Never underestimate the power behind a small business. Marketing can be expensive and it is often one of the biggest obstacles small businesses have to face. If your business is currently running on a bootstrap budget, there are lots of ways you promote your business.

Without marketing your business will struggle to grow, that is why we have come up with a list of ideas that will help your business develop its marketing strategy.

Visual Content

Sell yourself using visual content. Online videos added to social media platforms such as YouTube have the potential to go viral these days, make sure that if you are making videos that you are promoting your business in them.

If you are selling a product, then YouTube videos are a great wait for you to demo products. Keep your videos, interesting and engaging – to be a successful YouTube marketer you must be providing users with something relevant.

These days YouTube users can film impressive pieces on their mobile phone or laptop. This means that you don’t need to hire a corporate production company to help you. Make sure you are sharing your videos on your social media accounts, your videos will be worth nothing if no one can see them.

The Trust Factor

By starting your own business, you must know how well you know the industry. Make sure that your customers are aware of your knowledge too. There are a number of ways you can do this.

Firstly, make sure that you are active on social media – sharing helpful tips about your products and the industry itself. Not only will this drive more traffic to your website but customers will be impressed with how transparent and knowledgeable your business is, next time when they go to buy a product that you sell – they will think of your business right away.

Secondly, enter business awards. These awards are often free to enter, which means that there will be now cost from your end. If you are lucky to win the award this is something which you can promote on your marketing material, website and social media. Your business will automatically gain trust from users.

By applying for awards, your business may also gain some press coverage, whether you win or not. Local newspapers and online businesses may want to share your success. This will give your business a wider reach and will be great for the PR side of your brand.

Offline Marketing

These days we are obsessed with the digital aspect of our business, however, if you are a local business looking for advertising – offline marketing could be the way to go.

Something as simple as a car sticker can be seen by hundreds of people each day. Stickers are usually inexpensive and if you want the option of removing it, you can choose a removable magnetic sign instead.

Business cards are also super handy if you are attending network events. You never now who you may come across while you are out and about, so make sure you have a business card on you at all times.