How to Promote a New Business: Maximize Your Reach

When you launch a new small business - it’s the most exciting thing in the world. But, it can also be scary and overwhelming. Once you’ve set up shop, the real work begins. Get those pipes ready because it’s time to shout from the rooftops - “We’re open for business!”

Nailing Down Your Target Audience Before Promotion

Before you dive into promotion tactics, take a step back and make sure you deeply understand your target audience.

Think about the following:

– Who is in the target audience you're trying to reach?

– What are their needs, desires, and pain points?

– What are they plugging into their favorite search engine late at night to try and solve?

– Where do they spend their time, both online and offline?

Conducting thorough market research and audience analysis is critical. We recommend you create detailed customer personas representing your ideal buyers. Don’t keep it too generic either. Really get into it - give them names, ages, occupations, and personalities.

The more specific you can get, the better. This will help you big time when you start creating promotional content because you’ll feel like you’re actually speaking to a specific person. It’s so much easier to write to one than to many!

It’s also a good idea to use tools like surveys, interviews, focus groups, and social media listening to gather real insights from your target market.

Audience data should shape every aspect of your promotional strategy, from the channels you use to the messaging you craft. Always come back to your customer personas and ask yourself, "Would this resonate with them? Would this reach them where they are?"

Let your audience be your north star.

Building a Strong Online Presence

Everybody’s online these days, and your business should be no exception - even if you’re a brick and mortar outfit! Your online presence is your business's calling card. It's often the first interaction potential customers will have with your brand, so it's crucial to make a strong impression.

Establishing Your Digital Foundation

Start with the essentials - a professional, user-friendly website. Your site should clearly communicate who you are, what you offer, and why it matters, all within a few seconds of landing on your homepage. Make sure your site is mobile-optimized, as more and more people are browsing and buying on their phones.

Next, focus on local business search engine optimization (aka SEO), especially if you're a brick-and-mortar business. Claim your Google Business Profile and fill it out completely with your address, hours, photos, and customer reviews. Optimize your website for your city or region and the relevant keywords your audience is plugging into their favorite search engine.

Take Advantage of Social Media Platforms

Social media is a powerful (and free!) tool for reaching new audiences and engaging with existing customers. But not all platforms will be right for every business. Go back to your audience research - which social networks do your ideal customers frequent?  Photographers should create a business profile on Instagram, for example. Personal trainers might want to consider TikTok to share their exercises and nutrition suggestions.

Once you've identified the right platforms, create a content calendar to keep your posting consistent. Share a mix of promotional content, educational resources, behind-the-scenes glimpses, and entertainment. Engage with your followers by responding to comments and messages. Use platform analytics to see what's working and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Pro Tip: Use  keywords in your social profiles too!

When people are searching for these keywords, your Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or other profiles might come up in search engines for your small business before your website. This is especially true if it's a new small business. Social pages sometimes rank faster - especially if your posts start gaining a lot of attention.

Here are some posts we highly recommend checking out to up your game on social platforms to promote your small business:

• How to promote your business on social the right way
• ChatGPT prompts for social posts
• Why and how to use LinkedIn for small business growth
• Content ideas for Instagram
• Marketing ideas small businesses can use on Facebook, Instagram, and more

Content Marketing Strategies for New Businesses

Content marketing is all about providing value to your audience. Through sharing helpful, relevant content, you attract potential customers, build trust and credibility, and keep your brand top-of-mind.

Creating Valuable Content

What types of content will resonate with your target audience? Consider blog posts, videos, podcasts, infographics, ebooks, case studies, and more. Plan out your content in advance and create an editorial calendar to stay organized.

Repurpose your content to get the most mileage out of each piece. Turn a blog post into a video script, a podcast episode into a blog post, key takeaways into social media posts, etc. Use Castmagic to easily transform audio/video content like customer interviews or product demos into multiple marketing assets to fuel your content engine.

Building Authority Through Content

Thought leadership content can help position your brand as an expert and trusted resource in your industry. Share your unique insights and perspectives on your blog and as a guest contributor on other relevant sites.

Create lead magnets like eBooks, whitepapers, or templates to capture email addresses from interested prospects. Lean into technology to help you with this. For example, Castmagic is an AI powered tool that can help you to simplify the process by generating blog and newsletter content straight from your recorded audio or video material.

Email Marketing Essentials for Small Business

Email marketing allows you to build relationships with your audience and drive sales directly to inboxes. It’s the best way to keep in touch with your audience too because it’s the only list of contacts you actually own. You don’t own social media, and your promotional efforts there are honestly at the whim of the likes of folks such as Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. But your list - you own that and can keep in touch regardless of what’s going on with Facebook, X, TikTok, etc…

But how do you get started building an email list from zero?

Start by adding signup forms to your website, sharing the link on social media, and collecting emails in-person at events. Whenever possible, always try to get your prospect's contact information.

Create an enticing lead magnet to incentivize signups. Think of things like free consultations for services, or a percentage off of products for new signups. Email marketing doesn't have to be complicated, and you don't have to build a bunch of new things to get people to sign up for your new email list.

Design an engaging welcome sequence to introduce new subscribers to your brand. Send a regular newsletter packed with valuable content, exclusive offers, and product news. Automate your email campaigns to save time and keep your communications consistent.

You can even use Castmagic to generate email templates and sequences straight from your best audio/video content. Let AI do the heavy lifting of writing while you focus on the bigger picture. Learn even more about starting an email list with these email marketing posts:

• 20 Best AI Tools for Email: Save Time and Increase Productivity
• What Is the Best Way to Create an Email Newsletter
• Increase Subscriptions - 8 Ways to Grow Your Email List

Local Business Promotion Strategies

For brick-and-mortar companies, local business promotion is key. You want to become a known and loved part of your community.

Online Local Marketing

First, create a Google My Business page. Like Instagram and Facebook, you can actually post updates to this platform to keep the public informed about your company.

In addition to your Google Business Profile, get your local business listed on other online directories and review sites where your potential customers might look for businesses like yours. For example, your local Chamber of Commerce likely has a business directory on their website. Some of these may charge a nominal advertising fee - ask other businesses whether or not they have received leads from it before ponying up ad money though.

Monitor and respond to your reviews on all platforms - this shows you value customer feedback and boosts your local SEO.

You could also use location-based targeting in your social media marketing and advertising. Tag your location in posts and stories, run geo-targeted ads, and engage with other local accounts.

Offline Local Marketing

Get out there and shake some hands! Attend networking events, join your local chamber of commerce, and form partnerships with other complementary businesses in your area. Look for opportunities to collaborate on events, promotions, or referral programs.

Get involved in your community. Sponsor a local sports team, donate to a school fundraiser, or host an educational workshop. People want to support businesses that support their community. When you do stuff like this, share it to Facebook, Instagram, your website - and anywhere you think folks will be looking.

Don't write off traditional advertising methods like local newspaper ads, radio spots, flyers, or direct mail campaigns. These can still be effective for reaching local audiences, especially in combination with your digital efforts.

Cost-Effective Advertising Strategies  

You don't need a massive advertising budget to make an impact. Here are some cost-effective ways to promote your new business:

Digital Advertising

Do you need to purchase things like Google Ads and social media advertising? No. But, it could help you with word of mouth that much faster.

Social media advertising lets you reach highly targeted audiences without breaking the bank. Start small and track your results to optimize your spend. Look into retargeting ads to bring back website visitors who haven't yet made a purchase.

Google Ads can be a great option if your potential customers are actively searching for what you offer. Set a daily budget, choose your keywords wisely, and keep a close eye on your analytics to make sure you're getting a positive return.

Traditional Advertising

While often lower cost, traditional advertising still requires an investment. Before you allocate part of your budget, carefully consider your specific audience and goals.

Print ads in local newspapers or magazines can boost brand awareness. Radio spots on stations your target demographic listens to can drive traffic. Direct mail campaigns with special offers can generate buzz. Assess the potential return before committing.

Borrowed Buzz: Tapping into Other Audiences to Amplify Your Reach

When you're figuring out how to promote your new small business, don't limit yourself to just your own audience. There's a whole world of potential customers out there. And, one of the savviest ways to reach them is by tapping into other people's audiences. It's like being the opening act for a headliner - you get to borrow their stage and their fans to build your own following. Pretty neat, right? Here’s a few ways you can promote your business by borrowing the audiences of others:

Guest Posting: Lending Your Expertise (and Gaining Exposure)

One great way to get in front of new eyes is through guest posting on blogs or websites that are relevant to your niche. It's a win-win: you share your knowledge and insights with their audience, and in return, you get to include a link back to your website in your author bio. Instant brand awareness boost!

Not only does this drive referral traffic to your site, but it also helps with SEO. When authoritative sites link back to you, search engines take notice and say, "Hey, this business must be pretty legit!" That can translate into better rankings for your keywords and more organic search traffic over time.

Be a Podcast Guest: Lend Your Voice, Grow Your Reach

Podcasts are growing like weeds these days, and being a guest on one can introduce your business to a whole new set of ears. Look for podcasts that align with your industry or target audience and pitch yourself as a guest expert. Share valuable insights, tell engaging stories, and make sure to mention your business (naturally, of course).

Many podcasts also publish show notes on their website with links to the resources and businesses mentioned in each episode. Boom - another high-quality backlink for your site! Plus, podcast listeners tend to be super loyal and engaged, so if they dig what you have to say, they're likely to check out your business and potentially become customers.

Local Media Love: Get Your 15 Minutes of Fame

Local news outlets are always looking for interesting stories, and as a new small business in the community, you've got a story to tell! Don't be shy about reaching out to local newspapers, magazines, TV stations, or radio shows to pitch your business as a feature idea.

Maybe you're using an innovative new technology, maybe you're supporting a local charity, or maybe you have a heartwarming founder's story. Find an angle that makes your business newsworthy and pitch away. If you get coverage, not only will you reach that media outlet's audience, but you can also leverage the heck out of that press mention.

Share it on your social media channels, include it in your email marketing, add "as seen on" logos to your website - milk it for all it's worth to build credibility and brand awareness. And speaking of press, don't underestimate the power of a well-crafted press release. If you've got big news (like a product launch or a significant milestone), write it up and distribute it through online newswires to potentially gain even more media coverage.

Social Media Shoutouts: Collaborating with Influencers & Brands

Social media is a stellar place to find and borrow audiences. Identify influencers and complementary brands (not direct competitors) that target a similar demographic as your business. Then, look for opportunities to collaborate or cross-promote.

Could you do an Instagram takeover on their account, sharing your expertise with their followers? Could you co-host a Facebook Live or run a joint contest? Could you swap guest blog posts or email newsletter features? Get creative with ways to partner up and introduce your business to new, relevant audiences.

The Ultimate Promotional Power Play

The strategies we just covered - guest posting, podcast appearances, local media coverage, social media collaborations - they all hinge on one key thing: relationships. Focus on building genuine connections with bloggers, podcasters, journalists, influencers, and other business owners in your space. Share their content, engage with their posts, send thoughtful pitches - make yourself known as a valuable member of the community.

The more you put into nurturing these relationships, the more promotional opportunities will open up for your business. So start making friends and borrowing audiences - your business will thank you for it!

Measuring and Optimizing Your Promotion Efforts

To close things out, we'll just say this - promotion is an ongoing process. Regularly tracking and analyzing your efforts will help you continually optimize for better results.

Set up tracking systems for your website, email campaigns, social media, and advertising using tools like Google Analytics. Pay attention to key metrics like traffic, engagement, click-through rates, and conversions.

It takes a lot to promote a new small business. Don't be afraid to get the word out about yours to increase brand awareness.

Use the data you collect to see what's working and what's not. Double down on your highest performing strategies and assets, and don't be afraid to pivot away from what's not delivering results.

Want to try Castmagic to help create content for social media platforms, press release, email marketing and more? Click here for a free trial!