14 New Marketing Ideas For Your Small Business

Marketing your small business is hard. Finding a new way to market your small business can seem even harder! 

That’s why we compiled this list of 140 new marketing ideas for small businesses: To give you some inspiration and take the guesswork out of finding new ways to get people excited about your brand.

Each suggestion on this list has been curated by real-life marketers so you know they work. And, we’ve added a few examples of how other brands have used these strategies successfully just to show you how to put them into action. Ready? Let’s get started!

Takeaways
1. Explore innovative marketing strategies for small businesses.
2. Discover tactics to increase brand visibility.
3. Learn how to engage your target audience effectively.
4. Implement cost-effective marketing ideas.
5. Leverage creative approaches to stand out in the market.
6. Gain insights into successful small business marketing.
7. Generate buzz and excitement around your brand.
8. Understand the importance of storytelling in marketing.
9. Utilize online and offline marketing channels strategically.
10. Create memorable experiences for your customers.
11. Measure campaign success through relevant metrics.
12. Adapt marketing strategies to fit your unique business.
13. Strengthen customer relationships through engagement.
14. Embrace the power of data-driven decision-making.

Create A Referral Incentive Program

A referral incentive program is a great way to get new customers, but not all of them are created equally. If you’re using Gmail for your business email, consider switching to GSuite for your email needs.

Gmail is an excellent tool for personal and small business use, but it isn’t designed to be used as an official company address and it can lead to some weird scenarios if you do. 

For example, if someone sends an email through Gmail asking about our services or products and we don’t have time to respond right away (or even at all), that person may think we’re ignoring them because they didn’t send the request from their account. 

It’s also possible they’ll be offended by having their question answered by someone who isn’t affiliated with our company directly; 

This happens more often than most people realize because many companies rely solely on their website’s contact form or submit button instead of creating dedicated lines for different departments within the organization.

Instead of using a Gmail account for your business communications which means anyone can send emails as if they were from your company without knowing this fact use G Suite so every incoming message has one consistent sender: yours! 

This prevents confusion between personal messages versus ones coming from inside your organization; this also makes sure that any content shared through these conversations remains confidential since only employees who need access will have access.”

If you’re new to marketing and looking for a comprehensive resource, dive into our guide on Marketing 101: A Guide to Marketing Ideas, Tips, and Tricks. Discover valuable insights and strategies to kickstart your marketing journey.

Use A Professional Email Address

There are many benefits to using a professional email address. First, it helps your business look more professional and trustworthy. Second, it makes it easier for people to find you on the web. 

Third, if you use Gmail or Outlook as your primary email service provider (which most of us do), then having a custom domain can help make sure that you get all of the cool features like being able to send attachments or schedule emails in advance without having them sent immediately.

Last but not least: If someone forgets their password or loses access to their account (or worse tries logging into the wrong account), they will be able to contact support directly without needing any additional information from you!

Set Up A Facebook Business Page

There are many benefits to having a Facebook business page, including:

• Your customers can easily find you
• You can keep your customers up to date with news and promotions by posting status updates and photos
• You can use Facebook Insights to track how well your posts are performing so you know what content works best for your audience. If you do not have time for this task, then consider hiring someone else to manage the account for you!

If you want to set up a Facebook Business Page, here’s how:

Go to https://www.facebook.com/pages/create/?ref=page_internal#!/pages/create/?ref=page_internal&source=push&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpages%2Fcreate%2F%3Fref_type%3Dpage_new_tab&app_id=[APP ID]&name=[NAME] (where [APP ID] = 678802977005260). 

Then click Get Started button. This will take us through the steps needed for setting up our page including entering information about our business such as location or website URL (if applicable), username and password (make sure these are easy-to-remember!).

Creative professionals can benefit from our insights on direct marketing strategies tailored to their unique needs. Learn how to engage your audience effectively and amplify your creative business through targeted approaches.

Set Up Profiles On The Other Big Online Directories

• Four big online directories are Yelp, Google My Business, Facebook, and Foursquare.
• They’re all important because they help you get found. But how do you set up profiles on them?
• For Google My Business:

Visit https://business.google.com/manage-your-listing/ to claim your business listing using your Gmail address (the one where you receive emails from Google). If you don’t have a Gmail account, create one. It’s free!

If someone else is managing your listings for you and has access to your Gmail account, they can also claim it by visiting https://businesslistings.google.com/listingmanager/. 

This will let them manage all of your listings without having access to any other part of your Gmail account (like private emails).

