Every business needs some form of advertisement to thrive online. It’s also a no-brainer that acquiring customers keeps businesses in the game. But get this. Paid advertisement is not the only way to grow your online business.
Paid advertisement can help you attract more customers and increase brand awareness, but it can also be expensive and time-consuming. It may not even deliver the kind of results you are looking for, especially if you don’t understand the technicalities of running ads.
Also, If you are a budding or a small business, you may not have the financial capacity to run paid advertisements. So, here is my advice for the business owner relying solely on the paid advertisement to promote their online business, it’s time to get creative. It’s time to switch your focus to easy and affordable ways of promoting your business.
In this blog post, we will explore effective ways to grow your online business without paid ads.
Table of Contents
How to Grow Your Online Business Without Paid Ads
Here are some strategies you can leverage to promote your business and attract more customers for your online business without paid ads.
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Build a strong brand
Branding is a very important aspect of growing a business online. Your brand is your identity. It is the perceived image of your business. How your target audience sees your business is very important because it goes a long way in determining whether they will buy from you.
Bear in mind that branding is more than just your logo and tagline. It extends to being clear on who your target audience is and what they care about so you can create a brand that resonates with their needs. Branding also involves a clear business vision and mission, which you should communicate effectively to your audience.
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Create high-quality content
Content is the gasoline that fuels every form of online business and marketing. Your content attracts people to your business, so you can’t afford to joke with content marketing. It is the most effective way to grow your online business.
By creating quality content that resonates with your target audience, you attract more traffic to your website or business page, position yourself as an authority, and build trust with your customers. The magic is in creating content that is value-packed and engaging.
Your goal with any content you create, be it a blog post, video, podcast, infographic, etc., should meet a particular need that your target audience may have. Always ensure your content is top-notch, relatable, and solves practical problems for your target audience.
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Build a strong brand on social media
If you are not using social media for business growth as a business owner, you are leaving money on the table. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and TikTok are potent tools you can leverage to grow your business online.
Social media allows you to reach a wider audience and engage with customers. Do you know that you can connect with professionals, show off company updates and position yourself as a leader and an authority in your industry by creating something as simple as a LinkedIn profile?Â
When you post consistently on social media with a hashtag strategy, you make it easy for your business to be found online. Also, posting and scheduling tools like Hootsuite make posting content on social media easy and time-saving.Â
Furthermore, building a strong social media presence for your business online will make it easy for you to engage in social media marketing. When you do this, you will have a strong followership, brand feel, and brand look that guarantees greater results.Â
However, you need a clear strategy to use social media for effective business growth. It all begins with finding and focusing on the social media platforms where your target audience is most active. Bear in mind that different kinds of content work for different platforms.
Therefore, structure your content to suit the requirements of each platform. It is also very important that you engage with your audience regularly by responding to their comments and questions and even sharing helpful content from other sources.Â
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Prioritise SEO
The trick to appearing on google without paying for google ads is blending quality content with SEO. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is orienting and setting up your website to rank very high on the search engine results pages (SERPS). Effective SEO is a product of high-quality content optimized for your target keywords.
Your content, whether blogs post, articles, or even social media posts, should be written to answer your target audience’s questions and objections about your product or service. In blog posts, you should answer the following questions; What makes your product different from the competition? How long does your product last? What are the benefits people stand to enjoy when they use your product or service?
This can make your brand rank high on Google and help your customers have enough convincing information to buy from you. The other side of the fence is that you must ensure that your website is easy to peruse and loads very fast. Factors like backlinks, site structure, and mobile responsiveness should be properly fixed because they could impact your SEO outcomes.
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Host virtual events
Hosting virtual events allows you to engage with your current customers personally. You want to do this because your existing customers are the unsolicited marketers that will further attract more customers for your business by referring other people, especially by singing the praises of your products and services.
You can use tools like Eventbrite, Facebook events, LinkedIn events, or Meet-up to carry out your virtual events. The kind of event you will organize will be determined by the kind of business you run. Ensure that your events are educating, inspiring, entertaining, and very helpful to your customers.
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Leverage email marketing
Email marketing is the answer if you want a more cost-efficient way to have a one-on-one kind of marketing relationship with your target audience. Email marketing is a very effective way of growing your online business without paid advertisement. You keep your customers engaged and informed about your business by building an email list and sending them regular newsletters and promotional emails.
