With a whopping increase from $877 million to $9.2 billion worldwide sales, Nike had remarkable success by launching the “Just Do It” campaign. That is the power of advertising. Adverts tend to create a profound impact on our minds. An impactful advertisement can persuade the customer to buy more of your product or service.

While advertising began in the 16th century, it has taken a whole new shape in the present era. Businesses have shifted their focus from traditional media to online media. People now expect advertising to be interactive.

Here are 10 smart ways that will help you advertise your small business successfully.

1. Google ads

According to the Google Economic Impact report, for every $1 spent on google ads, Businesses make an average revenue of $2.This is a platform wherein you can sign up and post an online ad. Your ad will appear when people search on Google for the relevant phrase. This way you can reach the audiences interested in your offerings. Google allows you to set a monthly budget. And, you are required to pay only when the visitor clicks on your ad. It is so popular that more than 80% of google’s revenue comes from google ads.
” In 2023, Google’s ad revenue amounted to 237.86 billion U.S. dollars. The company generates advertising revenue through its Google Ads platform, which enables advertisers to display ads, product listings and service offerings across Google’s extensive ad network (properties, partner sites, and apps) to web users “: Published by Tiago Bianchi, Feb 1, 2024

Advertising revenue of Google from 2001 to 2023 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Source : Statista 

2. Social media ads

Social advertising is an integral part of organizations’ advertising strategies. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linkedin continue to grow in popularity. A person encounters about 5000 ads each day, less than 100 of them catch their attention. Hence, to run an impactful social media campaign, your ideas must be creative enough to stand out. At the same time, it is cheaper to advertise on social media compared to other platforms.

The cost per 1000 impressions on different social media platforms is

Facebook – $7.19

Instagram – $7.91

Twitter – $6.46

Linkedin – $6.59

Source : Forbes

3. Local listings

Listing your business’ location with customer-facing online directories such as Google, Bing, or Yahoo can boost your online presence. Today, if someone wants to go to a cafe, searching on Google will list all the nearby cafes right away. Over the past 2 years, the ‘near me’ searches have grown by 900%. Search engine listings help establish your business in the local community. Moreover, listing your business on either ‘Google my Business’ or ‘Bing Places’ is free.

4. Flyers & Brochures

Some people might think online mediums have made flyers and handouts obsolete. If you want to promote your business locally, flyers have a great impact. These are ideal if you are new and want to introduce your business to the local people. You can put them up in cafeterias, libraries, etc to reach out to new prospects. Many online tools such as Canva can help you design a flyer for your business free of cost.

5. Video advertising

Another way of advertising in the modern world is displaying video ads on Youtube or Facebook. Amongst photos, texts, links, and all other content on social media, video content is the best-liked of all. A small video can contain and disseminate a huge amount of information in a short time. Also, the best part about videos is that they are more engaging than pictures or texts.

According to Statista, the amount spent on video marketing will reach $92.253 billion in 2024.

91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool
Source : wyzowl

6. Blogging

Another way to promote your business online is through content. Blogging is an influential way of connecting to potential customers. Not only it improves your visibility online but also promotes your business. You can advertise through blogging in two ways.

1. Write a Blog post – Market your blog on your website. Interact with the audience and encourage them for email sign-ups.
2. Place ads on Blogs – You can pay bloggers to place your ads on their site. The ads can be in the form of videos, text links, flash animation, or audio clips.

7. Online Contests

Online contests, preferably on social media is a fun and interactive way to connect with prospects. A lot of small and mid-sized businesses are seen on Facebook and Instagram announcing giveaways. These contests aim to garner more followers for your brand. And the winner gets hands-on experience trying out your offering for free. Many businesses partner with Influencers and run the contests with a shared understanding.

8. Influencer Marketing

Influencers and celebrities have a large fan base. This means, associating with them can reap major benefits for your business. Collaborating with an influencer can help you reach a massive audience. Additionally, getting featured by them can scale your customer acquisition rate. You can partner with micro-influencers as they connect to their audiences on a personal level. American Express’s influencer campaign “My Travel Style” was highly successful resulting in a massive 400% increase in acquisition rates.

9. Search Engine Optimization

Optimizing your rankings on Google is critical if you want to improve your brand visibility and generate revenue. Though you cannot control how a search engine behaves, you can do a lot to improve your ranking. The higher the ranking, the higher are the chances to appear in the search results. About 70% of the marketers find SEO more effective than Pay per click ads.

You can optimize your SEO by:

• Focussing on a fast load speed
• Including keywords related to your business in all your website pages.
• Have rich, value-driven content.
• Use unique & catchy titles.

10. Traditional Print Media

Newspapers and magazines may be the oldest form of advertising but not redundant. They are expensive as compared to online media. But they still play an important role in attracting your targeted niche. Printed materials being tangible can stay for a longer time thus creating a frequency illusion. You can incorporate digital media in the form of QR codes for customers to learn more about your brand.

Conclusion

With innumerable advertising tools available in the market, both paid and free, choosing the ones that exactly match your business requirements is important. Promoting your small