11 Best Ways to Get Your Small Business Noticed

When it comes to getting your small business noticed, social media is usually at the top of everyone’s list.

Don’t get me wrong — it’s a key component of any successful marketing strategy. But sometimes, a hands-on approach scores big points with your customer base, too.

Small business owners need the right blend of marketing tactics to get noticed. So, in this post, we’ll supply you with a list of ways to promote your business both online and in person.

How to Get Your Small Business Noticed

The Internet is a wonderful place to promote a business, but there are also plenty of offline marketing opportunities. Here are a few ways to get the word out about your business within your local community.

1. Lease local ad space.

Local ad space is all around you. It’s billboards, benches, and signs you see on the street. It’s a tried and true way of building brand presence and getting your business noticed in everyday life.

To get your company featured on a street ad, you need to contact the ad space owner. That information is typically listed at the bottom of the billboard, and you can communicate with these companies via phone or email. Remember that these ad spaces are competitive and often swooped up quickly once a contract runs out.

Pro Tip: You can use graphic design tools like Canva to create billboard images on your own.

2. Offer a sale or discount.

Everyone loves to save money, and sales are hard to ignore if your prices are lower than your competitors. 53% of shoppers conduct research before making a purchase, which means your prices are likely one of the most important factors they’re weighing in their decision. Offering a sale or a discount – especially to first-time buyers – can be an excellent way to garner some attention.

I recently had to throw out a mattress and looked up junk services to do it. Luckily, a junk company was doing a routine inspection of my neighborhood and noticed my mattress. They told me about their services and gave me a card with a discount that looked something like this:

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Guess who hauled off my mattress the next day?

That’s a great example of a company paying attention to its audience and offering a sale that immediately got me to notice them.

3. Network with other small businesses.

Building goodwill with other businesses is always a good idea. It will help you stay informed about local trade shows and events your business can attend.

You can also partner on co-marketing campaigns that benefit you and the other business. For example, consider trading business cards at each other’s reception desks. You keep a stack of their cards at your desk, and they keep a stack of yours on theirs. Include a small discount, and that can be an effective way to catch the customer’s eye and drum up business.

4. Get your business featured on a local TV station.

Have you ever wanted to be on TV?

If you pitch your business to a local TV news station for an on-air segment, you can. Not only will this gain you five minutes of uninterrupted airtime, but segments are typically posted online and pushed on social media. Plus, you can request a recording of the segment to share on your website or social accounts.

Pro Tip: If you get your product on TV, you can add “As Seen on TV” to your advertising.

Getting on the local news is about having the right pitch. Remember, news stations are not giving away free ad spots. Segments are meant to educate the audience and provide value.

As a former TV producer, I suggest finding a seasonal or holiday angle for your pitch. For instance:

• Dog groomers can provide tips for protecting your dog’s paws in the summer and winter.
• Accountants can share tax tips in the spring.
• Plumbers can explain how to prep older homes for freezing weather to prevent pipes from bursting.
• An esthetician may suggest a segment on proper sun safety as the days get longer and summer heats up.
• A landscaper could talk about ways residents can prep their lawns in the fall to encourage luscious growth in the spring.

The possibilities are endless, but it all comes down to providing helpful information to the audience.

5. Host or sponsor an event.

Events are an excellent way to get your business noticed, and discovering trade shows near you is as simple as Googling “trade shows near me.” Google will provide a list of shows in your area, their dates, and links to information on each.

You can also check your local Chamber of Commerce for upcoming shows and networking events. These websites have up-to-date information on events in your area that small business owners may want to attend.

These five methods are reliable for promoting a business offline and are very effective for growing brand awareness within your local community. But it’s hard to ignore what the Internet can do for your business and how it can expand your reach to a broader audience.

How to Get Your Business Noticed Online

Let’s look at how you can get your business noticed online and drive more traffic to your website and social media accounts.

6. Build a great website.

It’s hard to get noticed online if you don’t have a website. In fact, 76% of consumers go to a company’s website before visiting them in stores. That means you’re putting your business at a disadvantage if you haven’t set up an actual website; Facebook pages don’t count.

Fortunately, there are plenty of tools that can build webpages for you. There are templates to streamline production and forms that collect payments and customer information.

Your website doesn’t have to be complex. But, it should be organized, easy to navigate, and user-friendly to your audience. It should load quickly when you visit it, and each page should have a clear purpose. That will not only create a better user experience, but it will help you rank higher on search engines as well.

7. Ask customers for reviews.

Customer reviews are an important part of getting your business noticed online. First, they help you build trust with your audience. 91% of online shoppers read customer reviews regularly before making a purchase. People have options and want to know what it’s like to work with your business before buying. If they don’t like what they see, they’ll move on to another company that better suits their needs.

