To say that making a business stand out is certainly on every business owner’s mind would be an understatement. These days, most consumers are online most of the time. If you want to get them to purchase your product or service, that’s where you need to reach them. You and literally millions of others like you.
In this competitive online field, standing out is of critical importance! Yet if everyone is trying to take the spotlight, it makes it so much harder to achieve.
Especially since the pandemic has pushed tons of businesses towards developing a greater online presence. A brick-and-mortar environment is so 2019!
Simply put, it’s really saturated out there. However, that doesn’t mean standing out is impossible. Thanks to daily advancing technology, online marketing has never been easier or cheaper!
Here are some fantastically affordable ways to make your business stand out:
Email marketing
Emails are the subtle yet powerful tool that are available to anyone for free! And in Europe, APAC and North America, it’s still the most widely used marketing tool.
You can read more about it in an article we wrote about how you can outsource your email marketing. And while it may seem like an expense to outsource your email marketing, the returns can be even greater.
So it can end up making your outsourcing affordable, if not profitable!
Social media marketing
Social media is another widely available, affordable way to help your business grab attention. It’s cheap (ads don’t cost much), well-targeted, and has large audiences.
It’s best to use visually-focused social media platforms, like Instagram. You can really pack a solid impression with a good photo and caption, or video.
Make an intro video
Intro videos for social media are incredibly easy to make with video creation tools. If you’ve ever enjoyed filling out a mad lib, it’s just as simple.
Instead of filming each shot, getting appropriate B-roll and making a soundtrack, video creation tools make it as easy as filling in blanks. They provide video templates where you can put your media, and bang! You have an intro video.
Interested in video creation tools? Check out our top 4!
Leverage graphic design tools
Simple graphic design has never been more accessible. Services like Canva, Visme and Adobe Spark make graphic design similar to making an intro video. It’s a simple drag and drop onto templates.
It’s an easy and affordable way to spice up your visual presence, and make your brand more attractive. What’s more, if your own design chops aren’t up to scratch, you can always outsource affordably!
Referral programs
It can be really rewarding to create a referral program for customers.
Firstly, it encourages current customers to stay. Secondly, it brings in new customers! Just pack in a nice discount or bonus for a referral, and that’s easy marketing for you.
Best of all, it’s word-of-mouth marketing, which is regarded by 64% of marketing executives as the most effective form of marketing.
Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing takes referral programs to the next level. Instead of reaching out to many individuals with a small audience, why not leverage the reach of one individual who has thousands of followers?
For the amount you invest in affiliate marketing, it can certainly provide a good ROI. However affiliate marketing isn’t right for every product or brand, so it’s used sparingly.
Provide excellent customer service
So much of our energy is devoted to making our appearance, as a business, look great. But it’s just as important to make sure the actual customer experience is nothing less than excellent.
There’s a huge garbage dump of businesses that only have a pretty exterior, and a horrible customer experience. That’s the kind of stuff that garners 1-star reviews.
Making sure your customer service is excellent can make your business more memorable, personable, favorable, and it can increase customer loyalty. It’s also worth mentioning that when businesses go out of their way to do something good, people tend to share it!
Just like this example of Samsung going the extra mile to interact with a customer. The guy got a free phone, and it got a lot of attention.
Search Engine Optimization
SEO is your best friend when it comes to advertising online. It’s literally what makes your product or business stand out to your customers on search engines.
SEO involves some research and studying, and it can actually get quite in depth. You may want to consider looking up SEO tools if you’re interested. A lot of them are free.
But in terms of an overview, using keywords and matching the search intent of your customers will go a long way. People are looking for solutions, why not present yours as what they’re asking for?
Media outreach
If you’ve got a news element to your product or brand, maybe it’s the first whatever to do so and so, you could pitch it to media publications.
Often, writers and publications are looking for topics to write about. It can’t hurt to pitch them one with your business involved!
Final thoughts
There we have it, some fantastically affordable ways to make your business stand out. Some require research, and some require a small investment. But they’re all bound to be of immense value to you.
And finally, we hope your business efforts are making a mark in this busy, busy online world. And we’re wishing you the best of luck!
