How to promote an advertising agency without money. Promotion of a real estate agency - effective marketing techniques. How to open an ad agency: calendar perspectives

For a business to be successful, an entrepreneur must take care of advertising his product or service. To do this, there are many methods that allow you not to think about how to promote a business from scratch without having a large start-up capital. But not every beginner will be able to independently promote their business using these tools, since advertising in any form has its own nuances and must comply with certain rules.

How to promote your business - promotion methods and tools

The first step that an entrepreneur must take is to define the boundaries of his financial investments. A businessman must clearly know the amount that he can spend on business promotion and advertise within the established limits.

Large businesses tend to require significant investment and expensive advertising. If there is sufficient start-up capital, a novice entrepreneur can contact advertising agencies that will help place information about the client's product on all available sites - in the media, on stands and banners, on transport and in it, and so on.

Small business often does not have money for expensive advertising, since the start-up capital is limited. Businessmen have to look for alternative ways to promote their project on their own. There are a lot of such budget methods of promotion, and most of them bear fruit, you just need to use them wisely.

Website / blog creation

Today, not a single profitable project can do without the Internet, since it is there that a large audience of potential customers gathers. Business development on the Internet begins with the creation of a company website. Every entrepreneur who wants to be successful in business must understand that an attractive website is not the same as business card, the face of the firm.

You can make such a website or blog on your own, having previously studied a mountain of information on design and SEO-promotion, or order from professionals, because it is a difficult task to correctly optimize a website.

It is in the interests of a businessman to ensure that the site attracts the attention of new customers and looks solid, inspiring confidence.

Advertising in the media, on TV and radio, trading platforms

Advertising on TV and in print is the main means of attracting potential customers who rarely use the Internet, or do not go to it at all and cannot see your site. Nevertheless, when buying such advertising, an entrepreneur spends a lot of money, since he pays for impressions to all viewers who are not always his target audience. The same goes for announcements in the media and on the radio.

Reputation management. More than half of consumers trust TV advertising more than similar ones on the Internet or other sources.
Maximum audience coverage. It's hard to find someone who never turns on the TV. According to TNS Russia, 70% of Russians watch TV every day, and 99% turn it on at least once a month.
The video ad format allows you to show consumers a product from all sides and tell a mini story about it, lasting a few seconds.

Marketplaces are places where people come to choose a product and purchase it. That is, this is where the target audience gathers, which needs to be attracted to your product or service. There, as a rule, there is very high competition, but the flow of visitors is strong enough for each business to get its client.

Promotion using social networks

The easiest and least expensive way to promote your business on the Internet is to create a page or community of the company in popular social networks... All investments in such advertising will be only a fee to the administrator - a person who will update information daily and communicate with subscribers. Communication is the main moment for promoting a group on social networks, because it is for him that they were created. The first comments under the posts should indicate the correct path and tactics of promotion.

It won't start working on the first day. It can take months and years to create an image, but you can spoil everything in one moment. This is one of the pitfalls of such advertising that await aspiring entrepreneurs. In order not to make an irreparable mistake in business development on social networks, you need to find a real professional who has successful experience in running such communities.

Internet promotion

Advertising on the internet costs much less than in the media or on TV. This is especially noticeable for aspiring entrepreneurs who have only recently entered the open market with their product. It is easy to customize it for a specific target audience, and it is just as easy to conduct an analysis, calculate the effectiveness after its release. There are several types of advertising on the Internet, with the help of which you can promote your business and find the first and regular customerswithout having your site:

contextual advertising - appears to the user when a specific request is entered into the browser's search engine;
banner advertising - an ad and an image displayed on specific sites;
teaser advertising - also placed on narrowly targeted sites in the form of an ad unit designed to intrigue and direct the visitor to the advertiser's site;
targeted advertising - displayed for users of social networks related to a specific target audience.

Obviously, there are many advantages to advertising on the Internet, but there are drawbacks nonetheless. In order not to waste money on promotion on the Internet, it is worth knowing about the following points in order to take timely measures to eliminate possible errors:

Before launching advertising on the Internet, you need to know in advance from which sources the target audience takes information about the purchased products.
There is a lot of competition on the Internet, so before placing ads, you need to make sure that your business is unique in order to convince customers to purchase your product.

