How To Promote Your Business in 2024: 28 expense Effective Ways

In order to effectively promote your business, you require to make a foundation for your online presence and focus on getting in front of the correct people quickly and efficiently. 

A lot of promotional advice recommends pouring money into ads on Facebook, Instagram, or Google. But you can’t put all your eggs in the advertising basket—spread is key to avoiding diminishing returns over period. Plus, there are lots of ways to promote your brand for free, or for little money.

This navigator walks you through 28 of the best ways to promote your business, complete with examples and resources for getting started.

How to promote your business 

1. Write guest posts for blogs that reach your target spectators
2. Get featured on product review blog posts
3. Write an specialist roundup
4. discover affiliates to promote your business
5. Get included in gift guides
6. Invest in infographics
7. Focus your attention on email marketing
8. Get to the top of Google search results
9. make a loyalty program
10. Optimize your website for conversions
11. propose specialist advice on Connectively
12. Upsell and cross-sell products
13. Get on TikTok
14. commence a YouTube channel
15. associate with influencers to promote your business
16. Publish compelling social media posts frequently
17. Automate word-of-mouth with social reviews
18. make micro-content for social feeds
19. leave live with your followers
20. Make it straightforward to distribute your products
21. Be vocal about brand-appropriate trending topics
22. make quizzes and other interactive content
23. Enable shoppable feeds on all social media channels
24. Test out retargeting ads
25. make a Business Profile on Google
26. Join local events and connect with local customers
27. propose local delivery
28. Get local press

Free and low-expense ways to promote your business online

Business promotion is more than just publishing images on social media or buying ads. It’s a procedure that will assist you achieve measurable achievement in your business. Here are free or low-expense ways to promote your business and drive traffic and sales. 

1. Write guest posts for blogs that reach your target spectators

Free traffic—as opposed to paid traffic that comes from things like purchased ads—is often challenging to arrive by for recent websites. You can commence blogging to drive traffic, but it takes period before you’ll commence seeing results.

While you develop your own spectators, guest posting gives you a way to get in front of someone else’s. Not only does this drive traffic back to your website, but those links to your site (known as backlinks) will assist with search engine optimization (SEO).

discover and connect with bloggers who have the type of spectators you desire to reach. propose to write a guest post that their spectators will adore. Make sure the topic you write about is also related to your business.

2. Get featured on product review blog posts

Getting your product reviewed can be a great way to spread awareness and drive sales. Instead of waiting around for someone to review your product, use a blogger outreach campaign to get the ball rolling. Contact bloggers with relevant, engaged audiences and propose to send them recent products for free in trade for an truthful review. If you have a great product, they’ll adore it and inform everyone.

3. Write an specialist roundup

While blogging is a great way to drive traffic back to your store, it takes period. This is especially factual if you don’t feel very knowledgeable on a topic you require to write about, or you’re not generally comfortable writing. One way around this is to inquire for contributions from other bloggers or experts.

Seek out experts on a topic and inquire them to contribute an concept, such as a tip, recipe, or narrative to your blog post. Then, publish a list of all the responses you got back. You’ll be providing your spectators with great content from relevant experts, plus the contributors will desire to distribute the piece with their own readers, increasing your reach.

Resource: Best Blog Ideas: How to Choose a Blog Post Topic

4. discover affiliates to promote your business

If you desire to receive product reviews a step further and solicit even more people to promote your product, consider starting an affiliate program. Affiliate marketing incentivizes other people to drive traffic to your business by offering a fee on every sale, similar to referral programs.

Finding your first affiliates can be tough if you don’t have wide brand recognition. Use an outreach campaign to discover and recruit your first few affiliates and get the ball rolling. Look for affiliates who have an engaged spectators and are already writing about your industry. 

Resource: How to make a Successful Affiliate Program For Your Business

5. Get included in gift guides

Gift guides are a list of recommended products or gift ideas, typically centered around a holiday (like Christmas) or a person (like your dad). If you’ve ever searched online for gift ideas, you’ve likely arrive across several gift guides, like this housewarming gift navigator by The recent York Times.

Getting your product in the correct gift guides can boost sales and traffic to your website. However, inclusion in these guides doesn’t happen randomly and requires some attempt. In many cases, business owners and marketers lobby to get their products included. Reach out to gift navigator publishers relevant to your target trade and inquire to have your product included.

6. Invest in infographics

Investing in a professionally designed infographic is one way to drive traffic and potentially construct more backlinks for SEO. The expense ranges greatly for standard infographics—depending on what you require and the skill level of the person you hire—but it can be well worth the property.

require an concept for an infographic? Check out sites like Infogram for encouragement. Once you’ve chosen an concept, research the topic and identify the points you’ll cover in the infographic. You can hand this outline over to a professional designer as path for what you desire the infographic to cover (or as a guideline for yourself if you’re going the DIY route, in which case you should check out tools like Canva or Piktochart).

