What to Know About Advertising for Your Small Business

So you’ve started your own business, have a pretty steady customer base, and you’re ready to expand your reach. If you want to expand your customer base, you will have to think inside the box. Rather than casting your net far and wide, you should really focus your efforts so that you are attracting even more local customers. Here are some tips and things to consider to help you grow your business.

Local Awareness

If you build it, they may not come, but if you tell them, then they just might show up. People cannot support your business if they don’t even know it exists. When it comes to having a successful small business, one of the best ways to get people in your door is by getting out and about in your area. You have to get out there and let the people know about you and your business. Building local awareness is as easy as putting out signs or passing out flyers at local events. You can even invest in some large, eye-catching banners that can help draw people to your business.

Startup Costs

In the initial planning stages, it is important that you designate a budget for advertising your business. Advertising budgets, especially for the first couple of years of business, should be fairly large. If you plan on applying for a loan so that you can expand your business, make sure you include a large enough budget for advertising as well. Since lenders typically require a 10 to 20% down payment, and your advertising costs will start out high, it’s recommended that you spend time working on your budget projections. By taking the time to properly plan at the beginning of the startup or even the refinancing stages, you can give your business the proper time and tools that it needs in order to grow.

Referral Programs

Referrals are a great way to get more customers from the ones that you already have. The beauty of referrals is that they really don’t cost much, and your customers will do the work for you when you give them some motivation. You could give out customer coupon codes that, when used, will earn them points, discounts, and more. This gives customers an incentive to advertise for you while helping you to retain them as customers as well.

There are lots of ways that you can advertise your business that don’t have to cost you much more than a little sweat equity.

Let Beri Group give your company a quality marketing experience!