Creative ways to market your business

1. Create a website

It may seem obvious, but if you haven’t already established your online presence with a website, it’s high time you did. Without an efficient responsive website that provides a complete description of your business, services and products, you will miss out on countless leads. Most importantly, a website makes it easy for existing and potential customers to find you and — if you have a storefront or shopper-facing offices — find your location.

2. Create a free Google Business Profile

Getting your business to rank organically in Google search results can be a tall order, but there is a shortcut that works especially well for small businesses with a local customer base: establishing a verified Google Business Profile. By completing this very quick and easy step, you can manage how your business appears on Google Maps and Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Having a Google Business Profile not only makes it easier for customers to find you, but having a proven profile—calls to action and customer reviews—also gives people confidence that your business is legitimate.

3. Start a blog to bring customers to your website

Blogging about your industry positions you as a thought leader and drives organic traffic from search engine results to your website. Try to focus on relevant topics that your target audience will find interesting, and at the end of the article, create a meaningful call to action (CTA) that prompts readers to take the desired action. That could be a subscription to your blog or a click through to the main product page.

4. Advertise on digital audio

One of the best ways to target your advertising and get the biggest bang for your buck is through digital audio advertising. Thanks to advanced targeting capabilities when listeners are immersed in music or podcasts related to your business or product, it’s a great way to reach exactly who they need. Your ad can be delivered when people are cooking at home, driving in their car, or walking the dog. People are more likely to pay attention to ads during these screen-free periods. However, you can really boost your marketing efforts by combining audio ads with display ads on Spotify for more engagement.

5. Ask your customers to review your business

Like the best products or services, the best ideas for promoting a business start with the customer, because it’s their opinion that matters most. In fact, 95% of consumers report looking at reviews before purchasing a product. Ask your most loyal and satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on sites like Yelp, Google Reviews, OpenTable and Facebook to give new customers the confidence they need before making a purchase.

6. Develop a brand personality on social networks

Another obvious step, but crucial to engaging your audience and giving your brand or business a personality. Being active on social media shows that you’re available and ready to communicate—but choose your platforms wisely. Instagram and Pinterest, for example, are great choices if your product is relevant and eye-catching to consumers. Twitter works well for big brands that want a voice to engage with their audience, while setting up a Facebook business page is a great all-rounder for letting your customers and prospects know about business updates and enjoy real-time content. Don’t try and do everything; You’ll only spread yourself too thin and struggle to keep your accounts fresh. Instead, follow the channels that work best for you.

7. Advertise on social networks

Having a strong social media presence is one thing, but promoting on your chosen network is another. Social media advertising is simple, affordable, and highly targeted—no matter who or where your audience is, or how much you’re willing to spend. Just like Spotify advertising, you can easily target your audience by demographics and interests on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

8. Encourage customers to refer friends and family

Do you have a happy customer? Give them a digital referral code they can use to refer friends and family to your business for an incentive like a free gift or discount every time a referral generates a sale. Studies show that leads generated from other marketing channels have a 30% higher conversion rate.

9. Create a podcast

Podcasting is a great way to spread the word about your business by educating a captive audience on topics around your industry. Successful podcasts require consistency, energy, and the ability to produce enough content to grab and hold your audience. Sound quality and distribution is key. You’ll want to invest in the right podcast software or use a reputable recording service and upload your podcasts to popular audio streaming services like Spotify. Be sure to promote your podcast on your website and social channels, and end each episode with some sort of CTA — a link to a landing page where listeners can take advantage of the promotion, for example — to bring in new clients and customers.

The most effective podcasts include conversations with guests who bring a fresh perspective to each episode. This can be thought of as leaders in your industry or local business owners talking about their business, for example.

10. Drive customers to your website with Google Pay-Per-Click advertising

If you have the budget for it, consider creating a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign through Google Adwords. A well-constructed PPC campaign—especially one managed in conjunction with a solid organic SEO strategy—can go a long way to launching a new campaign or promoting your brand to a new audience. Since you pay every time a user clicks on your ad, you want to give users every opportunity to convert once they land on your website.

11. Create your own YouTube channel

YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google, making the video platform one of the best ways to get your business in front of new prospects. Your videos can highlight best practices – think ‘how to’ and ‘best techniques’ – and include a final CTA to convert viewers who need more help or want to make a purchase. You can add a link to your website’s landing page in the comments and – if you track traffic on Google Analytics – track how many leads are generated from your channel.

12. Promote your knowledge through webinars

If you want to establish yourself as an expert in a certain field, offering free webinars may be the way to go. Webinars allow people who are interested in what you have to say—which is probably related to what you have to sell—to learn more about you, your brand, and, of course, your business. When someone registers for your webinar, you can collect their contact information, including their email address, for future opt-in campaigns.

13. Promote with video

Similar to audio streaming services, advertising on video streaming services can help you reach your target audience—by demographics and interests—when they’re immersed in relevant content. For example, when you advertise a video on YouTube, you can get real-time analytics, including information on who broadcasts what and how often. Because of this, you know exactly how much you’re spending per 1,000 impressions (CPM). This new style makes it easy for small businesses to create video ads without the cost of traditional TV advertising and without breaking their budget.

In addition to audio ads, advertisers can create a video ad with Spotify to increase their chances of conversion. Our video ads serve listeners as they actively browse the app to discover new music and podcasts.

14. Using the power of influencers

Influencer marketing provides a valuable shortcut to reaching audiences on social media. Finding the right influencer requires research and a deep understanding of your social media audience, but if you can find the right person to promote your products and support your brand on their own and most active channels, the ROI can be significant. To get started, you may want to consult with an influencer marketing agency to suggest a list of suitable candidates.

15. Advertise in online publications

Another way to make sure your ad reaches the right people is to place banner ads in online publications whose targets match yours. For example, if you advertise cruise line adventures, you might want to advertise on a cruise blog or on some digital travel publication pages. This type of contextual marketing can be very effective, especially if you combine it with a great call to action and a landing page that’s optimized for conversions.

16. Write an ebook

Another business exposure idea that can help you establish yourself as an expert in your field is writing an e-book. Your e-book can offer new content to consumers, or collect and repackage timeless blog posts so they’re all in one place and available offline. Either way, your e-book should offer more value than an individual blog post—and should be heavily promoted on your website and other marketing channels, encouraging users to subscribe to your blog or newsletter.

There is rarely a single solution to increasing brand awareness and sales. Every marketing method recommended on this list can lead to great results, but a multi-pronged approach that makes sense for your business is always more likely to be successful.

Spotify’s Self-service advertising platform It can be a game changer for all businesses, no matter their size or age. Our user-friendly Ad Studio allows you to create, manage and report on your campaigns. You can set marketing objectives, effectively target your audience, customize your audio advertising and track campaigns in real-time.

If you run a small business and are looking for more unique ways to promote your latest product or service, check out Spotify’s small business advertising solutions.