s a business owner, it is likely you have read countless books, web research, articles, and such looking for the magic bullet that will help you bring your business to the forefront of your audience’s mind.
It is likely you have tried many things, but try this list of creative ways to expand your market and create brand awareness to ensure as many people as possible are thinking about business and what it has to offer.
Push Your Handles
Use Twitter? If so, share your Twitter handle with people in your targeted audience. Speaking at a conference? Include your Twitter handle in the slideshow. Time for new business cards? Make sure to include your Twitter handle and other relevant social media connection information.
Make a Vine
A vine is a quick, six-second video. Six seconds is not a lot of time, but with some practice and creativity, you could garner a lot of new followers quickly using this popular, rapidly growing social media palace.
Pin Yourself
Pinterest is an expansive resource that is amazingly unused by many businesses. Pinterest is a large board of image sharing. If you like it, pin it to keep the idea for yourself and to share with others. Don’t underestimate your ability to use this to your advantage by sharing product, infographics, photos, etc. Link back to your website in your bio and you may enjoy a large influx of traffic.
Watch the Competition
On Facebook, utilize the Pages to Watch feature, which allows you to select pages you want to keep tabs on. Follow your large competitors and examine how, what, and how often they post. See what works for them and then do not be afraid to copy that strategy onto your business.
Get on the Streets
Even in a digital society, there is a place for old school flyers in small businesses and sponsoring the local football team for a mention and free ad at the big game. This strategy is most utilized by small businesses but can work for anyone.
Engage with Contests
Customers jump at the opportunity to participate, be heard, and potentially be recognized. Utilizing photo, hashtag, video, or caption contests allows your audience to get involved with your brand in a fun way. In addition, these contests receive a lot of attention because they are easy to enter and do not often require a lot effort. If you are a clothing retailer, you could ask your audience to share a picture of their favorite date night outfit and hashtag it with your business name so you can find it.
Mix it Up with Infographics
We know that people are more visually engaged than they are textually. Need a new way to convey important information? Design an infographic to share. In fact, with a little practice you do not even need expensive software. You can make decent infographics using just Microsoft PowerPoint.
Make a List
Every post does not need to be a wall of text. In fact, readers are more likely to read it if it’s not. Lists like this one are reader favorites because they show the reader exactly what he or she will get. In addition, the reader can scan relatively easy and quickly.
Host a Webinar
You do not have to be a big name or multi-million dollar business to do a webinar. All you need is useful information that people want to know. Webinars allow you to share your expertise and garner business leads at the same time.
Guest Post on Some Blogs
If you know any bloggers or have connected with high power blogs in the past, inquire about your ability to guest post and link back to your website, blog, or social media. This doubles your audience potential by putting you (and your content) in front of another large, untapped audience.
Run a Podcast
Podcasts are attractive to users because they can easily be downloaded and listened to anywhere. Possible podcast topics to include are relevant, breaking news within your industry, interviews with experts, industry hacks etc. The options are limitless.
Host an Event
Go solo or gather a couple other businesses to join you, but events allow you to get face-to-face with your audience. Bring small products to give away and consider hosting a larger sweepstakes for a bigger item.
All ideas will not work for every industry or business, but if you are constantly working your creative brain, you will come up with different ways to expand your market, reach your audience – and keep them engaged in your business.
Now that you are inspired with twelve new ways to reach potential customers, pick one and get started.
Retail Store Photo via Shutterstock
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