In this world of intense competition, building your name and increasing brand visibility isn’t an easy task. While traditional tactics like advertising in magazines and newspapers and the digital marketing trends of today work well, you need to go something out of the ordinary and different to truly gain much recognition. So what can you, as small business owner, do? You need something pocket friendly but something that would have a positive impact. Here are some ways to achieve it:
1. Referrals
Whether you know this or not, word of mouth is one of the most powerful tools in business. People will trust recommendations coming from friends and family more than they would trust advertisements, reviews, etc. A referral program can be a great way to capitalize on this asset. All you need to do is award your customers for every new customer they bring in. This is a tried and tested method that has yielded great results for everyone who has tried it.
2. Share Your Knowledge
You’ll find this in several online magazine and websites. This is called guest posting. It’s free of cost, if you have relevant, insightful content that would help others. A person working as a financial consultant could write a guest post that provides advice on smart investing. The idea is to showcase your knowledge and competence. This is what marketers often call establishing authority. In essence, you’re letting others know you know things.
3. Contests
Contests, again, are a tried and tested method to gain attention of prospects. Naturally, you need to make sure that the contest is interesting enough to attract the attention of our customers. For example, if you run a bakery, you can run a contest asking your customers to load the photographs of the best baked products they’ve ever tasted. There are several companies that initiate such contests to great effect. It gains them more visibility, but also gives them an idea about the customer mindset, likes, and dislikes.
4. Being Ridiculous
Humour is a great way to gain visibility and today, people appreciate individuality and quirkiness. Creating ads that are full of humour and ridiculousness would actually make them go viral. Bear in mind, this humour must be natural, easy, and inoffensive. A great example of this is the Old Spice commercials. It’s so unapologetically ridiculous that it often makes it to the top humorous ads list. There’s nothing wrong with adding a little personality to your brand image.
5. Charity
Without a doubt, this is one of the best ways to get your customer’s attention and promote your brands image. All you need to do is pick and support and charity. You can help them organize fundraisers, provide financial aid, or products for any events your might cost, etc. For example, if you’re a cake shop, you might bake a large, attractive cake for the patients in the children’s ward for Christmas or New Years. Not only are you doing a good thing, but you’re also enhancing your brand image.
