There are many ways to advertise that your Small Business may be missing out on!

Most small business owners understand how crucial advertising is for their business. With the right advertising in place, you push your brand name to the forefront, attracting both existing and new customers. In fact, effectively advertising can work to influence word of mouth referrals to push your business forward. However, small business guru Barry Moltz says;

Every gap a business has in advertising, is an opportunity for a competitor to swoop in and step up their game. A seamless advertising effort means positioning yourself in every channel possible, with impactful content. There was a time when customers would look up to see a billboard.

Since then your customers have been looking down at their screens instead. Every business is like a living organism and adapting to changing environments is a crucial way to survive. Technology is revolutionizing every industry and it’s now or never for your business to jump the curve. Your business can pull in much more traffic and here are the reasons why it may be missing out.

Advertising you can use for your Small Business:

Podcasts

POne of the reasons why radio was (and still is!) one of the most popular mediums to advertise is for two reasons. The first is because it’s a channel that allows multitasking. Most people listen to the radio while they’re driving, riding the bus, cooking etc.

The second is that it’s much easier to penetrate the mind when something is repetitively heard, almost subliminally. People don’t need to devote their entire attention to it but the radio still holds real estate of consumer’s attention.Radio, with its limited frequencies, shows and timings, have created a space where podcasts have taken over.

Every business owner is a rising thought-leader in their field and with the right stage for them to express their ideas and business, they can gain great exposure. Follow forums, blogs, and podcasts of others in your field and try to participate in discussions relevant to you and your customers.

The best part is that everyone is doing podcasts and it can be done almost for free. All you need is a quiet room, a voice recorder, and a sound editing software. If you’re just starting out on podcasts, you can get one for free.

YouTube and Live Streaming

Contrary to podcasting and the radio, this is about capturing the attention of your audience where you KNOW they’re paying attention. Advertisements at movie theaters have always been a success for this reason. It’s not easy to get your place in this, and though movie theaters still do play ads, there’s a shift in audience trends.

Gen Y and Gen Z ask why they need to go out when everything can come to them instead. This is a trend that’s affecting all businesses and if your business hasn’t taken the digital shift to delivery and virtual shopping experiences, that might be the first step to take.

It raised a storm last year when Netflix and Prime announced they were going to play ads, but it’s what the commercial tectonic plates were bound to do.Take advantage of this, and be among the first to use this platform for your business, and if you haven’t created an ad for YouTube yet, now may be the time.

Digital Flyers

Flyers and pass-out brochures may have been the dominant advertising strategy of our childhoods and past, but we say-no more! The ban on plastic is beginning to sweep over the country and it won’t be very long until mass-production of paper such as flyers and brochures are banned as well. Digital alternatives also allow for measuring effectiveness and tracking where paper does not.

Paid marketing and sponsored ads are taking over websites and social media. With the latest news on Instagram being the launch of their retail tool for direct checkout, you may want to create a marketing calendar that covers constant engagement on social media. Social Media ads that target the right keywords in paid online ads to push your business to the top of Google’s page is a great option.

Trade Sponsorship for Giveaways

Not that sponsorship needs to be thrown away entirely but the opportunities to do so may soon face a decline. Sponsoring local events and baseball games was a great way to shout out your business in your locality, but it’s time to hook and line bigger fish. The expansion of technology lets businesses reach globally and your business can now cater to any audience in the world.

The best way to do that is to shift focus to your website and social media and spend money on hosting giveaways and offering worldwide shipping instead. It’s been estimated that by 2021, 3 billion people across the world will be on social media and what better way to gain audience reach then to be a part of those conversations?

A faux pas made by business owners are limiting the opportunities their business take advantage of, unintentionally. For instance; if you’re a business that sells handicrafts and candles, you may have covered audiences that like aromatherapy and self-care. But why not offer gift cards on your site, so people who generally wouldn’t buy your products can gift them to someone who will. This is one example of casting a wider net for your business.

Ads in Cars

Uber, Ola, Lyft are crazy successful across the world but who’s to say you can’t take a dip in a similar pool? At this point in time, Ola and Uber do not have rules about advertising in their cars, as that belongs to independent drivers.

Why not create small removable stickers for the inside of cars and pay the car drivers and contractors for them? It’s a great way to get your business noticed for doing something absolutely unique, and it’ll get you a five-star rating in the industry.

Think Ahead and Think Digital

A key to advertising is thinking ahead. Take your business digital, and market it in the digital space. One downside to advertising is it can be quite expensive, but that’s why financing for advertising can provide the immediate capital that small business owners like you, need. Skip ahead of your competitors with these advertising ideas and give your business the jumpstart it needs.