1. Make a downloadable eBook
Creating a branded eBook with helpful information about your industry or products, will always get results. You can put a lot of thought into it since you only need one or two for years to come. If done right, the eBook will circulate for a long time. The most popular format for eBooks are PDF files. Fiverr might be a good place to have one made if you want to outsource.
2. Make full size YouTube videos and promote
YouTube get’s more searches then Google now. Millions of people every day go there for entertainment and helpful information. How to videos do the best, so make full size HD videos on how to do something and you might even get listed in Google search results for it. Make sure to add a spice of fun and watermark or your business name in it somewhere. Green screens or yesterday’s news. Natural backgrounds with good lighting and audio is what’s in.
3. Hire a Social Media Manager
Social Media Managers are becoming a huge side hustle business and even a career choice. The complexity of posting on all major social networks and knowing the right content takes a lot of training and experience. If you can find a good SMM for a good price, it will give your business a big lift. I would search locally for one so you can have a more personal relationship. Which will lead to more personal content.
4. Run Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and TikTok ads
Running short videos on Instagram and TikTok is becoming the norm for growing your social media presence online. Some professional say to post twice a day but realistically every other day will still help a lot. Pinterest and Linkedin only do images, where Facebook and Instagram do both. TikTok only does videos. One trick is to make a TikTok video, export it for reposting on Instagram and Facebook. Then take a screenshot or a couple from the video and post those to Pinterest and LinkedIn. Find when your customers are on social media the most or post around 7pm. Twitter is another option but not nearly as popular.
5. Hire Social Media Influencers to promote your business
This used to cost too much for most small businesses but now with micro influencers any business big or small can get promoted (if they like your business) for a reasonable rate. Sometimes as low as $500 for a month campaign. Search social networks for people talking in your industry with a lot comments on their posts and send them an email or DM asking for rates.
6. Run Google and Bing text ads
This was the most popular way to promote a small business for decades online. It’s not as effective as it once was, but there’s still ways to get business from it for a fair price. You’ll usually need to do the advanced ad options to target the right people with keywords and locations. Be careful with auto ads, they rarely work correctly at the point of writing this article. Although someday all in one (auto) with AI ads will be a thing eventually.
Obviously there’s a lot more ways to promote your small business online, but these are currently the most effective in my opinion and have the best ROI. SEO is another highly effective option, but that’s normally a long rocky road to get results. I recommend doing SEO yourself with a tool like Diib. It’s what we use to keep track of everything SEO. For videos, you might want a content maker tool to help fill the days you are not making your own custom content. Custom content is much better, but a fun stock video edited nicely can help as well. I also like forums and banner ads on similar websites.
If you don’t have a blog yet, create a sub domain in your Web Host Pro account and add WordPress. Use a good theme like Superb Themes (contact us for a discount) and set it up nicely. Ask us if you need help. Our Web Host Pro blog uses their themes. Make sure to optimize and secure your blog with WP Optimize and All In On Security plugins.