The newsletters and emails you send out to your subscribers should provide tremendous value, such as; exclusive discounts, tips, and advice that are useful, personalized content, in addition to well-designed and mobile-friendly emails.
Read Also: A Free Guide to Successful Product Marketing for Nigerian Businesses
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Guest blogging
One way to leverage other people’s platforms and audience to promote yourself and your expertise is guest blogging. Find those blogs your target audience or customers read and find out how to submit a blog post or an article to them as a guest.
Write about a topic that aligns with what the blog is about. The trick to maximizing this strategy is creating articles that are top-notch, interesting to read, and of course, value-packed.Â
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YouTube videos and viral videosÂ
You can’t go wrong with video content. Videos convert more than any other type of content online. On the other hand, YouTube is the second most visited website online aside from Google, creating a branded YouTube channel for your business a very good marketing strategy to consider.
Creating and customizing a YouTube channel that reflects your brand and leveraging it to build a community by sharing content around your product and services can be a great way to build a loyal and ever-ready customer base for your online business.
Read Also: An Ultimate Guide to Video Marketing for Nigerian Businesses
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Network and collaborate
Co-marketing is key to reaching a wider audience and building trust with your customers. You can grow your online business by partnering with influencers or networking with other businesses like yours.Â
Collaborating with influencers in your niche allows you to bring your business before their large audience and ultimately attract new customers for your business, while networking with businesses like yours helps you raise your business profile, share new ideas, and increase leads and sales.
However, you must ensure the influencers you work with align with your brand values and have an engaged audience. Also, ensure that your collaboration and connections are genuine and provide value to both you and the other brands.
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Get added to internet directories
Do you know that you can increase visibility, improve search engine rankings, drive targeted traffic, boost local SEO, and create greater brand awareness for your online business when you get added to internet directories like Google my business, Angel’s list, Bing places for business, Yelp, etc.?
All you need to do is research and find out the relevant directories to your business. You should also create a business listing, submit your business, verify your listing, optimize your listing, and regularly update your listings.
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Offer deals and giveaways
If you want to attract new customers and keep the current ones loyal to your brand, do giveaways, after all! Who doesn’t like free things? I am simply saying that offering giveaways and deals is a great way to grow your business online. The trick is being clear on what you want to achieve with your promotion or giveaway and choosing the right deal or giveaway that helps you achieve it.
Set clear terms and conditions for your offer, monitor and measure your results while your promotions are on, and follow up with your customers.
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Create or join an online community
Believe me. Online communities can be very effective for growing your online business. Creating or joining online communities like Facebook groups, Whatsapp groups, LinkedIn groups, subreddit, Reddit, allows you to network, increase brand awareness, and access resources that can help you grow your business.
They can help you get feedback and insights about your product and services, gain support and encouragement from others and much more. You should always direct your customers with a call-to-action to your online community.
When you join Insight’s Whatsapp Community, you will have the opportunity to network, collaborate, increase your brand awareness and meet wonderful people that can help grow your business. Join today!
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Provide exceptional customer service
If you want your customers to always come back for your services, offer exceptional customer service. One of the brilliant things you can do to grow your online business is to provide an excellent experience and service to your customers. By offering exceptional service to your customers, You gain their trust and loyalty and encourage them to advertise your business further.
The trick to exceptional customer service is being responsive, ready to help, and friendly. Your customers should have a pleasant experience beginning with their initial contact with your business to their post-purchase experience, which includes fast response time to inquiries, clear and transparent communication about your products and services, stress-free returns, and exchange if necessary.
Read Also: An Insightful Guide on How to Advertise a Product (Digital and Physical)
Conclusion
The above strategies can help you grow your online business without relying on paid advertisements. It may take a little time and effort to see the desired results, but nothing beats the benefits of organically growing your business.
It saves you money and helps you build an engaged and loyal customer base for your business, and that is exactly what you want to do. Start now!
You can also sponsor your business on Insight.ng to have a wider reach of your target audience
About Author
- Ruth Faithful is an educationist and a highly skilled freelance writer with a knack for crafting top-notch engaging and compelling on-brand copies and content that connects with readers and delivers results for businesses and brands. She is a passionate advocate for personal development and self-actualization. She is dedicated to helping individuals and businesses thrive.
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