How to advertise a small business

In order to grow, businesses need to find new customers. And in order to stay successful, businesses need to keep them. This guide will show you some common tools for marketing to the right customers.

Advertising your small business

While marketing is speaking to consumers about your business, advertising is paid messaging to increase awareness and boost your sales. Here are some small business advertising ideas.

Small business online advertising

Social media channels: Your business’s own social media account can help show off your brand, engage with customers and share information about your products and services for free.

Social media ads: Paid social media ads can help reach more customers by raising awareness and driving traffic to your business.

Pay per click ads (PPC): PPC are ads on internet search engines and other websites. You pay to have your ad appear when certain keywords are searched for and you get charged for each click on your ad. Learn about Kliken.

Cost per impression ads (CPI): With a CPI ad you pay a fee per thousand views your ad gets, whether or not the people who viewed your ad clicked on it.

Cost per action ads (CPA): With CPA ads, you only pay when someone takes a specific action, such as signing up for your email list or buying your product.

Learn more about advertising online

How to advertise offline

Word of mouth: Making connections in the community is still one of the oldest but most reliable forms of advertising. How about a partnership offer with friends or peers that provide a service complementary to yours? Also, check out small business groups in your town. These can be an excellent way to connect to other small business owners.

Business cards: There’s still a place for business cards today. You can use them to connect with potential customers and give them out at events or your place of business. Make sure your card has your business’s name, address and contact information, including your website and social accounts.

Newspapers: If your goal is to attract local customers, then advertising in a neighborhood or small local newspaper can be an effective way to reach your target audience. The price of your print ad will depend greatly on the newspaper's popularity and the size of your ad.

Magazines: A local, regional, or niche interest magazine can help you reach a specialized audience. The price of magazine ads generally depends on the size of the publication and size of the ad itself.

Banners: Posters and banners don’t cost much to make. These can be printed and hung at your place of business or around your community.

Social media for small business

Telling people about your product or service on social media can help you reach more customers. And best of all, it’s low cost and can have a big upside.

The quick and easy social media playbook

You’ve seen plenty of brands that excel at social media. Whether it’s clever writing, inspiring images or short informative videos, social media offers a range of possibilities for small businesses to reach new customers and keep current customers engaged.

Choose the right social site for your business: No two social media platforms address the same customer base. For example, businesses that sell to other businesses may see better results from a business-focused social media service. Businesses selling visually appealing products to consumers may prefer a platform set up for sharing photos. Learn about Facebook Blueprint.

Make the most of your time by posting when your customers are online: Experiment with different times. Each audience is different. For example, some customers may browse social media more during commuter hours or lunch breaks.

Identify clear objectives and build metrics to help you gauge your success: If your objective is getting the word out about your business, then having 30,000 people share your posts is great progress. If you’re using social media to drive sales, then new inquiries about your product, like ‘where can I get this?’ is a performance indicator that really matters.

Test, review and learn: Periodically check which of your posts are more successful. Most social media platforms provide a dashboard that shows which posts get the most views, likes or shares. Once you’ve identified the successful patterns, build a theory for why they were successful—then test your theory with more posts.

Be yourself: Harness your company’s personality on social media. Focus on what makes your business unique (you’re a flower shop and you do arrangements based on celebrities, for example). Authenticity rules on social.

Advertising and marketing solutions

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Pick the right marketing campaign for your business.

Learn about Kliken

More marketing starting points

Other guides for getting started with small business marketing.

Getting started with online reviews

Getting started with brand loyalty

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