Banners and billboards

This type of advertising is used both on the Internet and offline. A banner is a rubberized advertising fabric that is placed on the walls of residential buildings or shopping centers to attract customers. A billboard is a free-standing structure on which large advertisements are placed. Most often, such advertisements can be found on the roadsides in large cities or along highways with a stream of cars. Such advertising is visible from afar, so it easily attracts the attention of not only the target audience, but other potential customers.

Internet banner is a static and animated advertisement with a slogan and a picture that is placed on popular sites with high traffic. When clicking on such a banner, the user instantly goes to the advertiser's website. To get more attention. New types are constantly being developed:

stretch marks are placed at the top of the site page;
richmedia containing interactive and multimedia elements;
pop-anders, partially overlap the site page when developing;
expanded banners that can be placed anywhere on the page and enlarged upon mouse hover;
imitation banners that pop up at the bottom of the page and imitate messages in instant messengers.

PR company - articles and press releases

You need to advertise your business competently, as this can attract new customers and help promote the company. This is done by special PR agencies whose activities are aimed at improving the image of the client company.

You can do PR on your own. To do this, you will have to take care of the release of press releases about the activities of your company. This should be done regularly, according to the schedule, for example, every Tuesday or Thursday. Releases do not need to be large in order to focus customers' attention on the company's key offerings.

News articles in major media and online publications will also play to improve the company's image.

To do this, you can use other communication channels - the company's website, corporate newspaper, newsletter or advertisements in trading floor or receptionist.

How to promote from scratch, develop a business and make it profitable - Internet solutions for promotion and development

The advice to promote yourself among competitors on your own can be disastrous for newcomers to the business. It is difficult to successfully unwind if there is a complete "zero" behind you, and only an idea sits in your head. IN modern society with advanced technology, this is much easier than 20 years ago. To spread information about your business among a large number of potential customers, it is enough to turn to the Internet. A modern person can no longer imagine his life without a worldwide network and spends a lot of time in it. This is what successful entrepreneurs use, using various tools to promote their business on the Internet.

SEO optimization for website promotion

Promotion of a new website using SEO optimization is a long-term business, since tangible return on investment appears after several months, and sometimes years. It's all about the high competition that operates in the Internet space and does not allow newcomers to quickly take top positions in search engines. Nevertheless, striving to get into the top ten of the rating is not always justified. Not a single optimizer can guarantee a place in the TOP-3, since it can only indirectly influence the site's position.

The search engine plays an important role in the ranking of sites for certain queries. It is she who changes the algorithm for ranking documents at her discretion, and it is not always clear how exactly this algorithm will be built. This means that despite the efforts of optimizers, the principles of promotion can change every minute and it is impossible to predict them.

SEO promotion is influenced by many parameters:

website;
technical settings;
content of pages;
mentioning the name of the company;
the age of the business;
conversion;
availability of goods on the site;
delivery terms and prices;
company presence in catalogs;
audience consistency.

The ability to understand the target audience and customize the resource for it is the main quality of a competent SEO specialist. He must not only have the knowledge of a marketer in order to be able to develop a website and stimulate repeat orders from regular customers, but also be tech-savvy, since the profession is entirely related to programming, layout, linguistics, analytics and data processing.

To increase website traffic using SEO optimization, you need to take into account several points at once:

relevance of pages;
uniqueness of content;
high quality design;
registration in search engines and free directories;
social bookmarking and so on.

The main task is to make it clear to the potential client that the product you offer is better than that of your competitors, as well as to convince the search engines of this. In addition, search engine optimization of pages plays an important role. It is necessary to adhere to the established rules and observe a certain structure of the material:

Title, i.e. page title;
H1-H6 - headings of 1-6 levels;
the presence of keywords in the text;
using highlight tags in text;
the presence of information content.

It is necessary to take care of the external optimization of the site, but only after the above points are brought to the ideal. The more often a link to your site appears in various Internet resources, the better for promotion. You can distribute links yourself or use special exchanges, register in free catalogs that are suitable for your site.

The most convenient and effective way to promote on the Internet is to place contextual advertising, which is shown only to people related to the target audience. It starts working when a user types a question of interest into the search box, and the browser, along with suitable sites, shows contextual search ads.