Let’s declare you sell bicycles and related gear. You might make an infographic that talks about the environmental benefits of bicycling. Some points or figures you might include in the infographic could be how much a daily commute saves in fuel emissions, as well as a comparison of the total number of car owners and bike owners.

That communication speaks to your customer base, but it’s also compelling enough that many blogs and even information sites might desire to characteristic and link back to it as well.

7. Focus your attention on email marketing

Email marketing is a great way to attract and retain customers as a tiny business. Email is one of the most expense-effective ways to trade a recent business, with an average profit of up to $36 for every dollar invested. 

Consider using an email marketing app like Yotpo to make automated email marketing campaigns to send marketing messages for you. It’s a huge advantage for tiny-business owners who don’t have a ton of period or resources to spend on marketing. You can inquire potential customers to sign up for an email list on your social media profiles or ecommerce website. 

Once readers opt in, you’ll be able to send them updates about promotions, product launches, and other content to construct relationships and boost sales. 

8. Get to the top of Google search results

When it comes to promoting your online business, SEO is one of the best ways to get traffic and sales over period.

The objective is to get to position one, so when shoppers type in a specific keyword, they discover your brand first on search engines. These shoppers are considered “high-intent,” which means they are more likely to buy your products, because they’ve set out to discover something to meet a require or solve a issue. 

The issue is, tiny businesses often don’t have the period or resources to prioritize an SEO way. The upside? Executing the basics can be enough to put you ahead of competitors who are also pressed for period and resources.

Resource: Long-Tail Keywords way for Ecommerce SEO

9. make a loyalty program 

A loyalty program can assist you drive repeat business and boost customer retention. By rewarding your customers, you can make them desire to arrive back and spend more.

commence by defining the structure of your loyalty program. Will you use a points structure, tiered rewards, or exclusive perks for members? ponder about what will appeal to your target spectators and align with your brand. For example, if you run an online clothing store, you might propose one point for every dollar spent, with points redeemable for discounts on upcoming purchases.

Decide on the rewards you’ll propose. These could be discounts, free products, early access to sales, or special events. Make sure your rewards are valuable enough to motivate participation but still profitable.

You’ll require a way to track customer purchases and rewards. This could be as straightforward as a punch card for tiny businesses, or a more modern app like LoyaltyLion or Smile.io. 

10. Optimize your website for conversions

A well-optimized website can boost your sales without requiring more traffic. One place to focus is on your product specific pages (PDP). 

Make sure your PDPs have obvious, high-standard images, detailed product descriptions, and prominent call-to-action (CTA) buttons. Use Shopify Checkout to streamline the procedure and inspire more shoppers to complete a purchase. 

💡Tip: Use Shopify apps like Privy or Justuno to make pop-ups that propose a special discount or free shipping in trade for visitors’ email addresses, so you can nurture them into customers.

11. propose specialist advice on Connectively

Connectively is a platform that connects experts with journalists and media outlets. It’s a great way to get free press coverage for your store and reach a wider spectators without the expense of traditional PR. Simply make a Connectively profile on the platform, search for a query in your industry, and send a pitch. If the journalist is interested, they’ll reach out for more information. 

12. Upsell and cross-sell products

Upselling is a promotional way to boost average order worth and returns. The technique encourages customers to buy higher-priced items (upsell) or add complementary products (cross-sell) to their orders. 

Look for natural pairings or upgrades that add worth for shoppers. For example, if you sell smartphones, you might upsell to a model with more storage, or cross-sell phone cases and screen protectors. You could also inspire larger purchases by offering product bundling, which is a product model that combines related items at a slight discount.

Display product recommendations throughout your store. Use Shopify apps like Also Bought or Frequently Bought Together to automatically recommend relevant products based on customer behavior. Display these recommendations on product pages, in the shopping cart, and during checkout.

How to promote your business on social media

Social media can assist you promote your business to recent customers, make throng among existing customers, and assist you develop a following and further develop your brand. Some brands have taken off by crafting authentic and engaging presences on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. 

Read on for ideas on how to promote your business on Instagram, Facebook and other social media platforms.

13. Get on TikTok

If you’ve been wondering how to promote your business online, TikTok is a powerful spectators, especially for tiny businesses. According to the latest TikTok statistics, the social media platform has one billion energetic monthly users worldwide. Using TikTok for business is also the easiest way to reach younger demographics like zennials and Gen Z.

With many tiny businesses like Loungefit finding achievement on the app, TikTok might be the tool you require to scale your business’s social media presence and drive quick growth.

