Grow Your Business

5. Sponsoring local events

Sponsoring local events is one of the most effective and budget-friendly ways to build your brand and grow your business.

How do you sponsor a local event?

Start looking for reputable organizations and events to associate with for your business that will either appeal to your targeted customer or reach a similar but untapped market. Try a matching service like Sponsor My Event or do a search on the website of the Chamber of Commerce in your community. Keep in mind that becoming a sponsor doesn’t always require you to pay money. Think about the several causes you can help by providing products, services, etc.

So when running a small-mid sized business in the current economic scenario and containing a limited marketing budget, sponsoring a local event in your community is the best. It would help you get attention without spending a lot and increase exposure to your business.

What do you get out of sponsoring events?

There are various advantages to it such as:

• It will give you direct access to your potential customers which has a higher chance to create brand awareness through ‘Word of Mouth’. 
• Such a gathering puts your product or service in the hands of event attendees. In this case, consider providing a free product sample or luring offers for services.
• You’ll likely be mentioned in every newspaper or radio update about a particular community event if your company is the major sponsor. Potential clients will hear positively about your company if you say “Brought to you by [your business]” at the local event.
• It also blocks competitors as event organizers are typically steer clear of securing sponsorships from businesses that compete directly with one another. As a result, if the event’s organizers contacted a specific business to sponsor the event, that company would now have exclusive access to the attendees.
• To sponsor an event requires getting to know the visitors closely, which means you will also receive mailing lists including names, email addresses, and phone numbers of potential customers. This can be further used to get fresh leads.
• You can share your marketing materials and gain further exposure, which can significantly improve your small business’s exposure.

6. Use customer reviews to expand your consumer base

Human nature dictates that when we don’t know something, we tend to believe what others have to say about it. We start looking out for credibility and social proof. Comparing brands with online reviews versus brands without, consumers are 63% more likely to believe the brands with reviews. We believe what others feel or have experienced about the same. Therefore, online customer reviews play a major role in marketing and communication. It lets your consumers do the marketing for you. 

However, it sits somewhere between regular word-of-mouth and a viral kind of feedback that can influence customer perception. In the first place, understand what are the major factors of your business that customers would highlight with their reviews. It will assist you in better understanding your customer, which will enhance customer service.

Best ways to use customer reviews:

1. Social media is a platform that keeps people engaged for almost 2 hours and 45 minutes on an average per day, according to a study. Sharing reviews through social media is an effective approach for capturing the interest of your fans and followers, attracting new customers, and affecting their buying choices.
2. Have customer reviews on the homepage of your website.
3. Video testimonials are great to use in social media promotion, website homepages, etc.