It’s often best to pay someone to promote your business or spend money on ads, but not everyone can get into the pay to play space or has the margins to experiment with in order to reach their target audience with a profitable ROI.
It’s even more difficult when you don’t have any brand recognition or an established audience, and you’re out there looking for leads online or offline. It is not impossible to market your company for free. Still, it can be difficult, and it is not a path that everyone is willing to take, but if you are committed and want to make this work without spending money on advertising or branding, here are a few ideas to consider.
- Include your information in directories.
If you don’t have a website, local directories are a great place to start, and if you do, getting all relevant web directories to send links back to your site can’t hurt. South Africa has several directories you can use depending on your niche and how eager you are to go and sign up on all of these sites. All you’d need is a free email account, which you can get from services like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, or Proton Mail, and use to sign up for these websites.
I would also recommend having a cellular phone number in case prospects prefer to contact you via phone, text, or instant messaging, and making sure to include this email address and phone number on all of your directory listings for consistency.
Protip! If you do decide to change your contact information, I recommend that you go through all of your directory listings and have them updated.
- Classified advertisements
If you’re looking to sell, it makes sense to hang out in places where people are looking to buy, which is unquestionably classified websites. People visit these sites with the sole intention of buying and browsing for deals, so listing your offerings on these sites for free should become a habit of yours. Why not take advantage of the fact that South Africa has several classified sites that allow you to post your ads for free?
- Make use of social media.
The golden age of social media has passed, and the businesses that benefited from it are now well established. Posting is still a part of the ecosystem, and it is important to show consumers that you are active and engaged, but it rarely results in leads.
Free social media now entails reaching out directly, using the right hashtags, commenting on users’ content who you believe would be interested in your brand or service, or DM’ing them directly. It also entails reaching out to the appropriate groups, as well as creating and recruiting clients to your groups.
You can easily spend hours reaching out to hundreds of people, and while it is tedious, it is a great way to establish personal lines of communication and eventually move them into direct channels.
- Collaboration with other businesses
Entrepreneurship isn’t a solitary endeavor, and the more friends you make along the way, the easier it is to ask for favors or pitch ideas. Businesses are all trying to provide better value to their clients, and if you can pitch how you can improve or supplement their services to a business owner, they will often take you up on the offer.
Businesses frequently collaborate on a campaign in order to benefit from the same marketing. Depending on your niche, it could be a complementary service, such as a makeup artist collaborating with a hairstylist, sharing clients and doubling up on service.
Collaborations can range from as simple as mentioning each other in social posts and sharing those posts with their followers to as complex as creating a combined service; it all depends on how much time you both are willing to commit to.
- Continuous networking
Networking isn’t just about fancy boozy lunches or breakfasts at hotels; it can also be conferences, Meetup groups, or workshops; always be on the lookout for new ways to connect with people and businesses. Please don’t become that person who is always pushing their services on people at social events; it’s a place to make contact and learn.
Nobody wants to attend a party where they will be sold something by a pushy entrepreneur. If the opportunity arises, be prepared with a brief pitch and a business card.
- Join an online community and contribute as well.
There’s a niche for everyone on the internet; there’s always someplace where like-minded people tend to congregate for you. In your niche or area, this could be Facebook Groups, WhatsApp Groups, LinkedIn Groups, or Message Boards. Be warned: this is not a place where you can just show up and start posting links and promotions; you will irritate community members and be kicked out.
Instead, concentrate on giving back to the community by answering questions and providing helpful feedback, advice, and tips. Maintain your service while actively adding to it and developing a connection with the community. Passively promote your service by including a link in your signatures or mentioning it only when the situation calls for it.
- establishing open lines of communication
A straight line is the quickest way to anywhere, so I find it strange that entrepreneurs overlook this option. When meeting people through your efforts above, make sure to get their contact information, whether it’s an email address or a phone number, and start building a customer list.
Categorize each of them as a prospect, client, repeat customer, or referral, and reach out to them via email or instant messaging when you have an offer that would be of interest to one of your categories, rather than sending the same message to everyone. That is the quickest way to cut off lines of communication; when it comes to reaching out to people directly, a little subtlety and finesse go a long way.
There is a cost to free marketing.
If you’ve made it this far, I salute you; it’s not an easy read, and the realization of the amount of effort required to promote your business without spending money on advertising can hit you like a ton of bricks.
While these advertising tips may be free or low-cost, they do not guarantee sales, and they take away valuable time that could be spent on operational tasks or active lead acquisition.
This list gives you a variety of options, but it is up to you to choose the ones you are most comfortable implementing and then doubling down on the methods you believe work best for your business.
