How to promote your business: 14 tips

Looking for ways to grow your business? Investing in your business’s marketing can be an effective way to attract new customers and potentially boost sales and market share. There are different ways to promote your business—from traditional marketing strategies to digital marketing techniques—and the best option for you depends on your business’s particular circumstances. When planning a marketing campaign, a good place to start is by considering how your promotional efforts fit into your budget and overall business goals.

Check out some ways to promote your business’s products or services to increase awareness about your company.

What you’ll learn:

• By using different marketing strategies to promote your business, you may be able to heighten brand awareness and, in turn, increase sales and customer loyalty. 
• Some ways to promote your business include print marketing, email marketing or creating a website.
• When determining a marketing strategy for promoting your business, consider your budget, business goals and potential return on investment (ROI).

To reach a wider audience to promote your products or services, you could try an email campaign. Collect your customers’–and potential customers’–email addresses, and send out messages letting them know about promotions and updates such as:

• Discounts
• Coupons
• Upcoming sales
• Upcoming events

If your product or service is designed to help other businesses, your company may benefit from B2B marketing—which is a type of marketing strategy that targets other businesses instead of individual customers. You could use B2B marketing tactics like promotional videos or taking out an advertisement in an industry-specific magazine to create awareness about your business.

Another way to promote your business is by creating a company website. Having a website can dramatically increase your online presence and help you reach your target audience. You may consider including certain sections to help visitors better navigate your website such as:

• Homepage
• Contact page
• About us page
• Product or service pages
• Testimonials page

There are different types of content you can create to encourage engagement with your business. For example, designing a free infographic or other sharable content can expand awareness about a particular product or service you offer. Other types of content to consider include e-books, video seminars and blogs.

Once your website is up, you’ll need a way to let your audience know about it. That’s where paid and organic search engine strategies can be useful.

With paid search engine advertisements, you select relevant keywords and create a short text ad that will be placed toward the top of the search engine results page when someone searches for that term. You pay each time a user clicks on your ad.

With organic search marketing—also known as search engine optimization or SEO—you aim to rank your site in the “regular” search listings below the paid ads. How? By making sure your site is optimized  to meet the user’s search intent. Another benefit of SEO is that when a user clicks on your site in the organic listings, you do not have to pay. 

Social media can be an effective way to build your brand and your business. You can create social media profiles for your business to reach new customers and engage with followers. And because many social media platforms are free or relatively low cost, you can stay connected with your audience without a large investment.

One traditional marketing technique to consider when promoting your business is using printed media to gain exposure. You might try using direct mailers, magazine or newspaper ads or street signs to advertise your business. Plus, you may be able to customize certain types of media rather than send out mass-produced materials for a more personalized effect.

You might try in-person marketing techniques, like attending a trade show. While you’re there, make sure to speak to individuals about your products or services and potentially provide a demonstration to give yourself a competitive edge.

In addition to trade shows, other in-person events such as seminars, road shows or conferences can help you promote your business. You can also use these opportunities to network and make connections while getting the word out about your business and any products or services you offer.

By incentivizing your target audience with flash sales or discounts, you create a sense of urgency that can boost profits. You can use digital channels like social media or an email list to market these campaigns to a wide audience. Learn more about how to determine pricing strategies when creating a promotional campaign.

If you’re targeting a local customer base, you can promote your business through community outreach methods. Some ways to increase local awareness include running a commercial on local radio or TV stations, taking out an advertisement in the local newspaper or running a billboard. Referrals and word of mouth can be powerful tools as you cultivate relationships with new and existing customers in your local area.

If you have the opportunity to work with a noncompeting local business, you could form a mutually beneficial relationship. A complementary partnership—like a fitness center partnering with a health food store or a specialty olive oil shop working with a local bakery—can further promote your business to a customer base that you wouldn’t typically target.

Have you called a business you found online only to discover the phone number that’s listed is wrong? It’s a very quick way to create a bad impression with a potential customer. This is why it’s important to ensure your business’s online contact information, address and hours are accurate and up to date.

In addition to reviewing business’s online profiles for basic information, many customers also consider a company’s online reviews when deciding whether to do business with them. By replying to both negative and positive reviews in a constructive manner, you can better engage with your current customers and show prospective customers that you deliver excellent customer service.

When determining ways to promote your business, you might choose a combination of marketing strategies to build awareness of your business, entice new customers and create brand loyalty with existing customers.

As you’re advertising your business, make sure that any tactic you implement fits into your budget and provides an ROI. A business credit card from Capital One can help you grow your business and earn rewards and benefits on any purchase you make. See if you’re pre-approved for a business card today—with no harm to your credit.