TikTok is great for building brand awareness. But you can also drive sales with a link-in-bio characteristic that directs viewers to a landing page.

discover more: TikTok Marketing: Creating a Successful way in 2024

14. commence a YouTube channel

In 2023, a study found US YouTube users watched an average of 45.2 minutes video on the website every day. As YouTube is second only to Google when it comes to the popularity of search engines, it’s a prime marketing chance for you to receive advantage of. 

A YouTube channel can assist:

• construct credibility with your spectators
• make engagement and loyalty
• boost your social media presence
• Drive traffic to your website

Compelling video content is excellent for attracting recent customers and engaging with current ones. A basic YouTube marketing way will assist showcase your brand’s identity and connect with your target spectators in a fresh and exciting way. 

15. associate with influencers to promote your business

Sometimes you don’t require to write a guest post or inquire other people to review your product. When you discover the correct match for your brand, a straightforward mention on social media can leave a long way.

Reach out to influencers on the social media platforms where you’ve found your potential customers and target spectators hang out. Specifically, you should look for nano- or micro-influencers, who have smaller spectators sizes, are less expensive to work with, and whose influence has proven to drive more engagement.

16. Publish compelling social media posts frequently

To develop your social following over period, it’s crucial to post content consistently. Studies recommend that audiences respond differently depending on your posting frequency, so make sure you test to figure out the best publishing cadence for your brand. You can also contrast your posting frequency and engagement rates to your competitors.

On platforms like Instagram and TikTok, consider posting different types of content throughout the day. For example, @kyliecosmetics publishes a mix of single image posts, Reels, and Stories. 

But keep in mind: standard over amount. As consultant Jay Baer notes, it’s more significant to focus on creating a powerful marketing schedule and a procedure to make genuinely compelling posts on a regular basis than it is to post impoverished standard content constantly.

Two helpful marketing tools for scheduling upcoming posts are Hootsuite and Buffer. You can integrate them with your browser and dozens of other apps to schedule posts and track engagement metrics for your social networks. These apps can assist you cut down on period spent actually pressing Publish.

17. Automate word-of-mouth with social reviews

Using product reviews and testimonials to make depend and earnings insights into your products is a great way to boost online sales.

Yotpo is a review app available for Shopify sites that encourages customers to leave reviews after they’ve made a purchase. The procedure is automated, so you don’t have to manually reach out to customers yourself. 

Connect your business’s social accounts and post the reviews directly to your pages. These reviews provide fresh content, construct depend in your brand and product standard, and assist drive traffic from social to your site.

18. make micro-content for social feeds

Consider the context in which most users are browsing social media. Maybe they’re on a mobile device during their commute, taking a quick brain shatter at their desk at work, or killing period as they wait for their display to arrive back on after commercials.

There’s one thing those scenarios have in ordinary: Social media users are often scrolling in between other tasks. That’s why bite-sized content is an effective way to captivate your spectators. This social media marketing way works particularly well on platforms made specifically for quick experiences, like TikTok.

For example, let’s declare you sell products for soccer players. On your blog, you write an piece titled “7 Training Exercises to enhance Your Soccer Skills.” You then repurpose that content into seven pieces of micro-content for use on social—one for each exercise. That would play much better than trying to cram an entire piece into a much faster social media encounter—and it bulks up your content calendar, repurposing content for days.

19. leave live with your followers

Engagement is critical to keep any online throng alive and well. A great tactic to engage with your online throng is going live with them on whichever social channel you have the best engagement.

Consider hosting a live session around a particular topic (maybe you’ll pack orders live with your spectators) or theme (like teaching a different watercolor technique each Friday). You can also call upon co-hosts you ponder your spectators might enjoy.

Resources: 

• Instagram Live: How To Sell Through Instagram Live Shopping
• How To leave Live on TikTok: A navigator for Business Owners

20. Make it straightforward to distribute your products

Social distribute buttons are a key element to increasing the “virality” of your site, which can, in turn, drive traffic and boost online sales. Make sure the buttons to popular social networks—like Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest—are straightforward for users to discover.

You might desire buttons that match your store’s visual aesthetic, like population Kings has on its product pages.

To implement this social media marketing tip on your own online store, consider an app like AAA Social distribute Marketing, which has its own analytics and can assist you optimize positioning and layout.

21. Be vocal about brand-appropriate trending topics

The emergence of the hashtag organized a large part of the social web according to topics and conversations, making it straightforward to join in on trending discussions and events. Now, as the hashtag is less of a guiding force and more of a supplementary tool, it’s up to businesses to discover the types of trending topics they desire to engage with as a brand.

A social media monitoring tool like Hootsuite can assist you discover and engage with different trends based on your brand. If you’re a TikTok user, the platform has a Discover page that allows people to view and view what’s popular.

