good deal comparing those two!
Good luck with your business!
You may be interested in: 7 Creative Offline Marketing Strategies