5 Ways To Market Your Business For FREE

Who doesn’t want to grow their business? Growth is a good thing; it makes you happy, your employees happy, and perhaps most importantly it means you are making your customers happy. Yet if you only work to please the customers you currently have, your growth is going to quickly hit a dead end.

Every business, no matter how big or small, needs a constant source of marketing and media hype in order to gain new customers as well as keep the attention of current customers. The one issue with good marketing is that it can get expensive. But even if you have zero advertising budget you should still focus on marketing tactics, so that one day you will have the funds for marketing on a grander scale. Until then, these 5 tips will grant you FREE marketing that could earn you major growth.

1. Contribute To A Niche Social Media Site

Niche social media sites and discussion boards exist all over the Internet. For instance, if you own a horse ranch, jump on an equestrian social site that allows users to ask and answer questions, and talk about horses in general. This sort of site exists, and so does a site for just about every other niche industry, including auto, travel, cosmetic surgery, wedding planning, photography and more. All it takes is a little Google research to uncover the best niche site pertaining to your business.

Once you have found one or more sites set up a profile that explains who you are and links to your business website. Then, get socially active using your expertise to communicate with others. By becoming a frequent contributor to the site that users enjoy and appreciate you are advertising sans charge.

2. Produce Content With Viral Capabilities

When something goes viral on the Internet it literally takes on a life of its own. It all starts with you sharing a photo, blog, or other touching piece of content that people enjoy so much they decide to share it with their friends and family on Facebook, Twitter, or whatever social platform they use. From there, even more people will see the content and have the option to share it as well. Before you know it, thousands or even millions of new people have seen your content and now know who you are.

It’s free and sounds wonderful, so how do you make it happen? It’s not as easy as it sounds to produce viral content, and it typically takes trial and error. First, you need to have a social media account with at least a few followers. Then, start sharing things that speak to people on an emotional level but still relate to your business in some way or other, even if only remotely.  If you share your content through a blog, you can upload this as a link to social media, just make sure the actual content page containing the blog has share buttons for Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Tagging is another key element to getting your content to go viral. People may never find your company Twitter or Instagram, but if you use popular hashtags many new people will be able to find you. Hashtags group together all photos with the same tag and put them on a public page. Popular hashtags are searched by millions of people, giving your content a lot more chances at going viral.

3. Submit Your Best Content To Big Sites & Publishers

Write a great niche-centered article that has uniquely informative content centered around your area of expertise. Instead of posting it as a blog to your site submit it to a local or national magazine, newsletter or popular website. If your article is accepted for publication your name and business will be included in a blurb beneath your content. This gives you a chance to show off your expertise, provide people with informative content, and advertise to a large range of people. In some instances you may even be paid for contributing content–getting paid to advertise, what could possibly be better?!

4. Send Out A Press Release

Press releases are still a powerful tool, even though some people think of them as “old fashioned.” A press release can contain anything about your company in a news-centered fashion, such as a new product release expected to change the way people do business. You could also use a press release statement to detail a community event your company is coordinating, say for instance to help local schools. Create an interesting press release to submit to local and niche media outlets. There are also various sites that allow you to submit a press release, some of these sites charge money and others do not.

5. Find The Best Marketers On Social Media– Your Target Customer

 Social media grants you a world of marketing materials right at your fingertips. For example, let’s say that you sell shoes. Start searching through social media sites, like Instagram and Twitter, for hashtags related to ‘shoes.’ As a result you are going to uncover thousands of related posts, all you have to do is go through these posts and search for someone that has a large, loyal following and posts about fashion and shoes in a manner that is on par with your company morals. You are likely going to find a lot of users like this, reach out to them and offer a generous discount, or even a free product, in exchange for a mention or share. A lot of people might ignore you or even say no, but even more people are going to be flattered by your offer. The key is to approach the subject correctly, don’t just treat it as a business proposal, make sure to complement the user’s style, and write a friendly message that details why you would love the chance to work with them. People with thousands of followers have a great deal of power. Which is why your goal is to make this individual a fan of your business, this may take time, but can handsomely pay off.