For Yelp:

Go to http://www.yelpforbusinesses .com/​signup/​new_user_signup, fill out the form and confirm that we’ve signed up correctly by clicking on the link sent via email

Run “Freebie” Promotions

Offering freebies is a great way to attract new customers and build loyalty.

Give away a free sample. This can be as simple as handing out samples at your store, or you can use social media or email to send coupons that are redeemable at your business.

Offer a free trial. This can be a service trial (such as dry cleaning) or product trial (such as a new beverage), but it should give people the opportunity to try what you offer without spending any money upfront.

Provide discounts for first-time customers: You might offer 10% off their first purchase or offer an introductory special rate of $19 per hour if they hire your services for five hours of work.

Run A Contest (With A Cool Prize)

A contest is a great way to get your name out there and build brand awareness. The prize should be something that’s relevant to your business, unique and valuable, interesting, fun or memorable. 

For example, if you’re a wedding planner then give away an all-inclusive destination wedding! If you’re an online clothing store then give away an iPad Mini with a custom case! If you’re an interior design company then give away tickets to their next client event!

This is one way that we’ve seen many small businesses use contests for marketing purposes over the years:

Take action now to enhance your marketing efforts. Explore our list of 16 actionable steps that you can implement today to elevate your marketing game and achieve tangible results for your small business.

Set Up Google My Business

You’ll want to set up Google My Business. Google My Business is a free service that helps you manage your business information in local search results on Google so people need to find you on the web, and especially to see your hours and address. 

If someone searches for an address and phone number, they might find your listing, which will include all the information about your business (name, address, reviews). 

You can even add photos of what’s inside so that friends or family who live far away can feel like they’re there with you when they visit!

After setting up Google My Business:

• Make sure all of the details are correct (like opening hours)
• Follow any other account guidelines from Google

Write A Blog And Start Posting To Social Media

Writing a blog and posting your content on social media is an excellent way to get the word out about your business and demonstrate expertise.

Write a blog post relevant to your business, focusing on topics that relate directly to your customers or industry.

Post the article on your website, and then schedule it to be posted several times over the next week or so (and beyond!). 

You can use tools like Buffer or Hootsuite for this step; these apps allow you to schedule posts in advance so you don’t have to worry about updating them manually each time.

Make sure that people can find this article make sure it has strong metadata (title, description, tags) so it shows up well in search engines like Google when people are looking for information related to what you sell/do/are an expert at!

Offer Free Samples Or Trials

Offering free samples or trials is an excellent way to get your business noticed. It also gives you the opportunity to test out your product in the real world, which will help you figure out how much it’s worth and whether or not people will be willing to pay for it. 

The process is simple: You send potential customers a package containing a sample of your product (or even just some information about the product) and ask them to give feedback after using it. 

This can happen at any point in the buying cycle when they’re first considering purchasing something, when they’ve decided they need/want something, or even once they’ve bought it and are deciding whether or not they’d like another one.

Once customers have tried your product and expressed interest in buying more of it, you’ll want them back on board with another offer but this time one that includes payment details so that money changes hands when the order goes through!

You don’t need a huge budget to promote your design business effectively. Check out our guide on How to Market Your Design Business on a Budget for creative and cost-efficient strategies to reach your target audience and build your brand.

Hire Influencers To Promote Your Product Or Service

Influencers are people who have a large following on social media. They can be paid to promote your product or service, and this can be especially effective if they are experts in their field, or just have a high level of influence over their audience.

For example, fitness influencers love posting about the latest workout gear and healthy recipes. 

They might also share how-tos for things like yoga poses that help you lose weight or tone up your body. If you’re selling fitness products, then these influencers could be the perfect way to promote them!

But influencers aren’t just limited to the health industry they exist in every niche imaginable! For example fashion bloggers (they’re called “fashionistas”!) may post photos of themselves wearing new clothes; 

Travel vloggers talk about where they’ve been and what they liked/didn’t like; foodies review restaurants; gamers test out new games; food reviewers taste test new meals…the list goes on!

Go Live On Facebook, Instagram, Or Youtube (Or All Three!)

Why not use all three platforms to show customers different ways to use your product? For example, if you make a product for the kitchen and want to promote it, you can start with Facebook Live. Show how easy it is to use and what benefits people get from using it. 

Then, on Instagram Live, show how people can cook with the product and share their recipes with others. Finally, on YouTube Live (or all three platforms), create a video showing how the product works in different settings like at home or on vacation.

