Best Free Online Advertising 4 Great Options
Marketing is the lifeline of any business, but it can be very expensive for small- and medium-sized businesses that focus mainly on profitability, growth, and survival.
If you are a small business owner, you may be so frustrated in your marketing efforts as you’ll be working with a limited budget. Paid ads would never be your best option because, with a small budget, you’ll be able to reach only a handful of potential clients.
Reaching a bigger audience is a battle that can’t be won on small budgets. This is because every platform you check, and every person you reach out to, will want to make money out of your marketing endeavor.But you need not worry, here are the four best free online advertising methods.
1. Guest Posting
Guest posting simply means writing articles and posting (publishing) them on someone else’s blog or website. When you are just starting, your website or blog will not be deep-rooted yet, so you’ll have to rely on other people’s websites to reach mass audiences.
No matter the business you are running, guest posting is the best way you can promote your business for free. There are many well-established blogs and websites that can allow you to guest-post. What you need to do is to choose sites relevant to your line of business, then send a pitch to see if they'll accept you.
By writing insightful articles relevant to your audience and industry, you’ll be able to demonstrate your knowledge in the industry. This will enable you to establish yourself as an expert that people can look upon for solutions to their problems. When you establish yourself as an authority in a given field, many people will be interested in working with you.
Guest posting doesn’t mean you neglect your website. Your website also needs high-quality and engaging content that can drive qualifying traffic. After posting on the other website, you can backlink to the posts from your blog that are relevant to the post you've published. This way, you’ll easily direct people from the other website to your website.
After guest posting, promote those articles on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) several times. You can keep checking the articles you’ve posted so you can respond to the comments on them. Be professional in your responses and use negative comments to correct anything that you aren’t doing right - don’t get emotional.
2. Craigslist
Craigslist is perhaps the most popular classified website today. In the U.S., it is among the top 30 most visited sites. This platform offers a wide range of categories that can accommodate whatever product you’d want to sell or service you want to offer. The categories are so diverse that there’s nothing you can think of that can’t be accommodated. From parking spots to computer accessories, and from beauty products to automotive, you name it.
Craigslist will allow you to post ads for free, but only once in 48 hours and in a particular geographical area. However, there are certain product lines, such as furniture and vehicles that may attract a fee of $5. This is a small fee that many startups can afford. Again, if you are offering services, you may be required to pay a small fee. The rest of the categories are free. So, you need to find out whether or not you’ll be required to pay for your ads.
The greatest advantage of Craigslist is that you can post ads seeking products or services. This means you can even get your office supplies and equipment from the site. This is also another way through which you can expand your network.
3. Google My Business
Google My Business (GMB) is a potent free marketing website for all businesses, big and small. The active users here number about 400 million, and there are more than 2 billion profiles on this site. What makes GMB even more lucrative is that 63,000 searches are done here every second.
Once you claim your GMB page, you can optimize it and start enjoying the benefits. It will improve your visibility on Google Maps and Google search in your locality. Though it involves a lot of SEO work, it is a necessary first step to get your business online. While at it, ensure you provide accurate and complete information so you can rank highly in local search and beat your competitors.
GMB intimately ties in Maps, AdWords, Insights, and Search, which helps in managing your online presence. With this service, you’ll be able to use photos, which will help you capture the attention of the viewers. Under these images, your customers will leave reviews that can help boost your marketing endeavor by improving your listing.
4. Market on Social Media
Social media is a minefield when it comes to free marketing. The first step is to set up a free account for your business, then you can start posting content and engaging with your potential customers. Social media will complement your blog or website. Any post you publish on your blog should be shared on social media.
Facebook, for example, has about 800 million active users monthly. This is a big market that you can’t afford to ignore. Facebook allows you to create a business page that will act more or less like your website. You can do all the advertisements there, post articles, images, and even videos.
Another option is to use the new Facebook Marketplace that has proved to be the best free online advertising channel. With this feature, direct listings are possible. Meaning, you can use your account to create a marketplace where you can display your wares and start selling. When you are doing well by being responsive and getting good reviews, Facebook will award you with badges that can act as proof to your customers that you are reliable.
Other social media sites you can use for free marketing are Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, etc. You can use more than one social media site provided you can be active in all of them.
Though it is free, social media marketing will require that you invest a lot of time and effort. It requires regular posting and follow-ups to see who is commenting on the posts and responding promptly and professionally.
You must also schedule your posting time well. Do not post content at a time when your target audience is asleep. If you can’t do this on your own, you can hire a social media marketing expert to do the job.
As you guest post, market on social media, and use Craigslist and Google My Business, don’t forget your website. It is your website that propagates the image of your brand to the public. So, it should be perfect, easy to navigate, and responsive, even on mobile gadgets like smartphones, tablets, and laptops.
Final Word
As you can see, marketing doesn’t have to cost you anything when you are focusing on growing your business. Using the options discussed above, you’ll be able to bet your business online so that its presence can be felt worldwide.
Even though these tools are free, you’ll still have to invest your energy and time to be successful. Sometimes, you may be forced to hire an expert to be in charge of your online marketing. This will free your hands so you can concentrate on the core activities of your business.
Even if you use the best free online advertising site, you won’t go far if your website is in bad shape. Always ensure you have high-quality SEO articles to post both on your website and your social media profiles. Include images and videos to help transmit your brand message effectively.
Recent Comments
6
Hi John,
This is really great. Absolutely agreed that to be successful using these free medium for advertising need a lot of time and efforts especially using more than one social platforms.
Great post and thanks for sharing this helpful post.
V/r
Benson
This is very helpful it’s like being in school we are in digital marketing school right now. So sounds lot like what we learn awesome post we appreciate it.
Cheers,
Mathew&Deloris;
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Hi John,
Thanks for sharing this valuable information.
I will investigate some of these items as I have not used some before.
Bill