4 Ways To Advertise Your Business That You Probably Aren’t Using

Advertising is an important part of creating a successful business but strangely, a lot of small/medium sized business owners tend to shy away from it. Personally, I can sort of see why this is. There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t get a phone call from some pushy telesales representative trying to sell me what he/she classes as the next big thing in terms of advertising. Oh, and it usually costs somewhere in the region of £500 – £1000 without any proof (aside from the phone call) that it actually works.

Well, I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, there are a number of ways to advertise your business that you probably haven’t ever thought of using. What’s more, they’ll be a lot cheaper (and usually a lot more effective) than anything you’re likely to get sold over the phone (although there are some exceptions of course).

Curious as to what these methods are? Read on and I’ll walk you through a few of my favourites. I’ve no doubt that at least one of them will work perfectly in your business.

#1 – Banner Advertising        

Source: Yell printing

When people think of banner advertising these days, they generally think of the huge amount of online advertising that we’re unfortunately bombarded with on a day-to-day basis. It’s important to remember that online banner ads evolved from real world banner ads which unfortunately, are underutilised these days.

When was the last time your business had a fantastic, eye-catching PVC outdoor banner produced? The answer is probably never for the vast majority of business owners and personally, I really think this is a missed opportunity.

It might seem like quite a primitive form of advertising for some, but there’s no doubt that it works. If you can create an eye-catching banner (like the one pictured above) and present it in a location where your target market are likely to see it, you’ll be surprised at the response.

What’s more, it’s an extremely low-cost form of advertising compared to many of the options out there.

#2 – Hired Word Of Mouth

Source: JPMarketing.co.uk

I’m sure that all of you have experienced first-hand just how powerful word of mouth marketing can be and it’s often classed as the most powerful technique out there. If you do a good job or provide a good service, it’s likely that people will tell their friends and family about you and in turn, you’ll earn yourself more work through personal recommendations. In a nutshell, this is word of mouth marketing.

The trouble with word of mouth marketing is that you don’t have control over it. Yes, you might do a good job for a client/customer and earn a positive personal review by chance, but generally, you aren’t able to control it. Or are you?

Well, did you know that you can actually purchase word of mouth marketing? This comes in a few various forms with the most simple form being paying someone (or a group of people) to recommend your business to their friends and say great things about you. For example, you could hire someone to strike up conversations about your business in the street, at a bus stop, in a shop, anywhere.

Think about it, if someone came up to you while you were waiting for a bus and said “Hey, have you tried that new cafe down the road? It’s delicious!”, I’m sure you’d want to go in and try it, wouldn’t you?

#3 – T-shirts

Source: Reuters.com

A big part of advertising is getting the message about your company and brand out there, and a fantastic way to do this is with t-shirts.

You don’t see many companies using t-shirts in their marketing campaigns these days and again, I think this is unfortunate. T-shirts can be fantastic for generating that much-needed buzz around your company and the great thing about them is that they hardly cost anything at all.

A t-shirt with your company logo, message or branding will probably set you back no more than £10 per person and if you think about it, they can be worn time and time again (depending on the message).

Another cool thing about t-shirt advertising is that it isn’t intrusive, unlike cold calling and many other advertising alternatives.

#4 – Publicity Stunt

Source: TaylorHerring.com

If you can pull them off, publicity stunts have to be one of the best forms of advertising known to man (or woman). There’s literally nothing more powerful if you’re looking to get the attention of your target market (which clearly you are).

The fantastic thing about a publicity stunt is that it has the power to attract a huge amount of attention for your company whilst at the same time, being fun. I mean, what other type of advertising is actually fun!?

When it comes to publicity stunts, you can literally do anything so long as it gets people talking and doesn’t break the law. Richard Branson (founder of Virgin) is well known for his publicity stunts, one of which you can see pictured above (the publicity stunt that went along with the launch of Virgin Media).

You should be aware however that nothing screams failure like a failed publicity stunt, so make sure you pull out all the stops and that you get it right.

Conclusion

Advertising doesn’t have to be boring, and nor does it have to be costly. By taking these points on board, you’ll be sure to generate a huge return on your investment and also, stand out from the crowd.

While your competitors are getting conned by the latest telesales campaign selling overpriced online directory listings, you’ll be planning your genius publicity stunt or finalising your PVC banner design with your local printing company. A much better use of your time (and money) if you ask me.