5 Affordable Ways to Promote Your Business Without Blowing the Bank
Awareness is an important part when starting or running a business thus the need for promotions. Though advertising remains the most common and effective because of its ability to reach a wide range of both potential and existing customers, gain awareness, earn sales and help businesses thrive in a competitive environment, you don’t need to splurge to effectively promote your business, especially as a startup.
Below-the-line advertising is a low-cost method of advertising which is targeted towards a specific audience and its communication is meant to reach directly to the customer. Unlike above-the-line advertisements where products are promoted in the mass media with the intention of reaching a large audience, below-the-line advertising systems focus on than other types of approaches and tend to be less expensive and fosters better customer engagement. You can find tools and resources to implement your below-the-line advertising techniques on www.startupplug.com.ng
1. Promotional merchandise
Promotional merchandise is a product branded with a logo or slogan and distributed at little or no cost to promote a brand, company usually given as freebies at events, exhibitions, product launch conferences, trade shows, sales calls. They are also given as bonus items with purchases and often used in guerrilla marketing campaigns. Common items branded are t-shirts, caps, keychains, mugs, stickers, pens keychains, posters, mugs. These promotional merchandise are used to create a specific visual effect, attracting more attention. Companies contact promotional merchandise distributor companies like Blank Tribe, who are experts in artwork and printing processes.
2. Email Marketing
Email marketing is an inexpensive below-the-line-advertising technique that involves communicating directly with the consumer through emails. It provides information to your customers on what you are offering using tailor-made messages about the brand or different offers drafted according to the needs of each customer. It is important to target the right customers with goods and services they are likely to be interested in to reduces the chances of being junk mail.
3. Consumer Sales Promotion
Consumer sales promotion is a short-term tactic to boost sales, these activities include giving coupons, competitions, vouchers, freebies, Free trials, and samples, discounts, bonus packs, loyalty cards, refunds and rebates, contest, lottery, premiums, bundling, exchange offers, joint promotions, giveaways, and sweepstakes. Its promotional activities use conventional methods rather than direct media. A lot of e-commerce companies use this to attract customers using the word “Sale” because though they sell cheaper, its in high volume. Sales promotion can be used at both customer and dealer level.
4. Inbound marketing
This uses content marketing, social media marketing, and search engine optimization to pull customers to products and services rather than pushing products to customers. Inbound marketing seeks to create a customer experience, build trust and create a lasting relationship by providing personalized and relevant content/information they value via the brand’s social media content, blogs, podcasts, webinars, whitepapers, and other platforms. This helps promote a product or service, grow awareness, increase sales, and drive traffic thus build your brand and business.
5. Trade Fairs and Exhibition
Partaking in Trade Fairs and Exhibitions are a great way to advertise your business. A good way to further promote your brand especially as a startup is having kiosks, pop-up shops, sandwich-board, banners, flyers, pamphlets at these events. Employees could also be stationed at these stands performing product demonstration or handing out the flyers to provide information to potential customers, gain more business and exposure wearing company t-shirts designed by promotional merchandise distributor like Blank Tribe.
It is important to note that while the above-the-line method is ideal for spreading general brand awareness, below-the-line tactics are preferable for fostering more meaningful relationships with potential customers.
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