Whether you just launched your company or you are already a veteran in your niche, publicity is one aspect of business you cannot afford to brush aside. The problem is, you may not have enough money to spend on PR and you may even feel compelled to purchase Facebook and Twitter followers. Instead of falling down that slippery slope, how do you go about hacking the system?
As experts agree, you don't have to spend thousands of dollars in marketing to get noticed. These 12 tips will help increase your visibility online WITHOUT spending money:
Creating social media sites is free, so you don't have to worry about spending $. But before leveraging the common sites, do some research to see where your customers frequent most. So, if it's Facebook, set up a page and post content regularly, at least three to four times a week. This is a sure way to grow your visibility.
"So, if it's Facebook, set up a page and post content regularly, at least three to four times a week."
The value and uniqueness of your content are what attracts an audience and customers to your website, and consequently, your business. Make sure to provide information that helps your customers solve a problem, answer questions, or generally offers insight into your brand and products.
Blogs and websites are viable ways of sharing information with your audience and helping draw attention to you and what you do.
Engaging with individuals in your specific industry can go a long way in making you visible among your target audience. But make sure to join an online community that is specific to your business and engage with people by making meaningful contributions. You may even place a necessary link on your comments, but don't overdo it as you will appear spammy and overly pushy, which can negatively affect your relationship with the audience.
"...but don't overdo it as you will appear spammy and overly pushy..."
Your close friends and family can help publicise your brand/business, even without having a lot of followers on social media. You can incentivise them by offering discounts for every link shared or, say a 15 per cent off their first purchase. Over time, you can be guaranteed better publicity and higher sales.
Launch a product that your audience is interested in to create a buzz around it. People will start talking about it, and this will help sell your image far and wide. The whole idea is to make people visit your website, where they can interact with your site and hopefully find something that intrigues their interest.
The social media algorithm works so that the more likes you get on a post, the more it will have more viewers. Encourage your fan base to share and like posts, but remember this is all dependent on the quality of your content or message. As long as you do it right, you are sure to enjoy more visibility (and therefore, publicity) through likes and shares.
Influencers who already have a big following on social media can become great marketing tools. Seek out industry-related influencers and ask them to follow you and share your content. You can also follow them and share their content to make you more visible.
"Seek out industry-related influencers and ask them to follow you and share your content."
Your website is your primary marketing platform, and you should therefore optimise it by making it easily accessible and mobile-friendly. With more people using mobile devices to access content, the need to optimise a website cannot be overemphasised.
Offer free digital gifts as it helps to entice people to share or purchase your products. Free giveaways may include a report or eBook, tutorials, design templates, images, and so on. This encourages readers to share (and inadvertently, promote your brand).
Ask your loyal followers to allow notifications so that they can be up-to-date with new developments regarding your services and products. Of course, you will have to convince them by offering relevant updates and refraining from sending too many notifications within a short period of time.
While long-tail keywords may have a lower search volume when compared to short-tail keywords, they also have less competition. This also means that searchers looking for a more niche keyword combination are far more active in their searches and more motivated to convert into customers once discovering your content.
"...searchers looking for a more niche keyword combination are far more... motivated to convert into customers once discovering your content."
You don't have to rely only on websites and blogs; make use of other platforms such as webinars, online directories, and podcasts to get your name out there in public. Seek your audience wherever it might be, and don't limit yourself to a few platforms.
From the tips mentioned, you can clearly see that it is possible to get publicity without investing a fortune. Find the methods that work for you and push your brand as far as you can.
And of course, if you haven't already, sign up to SourceBottle to receive free email notifications jam packed with free publicity opportunities in your inbox.
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