Advertising is important to most businesses; it’s the way you let people know about you and promotes your brand. Unfortunately, advertising can be very expensive. The good news is that there are some ways you can advertise online for free. Read on to learn more.
Key Takeaways
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Advertising is essential for most businesses and brings a variety of benefits to your company.
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Online advertising is a great opportunity for companies to find new markets and constantly promote themselves.
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There are different ways you can reap the benefits of online advertising for free.
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Sign up for social media accounts and then connect through other free websites.
Why Advertise Your Business
No matter what size of business you have, you’re going to benefit from advertising. Let’s look at some of the solid reasons why you’ll want to put some effort toward advertising.
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Introduce your company. There are always people who haven’t heard of your company, and advertising can be the way you make that introduction.
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Build/strengthen brand awareness. Advertising can increase consumer awareness of your brand, and every time they see your ads, they form a stronger connection with your brand and name.
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Education. You can use advertising to educate your audience in a variety of ways, whether it’s about what you do or what your company is all about. You can even tell them how to use your product(s).
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Reputation building. Create an image of your company through advertising that puts you in a positive light, and then continue to build that reputation.
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Remind people to buy. Whether they’re new or old customers, advertising reminds them how much they need your company and products.
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Promote company culture. If your company is all about doing good things, supporting the community, hiring fairly, etc., then you can promote that through advertising. This not only promotes your brand for sales, but it also makes people want to work for you.
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Hold a giveaway. This is a great way to get people talking about your products and excited about something.
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Interact. If there are social posts where your company is tagged, get active and interact with people. If your brand isn’t being mentioned, but an area that you’re an expert in comes up, be sure to share information and be an authority; just don’t push selling too hard.
Advertising is an ongoing effort, not a one-and-done. If you’re going to invest in advertising, it needs to be consistent and constant. How can you do that when advertising can be so expensive? The answer is to find free advertising avenues. Most of those options are online, so let’s look deeper into online advertising.
Advertising Business Online
The internet has become a part of daily life, with people spending around 400 minutes online a day. Not only is having an online presence an extremely effective form of advertising, but it also comes with a lot of benefits. Consider the following.
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Customize your reach. Whether you’re looking to reach a wide batch of people or a very specialized niche, you can do it online.
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There are metrics. You can get measurable results and then adjust your efforts to perform better continually.
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Establish your expertise. You can set your company up as an expert in your field.
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Options. There are so many different ways to advertise online, you can try different approaches and different venues, and you can even reach different customers.
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Engagement. Some advertising efforts online are interactive, which means you get to engage with the customers right away and build a relationship.
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Cost. Online advertising can be very cost-effective; it can even be free.
Free Way to Advertise Your Business
There are actually a ton of ways to advertise your business for free online. Sometimes you have to get a little more creative than others, but you can do it. The following are some free business advertising opportunities to try.
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Google. Make sure you use Google My Business so you show up in local searches. It can also help you rank higher when people are looking for you online.
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Blog. Blogging on your own website helps boost your search engine optimization and will increase the validity of your website. This will also help you rise in organic Google searches. You can take this a step further and guest blog on other websites to boost your authority faster.
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Publish on LinkedIn. LinkedIn has a lot of validity and a high trustworthiness factor. It’s also a great way to target your audience and inform them.
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Answer Quora questions. Quora is a very popular platform full of questions and answers. Because many queries on Google are questions, Quora frequently has the answer; if yours is in there, you definitely expand your reach.
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Emails. Marketing emails don’t cost you a thing, and if you do them correctly, they can help you stay connected to your audience and build stronger relationships. Just don’t flood them with spam.
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Get social. One of the best ways to advertise your company online and for free is through social media. There are many, many different social avenues, and there are new ones cropping up all the time. Explore the different avenues, what your audiences use, and how to best reach them.
Five Free Advertising Websites
Are you excited to promote your business and ready to get started? The first thing to do is to sign up for any and all social media outlets that your customers use. Be as active as you can. It’s worth investing in a dedicated employee or department to constantly monitor and respond on these sites. The following five sites let you sign up and reach others for free.
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Craigslist
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Classifiedads.com
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Yelp
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Google Business Profile
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Chambers of commerce
Free Business Advertising Online FAQ
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Is online advertising expensive?
Online advertising doesn’t have to be expensive; there are many free ways to advertise your business online. A lot of online advertising is do-it-yourself, so if you have to hire staff to do it, there will be a charge, but you can build a big audience and garner sales through free online advertising.
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What is the best way to advertise for free?
The best way to advertise for free is online. What outlet you use to do your free online advertising depends on you and your audience. You want to select advertising that will reach your audience and engage with them. You also want to select a type of advertising that fits your level of time investment.
Some social media outlets require almost constant interaction. Some other online advertising sites only require you to post once or to update when there’s a significant change.
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Is online advertising only for sales?
Online advertising is great for sales, but it can do a lot more for your business. One of the biggest benefits of online advertising is that it can boost your brand’s recognition and reputation. This can be even more important than making a sale online; it can help you develop loyal customers and fans.
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What is the best free advertising for a small business?
It depends. Free advertising for a small business can come in many forms, and its effectiveness depends on the business and the typical audience. Email and social media tend to be incredibly infectious for most businesses and audiences, and they’re a great place to start.
They’re also great tools to reach out and ask your audience where they’re likely to look to find your products or services.
Author
Kristin Kizer
Kristin Kizer is an award-winning writer, television and documentary producer, and content specialist who has worked on a wide variety of written, broadcast, and electronic publications. A former writer/producer for The Discovery Channel, she is now a freelance writer and delighted to be sharing her talents and time with the wonderful Zippia audience.
