How to promote your business

by Natasha Christou Digital Marketing Consultant

Whether a business is large or small, you still face the same fundamental issues when it comes to marketing: what is your message, who is your audience and how are you going to get that message to the audience.

In a world when time is precious and resources are few, you need to make the most out of your marketing efforts – but what methods do you choose if you don’t have the time or budget to do everything? With the help of name badges specialist Badgemaster, we’ve created this list of must-dos:

Get a great website

Although it is unusual for companies to not have a website today, these companies do exist, so first things first: make sure you have a website.

If you do have one, is it doing enough? It needs to reflect your brand, have clear and consistent calls to action, effectively display your products and services and be easy to navigate. Take it a step further and include keywords relevant to your organisation, to help you appear in relevant Google searches.

Try Google advertising

One sure-fire way to attract people to your website is by trying Google advertising, known as Google AdWords. This allows you to display text adverts on Google search results relevant to your brand. Own a cleaning company? Advertise when someone searches for ‘cleaning company’ and you’re one step closer to a sale. Even better – you only pay when your advert is clicked.

Traditional PR is still with us

A great way to try and get print and online coverage is to send out press releases to local press. They’ll be looking for positive news, such as big recruitment drives, positive events or any impact you’re having on the local area. Alternatively, if you have news related to your industry, such as an innovation, make a list of some industry publications and send them an industry-related press release.

To make a journalist-friendly press release, include the fiver W’s – who, what, where, when and why – quotes from high-profile members of the company and contact details if journalists want to get in touch.

Social media

Try and up your social media drive, especially if you’re a B2C organisation. Create profiles with relevant branding and create a content calendar to ensure they’re updated regularly. Facebook in particular is very effective and can be used to target people with very specific interests.