As you figure out what kinds of marketing efforts work best for your brand, also consider the types of trending topics that make sense for you to jump on (or make yourself).

Above all else, don’t just post to post. Make sure that you’re contributing to the exchange in a meaningful, natural way.

22. make quizzes and other interactive content

Thanks to BuzzFeed, quizzes have made a powerful comeback.

Pieces of interactive content work really well on social media—that is, if they can provoke quiz-takers to display off their results publicly. To do that, you require to make a quiz that tells people something about themselves or how much they recognize, so they’re compelled to distribute it.

If you desire to try building your own, try Octane.AI, an straightforward-to-use tool for creating interactive content.

23. Enable shoppable feeds on social media channels

If your social posts aren’t shoppable, then you’re missing out on providing a crucial part of an omnichannel marketing way for your followers.

Essentially, you put virtual “tags” on TikTok videos and live events. Social scrollers can then click on these “tags” to view how much a product costs, and they can tap to discover more and make a purchase without leaving the app—an ultra-efficient procedure. 

Resource: How To Sell on Social Media

24. Test out retargeting ads

If you’ve been looking for ways to advertise your business to drive sales, retargeting is an effective way. When you run retargeting ads, you send ads to prospective customers who have been to your site before. These ads can be personalized based on their behavior. The positive facet of using retargeting ads in your marketing efforts is that you can reach potential customers who are already interested in your products.

How to promote your business locally

Even if you don’t run a brick-and-mortar store, it’s still significant for ecommerce sellers to discover ways to engage your throng and develop a local spectators. Read on for a few ideas for how to promote your business locally. 

25. make a Business Profile on Google

Google Business Profile is an straightforward-to-use listing tool to manage your presence across Google search and Maps. It’s one of the best ways to advertise your business for free and get in front of prospective customers. 

“A Google Business Profile gives local businesses a divide online presence other than their website,” says Amy Falcione, founder of local marketing agency large Picture Marketing. “Your listing gives a brief but detailed description of what your business offers and who you are.”

Amy explains that people will search for your Google Business Profile to check and view if you’re legitimate. You can add photos and videos of your shop and provide links to your website or appointment booking software. You can even provide people a look inside your business to construct depend and credibility with potential customers. 

If someone decides they desire to engage with your business, they’ll be able to view your contact information, website, and business address correct in the listing, so they can easily visit you online or in person.

26. Join local events and connect with local customers

A local occurrence refers to any affair that attracts an spectators from a local trade. Artisan markets, craft shows, trade shows, and festivals are examples of events tiny businesses can promote themselves at locally.

“correct now, many local businesses are conference online. They are using livestreams and online meetups to display off products online and reach people at scale,” Amy tells Shopify. “But as areas commence to open back up, we don’t desire to overlook the power of local in-person events.”

Local events assist tiny business owners meet customers one-on-one and make person connections. People can touch, feel, and smell whatever you’re selling and interact with your products. 

“Another way to promote your business locally is through workshops and lectures,” says Amy. “For example, if you run a candle making business, you can run local workshops to instruct people how to make their own candles. It’s a great way to construct your reputation in the throng and boost brand awareness.”

27. propose local delivery

Offering local delivery allows you to provide a faster, more convenient alternative to traditional carrier shipping and in-store shopping, and is a considerate way to reach your local customer base.

Determine your delivery zone, pricing structure, and timing options, then decide whether you’ll handle deliveries in-house or use third-event services. In your Shopify admin, you can set up the alternative for local customers to have their orders delivered. 

Whenever a customer’s address is within your delivery area, they’ll have the local delivery alternative at checkout. The local delivery alternative has to be enabled for each location you deliver from. You can propose delivery within a sure distance from your location, or for sure ZIP codes.

Resource: How to make a Local Delivery Service

28. Get local press

Another great way to promote your business locally is by getting local media coverage. Getting a narrative in the local newspaper can drive potential customers to your website or into your local shop. 

“commence by creating a press list of all the publications you desire coverage in,” Amy says, “then write your own press release and commence pitching it to reporters. Make it straightforward for them by getting your own quotes and statistics and making your narrative sound newsworthy.”

Amy recommends the following tips when writing your press release:

• Avoid sounding salesy
• Focus on how your product helps the throng
• Mention if you’ll be hiring local workers
• Discuss locally sourced products you use

Press releases that focus on throng empowerment inspire local reporters to cover your business.

enhance your digital marketing game

There’s no question that promoting your business isn’t just a enjoyable-to-have. Businesses require low-expense and free marketing tactics to assist meet their business goals—whether it’s raising brand awareness, driving website traffic, or making sales. 

You don’t require to tackle all 28 of these tactics correct away. commence with one or two that feel the most relevant to your business. Then, continue to add more as you develop.

Illustration by Rachel Tunstall