Another reason why reviews are important is because they help you rank higher for local SEO. The better your reviews, the more reliable you are in the eyes of Google.

For example, when I search “best dog groomers near me,” notice how all the results below have nearly perfect reviews.

You can use a Google Review link generator to direct people to your business listing to get more reviews. That will make it easy for them to write a review after a good experience with you. You can send this link via email or text once a deal is complete.

8. Put pen to paper.

Or, well, in this case: Put your fingers on the keyboard. If you can write, you can market your business online.

There are plenty of ways to leverage this skill for brand awareness, such as guest blogging, newsletters, and online forums.

Guest Blogging

Guest blogging is a fantastic way to grow your business. It’s when you write a blog post for another publication or website and link back to your own website in exchange. This increases brand awareness and builds relationships with other companies. It also drives traffic back to your site and boosts brand visibility.

Plus, having another site link back to yours will help improve its search ranking and increase monthly traffic.

Email Newsletter

If you love writing and want something more consistent, consider starting a weekly or monthly newsletter. A newsletter is a recurring email that people can subscribe to on your website. You can send them updates about your company, general advice from your industry, or anything else your readers are interested in.

For example, if you’re a lawyer, you could advise on what type of representation people might seek for various claims. Or, if you own a hair salon, you could provide tips for proper hair care or different hairstyles for your customers to try.

Whatever route you choose, small business expert Jay Schwedelson has some advice on maximizing engagement on your first email send.

Online Forums

Forums are great for interacting with your audience. Not only do they get your brand noticed, but they also position you as a useful source of information for potential customers.

Recent studies have shown that forum sites like Quora or Reddit have dramatically increased their search ranking in the last year. Google is favoring these sites because it knows the content is generated by humans trying to help other humans.

This chart shows how monthly traffic to Reddit pages has increased since Google made a major update in March of last year.

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One way to find online forums related to your businesses is with a quick Google search. Simply type “[your topic] + forum.” Instantly, you’ll hit a pot of gold.

Here are some tips for choosing the right forum:

• Pick a forum related to your niche.
• Ensure the forum is active and getting a few new posts every day.
• Avoid forums filled with spam.
• Read all the posting rules and guidelines.

Once you pick a forum or two, it’s time to start providing value. Don’t start plugging your business right away. Instead, be helpful and provide answers to people’s problems. It’s important to build trust before you drive traffic back to your website.

9. Start a podcast or social space.

Want a hands-free way to get your message to your customers? Try talking to them – not picking up the phone, but chatting about topics in public spaces.

Podcasts

Podcasts are incredibly popular. Over 460 million people listened to a podcast last year and that’s about a 10% increase from the previous year.

People listen to podcasts for entertainment, insightful topics, and valuable information. And, when it comes to getting your own podcast, you have a few options.

Starting your own podcast is a great way to establish yourself as a leader in your industry. Plus, there’s a low barrier to entry if you’re willing to dive into audio editing.

If that’s not your thing, try contacting other podcasters in your niche. Instead, pitch yourself as an industry expert and work on landing a recurring guest spot on their show.

Social Spaces

If podcasting is a little too intense, consider chatting with customers and answering FAQs on apps like Clubhouse, LinkedIn Audio Rooms, or X Spaces.

You can host a weekly room where you provide home repair tips, answer tax questions, or discuss the latest skincare trends.

10. Post regularly on social media.

Social media is great for building brand awareness, and it’s one of the most cost-effective ways to get your business noticed online. All you need is a smartphone and a little bit of time. After that, it’s up to you how you want to engage your target audience – whether through humor, entertainment, education, or whatever gets your customers’ attention.

Pro Tip: Social media management tools can schedule posts in advance each month.

11. Add your business to local directories.

People use search engines like Google at every stage of the customer journey, making SEO the practice of optimizing content to rank high on search engines.

You can increase your search ranking by adding your business to local directories. More websites will link back to your site, proving that you’re a credible business operating in a given area. These sites will also help you generate more customer reviews, which can also improve search rankings.

The tough part is that you can add your site to hundreds of these directories. You’ll need an online listings management tool to add to these directories all at once and keep them updated over time.

Here’s an example of what one of those tools might look like:

Getting Your Brand Noticed

When marketing your business, it’s important to determine what makes you stand out from your competitors.

Rather than placing the focus on promotion, focus on connecting and educating your audience. This way, when they have a problem that needs fixing, they’ll turn to you for help. Not only will this build trust with your customers, but it will encourage them to keep coming back to your business over time.