Join Groups On Linkedin And Other Sites Where Your Customers Hang Out Online

LinkedIn groups are a great way to connect with people who have similar interests and are looking for new ideas. You can find groups in your industry, or join groups that cover topics you are interested in.

LinkedIn also offers a feature called “related groups” which shows you what other members of the LinkedIn community are interested in. 

So if you’re a real estate agent and want to discover more about home renovation, just click on the related link next to “home renovation” under your current group memberships, and voila! 

A list of other relevant LinkedIn groups will appear at the top of your screen (for example: Pinterest Users and Facebook Groups). 

This is another opportunity for you to find meaningful communities where people will be receptive to what you have to offer them!

If there aren’t any existing communities where customers hang out online, it may be time for YOU to create one! 

An active group will help attract new customers as well as build trust among existing clients by giving them an insider look into what goes on behind the scenes at their favorite local businesses (genius!).

Give Away Coupons With Purchase, Or Feature Deals Of The Day / Week / Month

For example, if you’re selling clothing, you could offer free shipping on all orders over $50. Or if you’re running a restaurant, offer discounts on meals when people dine with their dogs. 

You can also try giving away coupons with every purchase and featuring deals of the day (for example, $10 off your next order).

You have many options for offering discounts so feel free to experiment until something clicks!

Send Out Newsletters Using An Email Marketing Software Service Like Mailchimp Or Constant Contact

Email marketing is still one of the best ways to reach a large number of people and build your business. With an email marketing software service like MailChimp or Constant Contact, you can create newsletters that are sent out directly from your email address or website. 

Email newsletters make it easy for people to learn about new products, services, and offers that are available at your company.

To send out newsletters using an email marketing software service:

• Set up an account on the chosen service (go with a well-known brand name).
• Create a template for all future newsletters (this includes adding images).
• Write content for each newsletter in advance (include links back to website).
• Send out emails periodically as needed (schedule them every week).

Follow these steps when setting up an account through one of these popular services so that you can start sending out newsworthy material straight away!

Harness the power of contribution marketing using our curated list of 20 effective tactics to tap into the long tail of your market. Learn how to establish meaningful connections and drive engagement that goes beyond traditional marketing methods.

Pay For Ads On Social Media And Search Engines Like Google Ad Words

Advertising on social media and search engines is a great way to get your business in front of potential customers. 

You can run ads on Facebook, Google, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn and more. There are also many websites that allow you to run ads related to certain topics or questions. 

For example Quora Ads and Reddit Ads will show people an ad when they ask questions on those sites. If you own a video game store then you could advertise your store there by running ads for games that are similar to the ones you sell (e.g., “Looking for new games? 

Check out our selection!”). Or if you’re selling women’s clothing then maybe there would be an audience interested in seeing your products on Pinterest or Quora as well

Conclusion

Keeping up on these marketing trends and finding new ways to market your product can be the difference between a successful business and one that’s struggling. 

Whether you want to try some of these out for yourself or come up with your own ideas, there are many options to choose from! Do you have any marketing ideas that we haven’t listed here? We would love to hear about them in the comments below!

Further Reading

Here are some additional resources for exploring small business marketing ideas:

WordStream: Free and Low-Budget Marketing Ideas Short Description: Discover a range of cost-effective marketing strategies that can help your small business thrive without breaking the bank.

WeWork: 14 Small Business Marketing Ideas Short Description: Explore a collection of 14 innovative marketing ideas tailored to small businesses, designed to boost your brand’s visibility and engagement.

HubSpot: Small Business Marketing Guide Short Description: Dive into HubSpot’s comprehensive guide for small business owners, offering insights, tips, and tactics to create a successful marketing strategy.

FAQs

What are some low-budget marketing ideas I can implement?

Low-budget marketing doesn’t have to be limiting. Explore creative strategies that leverage social media engagement, content marketing, and community involvement to make a big impact.

How can I effectively promote my small business without a large budget?

Focus on targeted marketing efforts such as local SEO optimization, influencer partnerships, and referral programs to get your small business noticed by the right audience.

Are there any unconventional marketing approaches that can work for small businesses?

Absolutely, think outside the box! Consider guerilla marketing tactics, leveraging user-generated content, or collaborating with local events to create memorable experiences.

How can I measure the success of my small business marketing campaigns?

Track key performance indicators (KPIs) like website traffic, conversion rates, social media engagement, and customer feedback to assess the effectiveness of your campaigns.

What role does storytelling play in small business marketing?

Storytelling humanizes your brand and creates emotional connections with customers. Craft narratives that showcase your values, mission, and the unique journey of your business.