If you don’t have a budget large enough to purchase advertising, there are many creative ideas that can be employed to begin building brand awareness. For example, you can give away T-shirts and market your business at promotional events through low-cost or in-kind trades, or, if you have employees, you can pay them to volunteer time for a local telethon, where you or they answer phones for on-air mentions of your company. They can also act as ushers, parking attendants or concession workers at events. If you are a florist, you can lend decorative plants to a function attended by your target market in exchange for signage.
If you own a restaurant, you could set up a concession stand at high school sports events, donating the profits to the school in exchange for product sampling. If you are a car dealer, you can lend cars for parade use.
Build Your Market First
It’s never a bad idea to begin by selling your products to end-users before investing in a full-blown marketing campaign. Then these initial customers can offer you their feedback on your product and its packaging, and you can adjust your product and approach pre-market accordingly. You may want to create product listings on a site like eBay to make your first few sales, or reach out to friends, family, and acquaintances, as well as your local community.
Position Your Product
One way to market your product without spending money is to create a brand image or position in the marketplace. This might be as simple as pricing a product on the high end to create an air of quality or luxury, or pricing it on the low end to make it seem a good value. If you limit your product to one gender, such as selling only women’s shoes, you can send messages to people of that gender who comment on companies like yours on social media. Position your product or service as made especially for them. Another idea is creating perceived value by scarcity or exclusivity, for example, selling golf clubs in pro shops only instead of big box stores. This type of positioning tells the public that your clubs are for serious golfers who care about quality. Getting involved in professional golf conversations on social media and in online groups will build recognition.
Charity or Cause Marketing
One way to develop brand awareness is to sponsor a charity. Pay the expense fees or supply the uniforms for local sports teams. Sponsor a tennis tournament or marathon that raises money for a charity. Offer churches and schools discount days or nights, donating a portion of what their members spend to the church or school.
In exchange for a local charity, such as an animal shelter, hospital or school, promoting your business, donate a percentage of your sales to the organization. This is an effective way to introduce new products or services into the marketplace.
Local Sports Marketing
People who are loyal to a sports team may appreciate your business supporting their team, and this can help you create an affinity between those fans and your product or service. Sponsoring a sporting event offers many opportunities. You can purchase branded signage at the event, have athletes or officials wear your logo on their uniforms, set up a booth at the event, have an event named after your company or specific product, and be mentioned in pre- and post-event marketing materials.
Digital and Social Media
When it comes to promoting a new product or service for your business, it can seem like there are endless options. It can be difficult to figure out where to get started and which methods of promotion will give you the best results. The truth is, there are many low-cost ways to promote your business, and what works may depend on your industry, offerings, and audience. It’s best to plan ahead with a monthly or quarterly plan, make a budget with exactly what you have to spend, and test your ideas on loyal customers to find out what works best. If you don’t have customers yet, try advertising on social media. People are often happy to help.
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are social media platforms that are household names and have become a part of everyday life. Because consumers spend a lot of time on these platforms, they are excellent ways to target your marketing. Additionally, social media has made it possible for business owners to hyper-analyze target markets to direct ads to the people most likely to buy the product or service.
1. Offer loyal customers an exclusive preview.
Your loyal customers are a key part of how to promote your product, because they are most likely to not only buy it, but also promote it to their networks. This can take the form of a private, in-person or virtual pre-launch party, an online tour, preview, or demo. Or, it could even be a special invitation to test it out and give feedback.
2. Use a special introductory offer.
Rather than just announcing your new product or service, you can make it available as a part of a special introductory deal. This deal can take many forms, including:
- Discounted pricing
- Reduced-rate bundle or package
- Joint promotion with a complementary business
- Voucher or coupon with purchase
- Buy-one, get-one-free deal
- Double the points if you have a loyalty program
- Free gift for every referral
Whatever your promotion, be sure to emphasize that it’s limited to increase the fear of loss, deadline or scarcity impulses without being too obvious.
3. Run a social media contest.
Social media contests are a fun, easy way to connect with customers and bring in more fans/followers and prospects for your business. Facebook contests garner an average of 34% new customers per campaign, which is a great way to combat the platform’s low organic reach.
As far as positioning is concerned, the winner(s) of your Facebook or Instagram giveaway should gain the opportunity to be the first to get their hands on your new offering, and get it for free or at a discounted rate.
Sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are excellent free or inexpensive marketing and advertising platforms, depending on the ways you decide to use to effectively spread the word about your business. It can be time-consuming, but the effort will be worthwhile when you reach a number of interested prospects who may be willing to give your product a try and convert to customers.
Offer Free Product Samples
One of the biggest obstacles you will have to overcome with new customers is the purchase decision. People are often anxious about spending money on a new product, but if you provide a select number of your product samples to consumers as free samples or as an incentive for a greater purchase, you are boosting exposure for your product and, in turn, its future promotion.
Launch an Affiliate Program
As passive income has continued to grow in popularity, so too has the concept of online affiliate programs. For a commission, sellers will help you promote your product online, essentially doing the job of marketing it for you.
Provide Free Webinars or Content
If your product is a software system or some other subscription-based model, you might find free webinars to be an effective way (as we mentioned earlier) to overcome the purchase decision. Seeing your product in action could alleviate consumer concerns regarding its functionality and practical application in their lives.
Engage in Content Marketing
Blogs, podcasts, whitepapers and other forms of content marketing can be a great way to take advantage of search engine optimization and lead consumers directly to your product. Topics can range from your industry to specific issues that your product can address. The important thing is that it serves the purpose of establishing either your product or your business as an authority in your field.
Use your own blog to drive traffic and promote your products. When done effectively, blogging drives search engine traffic via SEO (search engine optimization) with related keywords, attracts customers, and captures the attention of the media and high-profile bloggers who can write about you.
Create an Email List
Data is arguably the most important currency of any business, but is especially imperative for those selling their products online. For this reason, building an email list is an indispensable way to create a lasting bond with your customers. Be sure to offer some kind of incentive to encourage users to enter their email address, and then follow up on content, supporting your business and its product throughout.
Ready, Set, Promote
Products don’t sell themselves. Fortunately, there are many ways to promote a product in your online store. Have fun trying different methods that have worked for others with your own creative style. Roger Vivier, a shoe brand I like, uses short films and games to market products on social media. I’m always excited to see new ones when they release them. They use celebrity actors which is not necessary but can be helpful for cross-promotion with their existing fanbase. Maybe look up some fun up and coming social media influencers in your area, or reach out to the theatre department at the local university for some actors looking to have fun. Be creative, be yourself, and most importantly, have fun.
Subscribe for more business, sales, and investing posts. Have a lovely day!
