When you ask most individuals what is the most important thing required to start a business, they say funding. When you ask what they require to grow their business, they say funding.
Money will never be enough for any business irrespective of size, so the secret is to prioritise and to learn to scale and this should apply to all aspects of your business including promotion.
Public relations allows you to promote your business, product or personal brand at less cost compared to advertising.
Here are five PR channels you can latch unto.
Social media
This is the obvious place to start for any small business owner or personality because setting up a social media account is free. Facebook and Instagram are recommended for small retail business, as they allow you connect to your online store, and advertise your products on the platforms. Instagram and YouTube work for personalities and if you’re a service-oriented business, we recommend Twitter and LinkedIn.
Newsletters are an easy way to keep up communication with your customers whose email addresses you may have acquired over time. Several platforms enable you to deliver the newsletters via email at little or no cost.
Blogs
If you have a basic website as we do, blogging is an easy way to keep engaging with your audience and promote your brand. To learn more about this, read our last post titled: How to maintain a business blog.
Podcasts
Think of podcasts as your own radio station. You can create podcasts on any topic of interest and there are lots of free podcasting platforms that allow you to share the content. Podcasting is a great way to drive thought leadership, so as with blogging, your podcast must have a theme. This channel is recommended for personalities or owners of businesses.
Website
When is the best time to set up a website? Or should you have one if you are a small business? The answer depends on your type of business and what you require the website for. Websites can range from simple landing pages with information about what your business does to websites that enable chats with a customer support team to e-commerce websites that are integrated with billing and payment systems.