Context not only helps search engines make ads look like natural search results, but also solves a number of other problems:

The advertiser has the ability to independently control their costs and determine the cost of clicks.
With the help of a contextual advertising system, an entrepreneur has the opportunity to choose display regions, determine the demographic and behavioral interests of users.
Contextual advertising allows you to draw the audience's attention to the site, a specific product and promotions.

The most popular contextual advertising services are Yandex.Direct, Begun and Google AdWords. To use their services, you just need to register with them and, following the prompts, create your first business promotion campaign.

Great impact on the target audience with minimal cost can be achieved by sending advertising letters. Mailing is done in the shortest possible time, does not require a large budget, but at the same time it allows you to win the attention of customers. An entrepreneur will only need a database with email addresses of potential customers, which can be developed different ways... These can be contests that require online registration, or an offer to subscribe to site news if you post interesting and high-quality content. The subscription form should not contain many items so as not to scare away users. A name and address is enough email... If you regularly send mailings, then in the future it can become a real marketing tool for creating a company's image and promoting a product on the market.

Promotion in social networks

Even if your company still does not have its own page or community on popular social networks, you should not ignore the possibility of such advertising. This is where most of the target audience is collected, which is easy to track. A popular way to advertise your business on social networks is to buy posting or reposting in popular communities. This allows not only to increase traffic to the company's website, but also to attract users to the newly created group of your company. The more subscribers the community in which you are going to buy advertising, the higher its cost, but also the greater the reach of the audience.

How to Advertise and Promote Your Business - Additional Ways

A properly built marketing policy should make even a loss-making business profitable. If, for some reason, the main methods of advertising do not provide the desired flow of customers, you can always find additional ways to advertise your business.

Creation of your own brand, logo and business cards

The corporate identity makes the company memorable for customers and distinguishes it from competitors. It includes a logo, slogan or slogan of the company, a certain color scheme, business cards. Everyone will understand which restaurant chain fast food we are talking if they see the characteristic yellow letter "M". Or three oblique stripes on clothing and sports goods will immediately give out a well-known brand. These seemingly little things, but they work for the company's image and increase customer confidence in the product.

The corporate identity should be visible everywhere - from corporate clothing to official company letterheads.

A distinctive sign should also be on the business card, since every businessman should be able to leave contact information to a potential partner or client. The business card should not be overloaded. You can put the company logo, slogan and contact information on it:

company address and telephone numbers;
description of the type of activity;
advantages over competitors.

If on initial stage When building a business, developing one's own brand is not so important, then for an already established company, the lack of distinctive features can cause suspicion and distrust of customers.

Promotions and bonus programs

Every year it becomes more and more difficult for stores to compete and fight for the attention of customers. The same applies to any other business that wants not only to stay “afloat”, but also to develop further. The easiest way to attract and retain customers is with promotions and bonus programs that have a cumulative nature. Consumers always pay attention to sales, and are more likely to buy goods with a "yellow price tag", even if the cost remains unchanged.

Promotions allow you to stimulate sales and promote business, focusing on short-term demand.

Using such a tool, you can solve the following tasks:

short-term increase in sales;
capturing market share for a long time;
attracting new consumers;
poaching customers from competitors;
encouraging consumers to make big purchases;
retention of loyal customers.

Bonus programs, in turn, also increase the number of repeat orders and purchases, as they are cumulative.

Partnerships with established companies

In Western countries, the concept of "B2B", that is, "business for business", is quite common. It is common for one company to decide to develop another, providing it with accompanying services, additional equipment, goods intended for the production of other goods or for professional use. Is it profitable or not profitable for russian market? Of course, everywhere there are nuances and pitfalls, but in general, when intending to cooperate with established companies, an entrepreneur makes the right decision. The main thing is that this transaction is beneficial to all participants and leads to the desired profit.

An example of such cooperation would be a simple situation where you are a small supplier who finds it difficult to break through the competition in the market on their own. But your services may be of interest to a large company that sells the same product or produces something based on it. In this case, cooperation brings benefits to both parties to the transaction.

Congratulations and gifts for significant dates to partners and regular customers / suppliers

Advertising your business and stirring up interest in it can be achieved in such an unusual way. Significant dates are a great way to build trust with partners and customers. Not every company or manufacturer knows personal information about customers, so it will not congratulate them on their birthday, and you can thus stand out and increase sympathy for yourself and your business. You can find out significant dates by means of questionnaires at the time of registration of a client's discount card or when drawing up a contract for the provision of services, add this item to the number required to be filled.

Loyalty with customers

A good attitude towards consumers plays a huge role in promoting a business. Grateful customers are the best advertisement for your business and are more likely to come back to you and bring friends and acquaintances with them. It is on this principle that word of mouth works, which helped many at the initial stage of business formation. Large companies develop reward systems for regular customers - loyalty programs. They help you deal with competitors by getting consumers to your side.

Entrepreneurship is often considered a profitable business among ordinary people who see only the "tip of the iceberg" and do not think how much work has been invested in this "brainchild". Business promotion through advertising makes it possible not only not to slow down the pace of development of the company, but also to increase them, attracting new customers and partners. Knowing all the existing ways of developing your business, you can start implementing the most daring plans and carry out successful advertising campaigns.

In contact with

Low-budget marketing ... The dream of any business owner. And also a "dream" - if, at the same time, the recognition of the company (product) would grow exponentially ... and the sales curve would curve up steeper and steeper day by day.

But the reality is that marketing budgets ( advertising, PR - underline the necessary) are typeset by known only to the "layout designer" ( read - marketer, advertiser ...) laws ... And, with rare exceptions, they are a weak reflection of the reality and the company's need for contacts with the target audience.

They say that the real professionalism of a marketer is to bring a company (product) to the market without a budget ... Well, or with the minimum necessary cash injections.

I don't know how true or controversial this statement is - I can hardly imagine Coca-Cola, Mars and Adidas in a market without budgets ... but still. The fact remains, and the realities of the market are such that not everyone has the budgets to pay for “layered” advertising campaigns. In addition, due to the still prevailing mentality of Russian business owners, skeptical and mistrustful of their own marketing services, small and medium-sized businesses are not yet ready to part with money for advertising and others. marketing communications (for there is no clear understanding, "how will all this return to us ...").

So what low-budget ways do you use to market your company or product?

I can offer you tools that I have used quite often in my practice, which have been tested by the market and have shown their effectiveness and which have helped me out more than once.

1. Barter. Many people don't like this word. Especially in accounting. I don't really like it myself. But I must admit that such a cooperation scheme is quite common in the Russian business segment, even among large and respected players (for example, such as Rosinter). Of course, if you have something to offer your potential partner. And, obviously, the value of your proposal for a partner should be no less than what you expect (ask) from him.

2. Exhibitions. Yes, your industry exhibitions are a good reason to promote yourself on your own market among your partners and target audience. And no - it is not necessary to buy an expensive place and mount a stand. Be more creative - push the boundaries of your imagination. There are many other ways to make yourself known at a trade show, share your contacts and collect the ones you need.

Carefully study the offer of the organizer of the exhibition, the site where the exhibition will take place - look for opportunities for a low-budget "performance".

It can be just placement in the exhibition catalog, placement on the website, renting 2-3 square meters at the entrance to the exhibition, placing a girl / boy with the distribution of samples (or just some "goodies" -usefulness with your contacts), attachment to the package participant, organizing a photographer with instant seal photos on the background of the press-wall with your logos, and so on - come up with! (by the way, such participation can also be closed by barter)

3. Internal events. I mean - your personal events for your target audience, for your potential clients. Create some useful event for your clients - what is their sore problem? What is their critical question that they usually pay money to answer?

Give them this answer for free! Perhaps in the form of a mini-seminar or micro-training for 4 hours, maybe - together with a representative of an authoritative opinion for them (for example, if this is medicine, then this can be the head physician of a serious clinic, if the trade is a manager a large network, head of tax, top manager of the bank, etc.).

You can arrange such a seminar with the owner of the premises, who is also interested in the audience that intersects with you, but is not a competitor for your services. For example, it can be a cafe, club or restaurant that is simply interested in visitors and sales of the kitchen and bar. In addition, in your preliminary PR campaign for recruiting listeners for your event, you will promote them, as well as in post-releases and reports after the seminar. Do not forget to mention this in negotiations with the site owner.

4. External activities. Many people forget about the most useful semi-informal get-togethers or, on the contrary, professional “meetings” of their decision-makers (decision-makers on cooperation) in the form of various chambers, clubs, communities, and so on.

Look - for sure there is a Chamber of Commerce and Industry in your city, which periodically arranges parties for general or finance directors... Look for all sorts of trendy gimmicks, such as a mafia club for HR directors. For accountants, these can be seminars conducted by the local IFTS. Ask where CMOs hang out in your area (if, for example, you offer typography, design or ad placement services ...). Find out where the logistics directors live (if you're a courier or shipping company).

If your city is completely bored and poor decision makers stupidly go home after work - see the point above: come up with it yourself! Your events. Finally create your own Mafia players club for ____ ( insert the position you need)! Your costs are the purchase or order of printing special cards, blindfolds and beautiful rules on A4 sheets!

Any restaurant in town will be happy to lend you a room on Wednesday evenings with this theme. Moreover, it is not necessary to make such evenings free. Freebies are relaxing. And the mafia club requires discipline ( read the rules in the net). Therefore, take from the players for 100-500 rubles. for the evening (the amount should be such that it can be parted with painlessly, and the value received in return would at times overlap such a "loss" from the wallet).

5. Press releases. Get in the habit of issuing press releases every Tuesday about your company's activities. Releases should not be large and voluminous - make text on 1/2 of the printed sheet plus a couple of key sentences about the company.

Look for news feeds within the company all week! Establish a system for collecting and processing news and, in general, everything that happens in the company. Any sneeze should flock to your department. And you yourself decide - to broadcast it or not ( together with the business owner, of course).

And regularly distribute your press releases over the network and through all communication channels available to you: website, corporate newspaper for clients, newsletter, bulletin board in the trading floor or reception ... Register your press releases in free press release catalogs ( they are easily found in any search engine ). Send your news to interested publications in your region - both print newspapers and magazines and online media.

6. Publications. The same goes for larger press releases - provide free content to journalists and media outlets. These can be interviews on your market, on some problem of your consumers, analytical reports and sections, statistical data ( many media outlets like different statistical collections), just interesting publications "on the topic". Invite the leading publication in your region to organize and maintain some special interesting section - and supply your section with relevant and fresh information weekly.

Everyone needs interesting and useful content! Ask, in the end, your buyers or potential customers - what is IM interested in your topic, what do they want to know about?

7. Cases. Or a case-study. Or success-story. The character is slightly different, but the point is, in principle, in one thing - to show your target segments by example, the solution to THEIR problems. Write stories according to the formula "Problem - Solution - Result", "how bad it was before - and how wonderful it became after", the principle, I think, is clear. Stories in this vein are very attractive and disposed.

8. Reviews. Customer testimonials are what you should be collecting from the moment your company was still a business embryo. Especially if your client is a more or less well-known company in your region. On colored letterheads, beautifully stamped, signed by the first person or key top manager of your client.

Collect and store your reviews in a separate folder, each in a separate file, treat them with care and respect -) Well, without fanaticism, of course. You just have to understand that these are the results of your work. These are your "thank you, you helped us a lot" from your clients. And don't forget to digitize all of your customers' testimonials. Only evenly, in color, with high resolution and readable text.

9. "Word of mouth"... Involve local people in promoting your company, products, trade marks... It's no secret for anybody that "sundress" works best on the service market. But in order for your "sundress" to work, you need to work on it! What do you think? They just launched a rumor among the people - and he picked it up and carried it to the masses? Of course, it would be great if everything was so simple - no one would spend money on expensive TV and radio advertisements, but if only they would be engaged in “injecting” rumors into the masses.

The simplest and most effective is to remember yourself. What information have you personally passed on "by word of mouth"? Probably, it was something shocking, out of the ordinary, or terribly funny, or curious, or disgusting, or improving some aspect of your life ... Do you feel what I mean? Yes, that's right - it must be what will hook.

But here, be careful - your legend should maintain and improve the image of your company / product, not destroy it.

10. Free consultations, demonstrations, samples... The name speaks for itself. Don't be afraid to give! Nobody likes to buy a pig in a poke. Everyone wants to try it first and then make a purchase decision.

This is where your marketing should work more closely with sales than ever. Because it's not enough just to give it a try - after that, you need to constantly ask at a given frequency - “Well, how did you like it? Let's buy the full version. Did not like? Why? etc...". Keep in touch, monitor your prospect. Offer him special offers, report on new products, promotions, discounts.

But do not be afraid at the same time to calculate and cut off "eternal samplers" - these are those who initially know that they will never buy, but they will never refuse a freebie ... You should not waste your precious time on such "underclients" ...

11. The atmosphere and design of the client office / service hall, reception, meeting room /. In these premises, EVERYTHING should speak about your professionalism, about the quality of your services and the specialists who, in fact, provide these services, inspire confidence in you, your company, your product - every little thing and every element.

Take away already, finally, all these antediluvian letters and gratitude of 2003-2007, given to you by someone for something! Leave it alone - but a normal, fresh, up-to-date solid professional license, or certificate, or diploma, or whatever you have to do according to your specifics ...

No wobbly chairs, tattered tables, burnt sofas, cracked glass surfaces ... Well, remove this piece of furniture if you don't have the money to pull the upholstery, repair it, buy a replacement yet. Throw in a couple of frameless "pears" for one and a half thousand rubles. If you need to somehow occupy the space - well, let no one sit on them, but they will give some "dude" - freshness and dynamism to your office.

12. Gift certificates, loyalty programs... That is, make sure that the client wants to not only come to you again, but bring someone else with him next time. By the way, this also works with corporate clients. You just need to think a little longer ... And ask around / observe clients, what can stimulate them to such an action.

An excellent example is large cosmetic chains, fitness clubs, mobile operators ( least). Copy this ready-made and perfectly working model and apply it to your business - what exactly is stopping you? ( first gift certificates you can print on a color printer, if it's really tight ... get rich - print plastic, it's okay!)

In addition, if you have a representative office in your city of some federal discount coupon network ( like Groupon, but now there are many similar), or perhaps there is a local company with this kind of principle of work, contact there, let them plan an advertising campaign for you. They won't take money from you for this, but you will clearly see how much you can earn in one day of such a promotion with zero investments in coverage and attraction. The decision is yours.

13. Cross-marketing promotions with partners... Organize joint promotions with your colleagues, with whom your products can complement each other for the same target audience ( "Blah blah printing house and blah blah furniture salon - only from May 1 to May 20, they hold a joint action: buy office furniture and get 80% discount on any advertising printing!"). Promote them well in the region ( You can also take the media as partners), share contacts with each other, and work with the resulting client base, each in its own format.

14. Contests, quizzes. It's about the same as cross-marketing, only a more entertaining format. Each partner performs its function, contributes - provides prizes of different formats and nature, covers the event, prints banners, programs the web, deals with logistics, photographs, shoots videos, feeds, dresses, etc. But someone has to take on the role of organizer and coordinator. For example, you are the initiator and creator of the concept ( which you previously send to the partners necessary for your contribution).

15. Cultivate Feedback From Your Customers... Establish a relationship with them. And develop them. Invite them to express their opinion on any matter - about your services, about the same services on the market in general, conduct surveys, call to action in your communications, provoke a response to your messages, conduct surveys on the website or together with partners, give them free advice and ask to rate them, get their consent to receive your marketing materials (only useful to them and not often!).

Final word

Of course, all these low-cost marketing methods do not require a lot of money, but they do require an investment of other resources - this is time, effort, patience, energy, imagination and your knowledge.

Yes, and you shouldn't be scattered about all of the described promotion methods - try each of them in turn, look - which one works best for you, brings the most customers? Focus on the few that are best for you in terms of time and labor / number of deals.

And one more tip that I would like to mention, but which is often forgotten by everyone ... Due to the obscurity and immersion in routine, probably ...

Promote and sell not your company and your products, but “emotion” and “result” from using your services and contacting your company!

Few people need beauty services, but a beautiful haircut and perfect manicure - yes! I am not at all interested in the services of an advertising agency, but here is a 20% increase in sales in 6 weeks - let's discuss this soon! There are plenty of tours to Egypt and Greece for cheap, but complete disconnection from current worries and immersion in absolute relaxation for two weeks - there are few such offers! (if they exist at all ...)

So stop, colleagues, disconnect from the hustle and bustle, take a day out, go to the park, turn off your mobile phone, sit on a bench, relax, look at the fountains, watch people - there are low-budget ways to attract customers on the market, you can think of them. