Most businesses are almost always on the lookout for new, creative, and maybe more importantly, inexpensive ways to advertise their products or services online. It isn’t always easy to be sure which methods are best for promoting your business, but with the availability of numerous cost effective online opportunities, sometimes trying a variety of advertising venues and finding what works well for your operation can be the right way to go.
If you’re looking for a few inexpensive online advertising options that can offer a great return on your investment — if there’s any investment at all — here are a few ideas to get you started.
Social Networking
Social networks like MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook have exploded in popularity over the last few years. The great thing about using such online options to promote and advertise your business is that they are virtual expense free, that is, unless you hire someone to take over handling such work for you. With the ability to reach a mass audience at little or no expense, this could be one of the best and most cost-effective ways to online advertise.
Blogs and Websites
As surprising as it might sound, there are some businesses out there that still aren’t making use of blogs or websites to promote themselves. And if you’re one of them, you might want to rethink your advertising strategy. Not having your business’s information out there in these formats, even if it’s just basic contact, product or service information and descriptions, could inhibit your business’s ability to advertise itself and severely limit your success.
Whether through a monthly newsletter, weekly updates, special promotional offers, or whatever, email notifications to customers or potential customers can be a cost effective method to help advertise your business online. Email could be one of the easiest methods of online advertising, especially if you are just using a mass email list that can be added to when you receive new customer contact information.
Blatant Self Promotion
Sometimes the best online advertising could come in the form of blatant self promotion. Keeping an eye out for new advertising options can help you get your name out there in the most popular online formats or markets. Whether it is by links attached to your emails, social networking sites, blogs or websites, attaching logos to your email signature, or whatever other marketing gimmicks you can think of, hyping your business through the minor details can sometimes have a significant impact upon the effectiveness of your online advertising.
Conclusion
Online advertising doesn’t always have to be fancy to be effective. Keeping up with the latest trends and looking for ways to reach the most people for the least amount of money can provide you with numerous advertising opportunities in a variety of markets and venues.
The way you advertise yourself, your products and your business online is almost always changing, and keeping up with the competition can be difficult. However, sometimes a few quality hours spent researching the latest and greatest when it comes to online advancements is all it takes to put you “in the know” and have your making the most of the latest innovations in online advertising.
Alex works for Zizinya Web Solutions in Houston, Texas. They are an internet marketing company that helps small businesses generate revenue online through the implementation of various inbound marketing, pay-per-click and social media strategies.