What’s the point of running a business if the revolutionary product it makes or the fantastic service it delivers are barely known to the world beyond the walls of the building from which it operates? Can it even get anything like significant patronage when it’s hidden from public eyes?
Companies small and large crave for attention because it’s what guarantees them a chance of attracting interest from potential customers. But greater visibility tends to correlate with larger corporate bank accounts; SMEs and startups typically struggle (and fail) to get anywhere near the levels of publicity that the larger industry players are able to afford. They’re left to squabble over bits of market space that the ‘bigger boys’ have for some reason been unable to lap up, and (in most instances) remain in the humble business of pursuing localized significance.
There’s room for small businesses to manoeuver here. Modern technology- particularly the internet -has made it possible for them to get exposed to bigger tracts of the market than ever before. Most businesses using this means to get noticed aren’t necessarily doing it the right way, so it could achieve even greater visibility for them once they correct their operational errors. There are also a number of traditional ways to get the word out there about what you do.
Let’s take a look at a variety of things you can do to get more eyes looking at your products, and more tongues talking about your business.
- Use social media
There’s more to running the social media campaign thing than just setting up accounts and posting pictures of your products accompanied by simple declarative sentences. You’re not likely to make any headway with attracting public attention using this strategy. Instead, determine what social media platforms are more frequently used by your target audience (say, Linkedin for professionals, Twitter for news junkie types, Instagram for fashion savvy women), and tailor your copies to appeal to them. Use language that they’ll appreciate, and refer to things and ideas that resonate with them.
Engage with your followers, answer questions promptly, and share/retweet positive comments made about your business by satisfied customers online.
If you want to directly target an even bigger audience than you currently have, you could make use of paid ads on social media, like Facebook Ads. The cost for advertisements here is usually based on the extent of reach the ad creator wants to achieve.
- Create and share online content regularly
This tip applies to social media, as well as blogs. It’s easy to see why you’re better off updating your social media status regularly (it keeps you constantly within the sights of your followers- and ultimately, in their minds). But your website (if you have one) should always have a new reason for people to visit it. The preferred way of doing this is by putting up content on it that contains information about things that a typical member of your target audience is interested in. You may also have such content published on other websites as sponsored posts; such posts could either present your business explicitly to the reader or simply refer to it a few times. The important thing is that it should point the reader in the direction of your business.
- Network
Events such as conferences and meetups are avenues that you can take advantage of to get word out there about your company. If you succeed in establishing good ties with a number of well-connected people at those events, you might find, to your pleasant surprise, that your contacts are willing to pass on information about you to wider, more influential groups of people. New opportunities for greater prominence could spring up as a result.
- Get family and friends to spread the word in their groups
Word of mouth is still a very effective way of spreading information about businesses. Your family and friends could prove to be your best marketing team, especially at the early stage. Let them know that you’re passionate about what you’re doing, and encourage them to tell people in their own circles about you. This is the oldest way of publicizing an enterprise, and it still works today.
- Deliver top notch customer service
Nobody’s willing to deliberately become an advocate for a brand with a customer service reputation that sucks. But if your company treats its customers exceptionally well, it’s only a matter of time before it’ll begin to get a lot of positive reviews, referrals and better patronage.
It’s really up to you to propel your business into the limelight. However, most big corporations didn’t become well known overnight. They followed widely recognized but little-used growth principles and grew into what they are today. They didn’t neglect basic tips. Tips like the ones talked about here.
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This article was first published on 28th October 2017 and updated on October 30th, 2017 at 7:31 am
ikenna-nwachukwu
Ikenna Nwachukwu holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He loves to look at the world through multiple lenses- economic, political, religious and philosophical- and to write about what he observes in a witty, yet reflective style.
Comments (1)
Great tips. My new cleaning business start up needs help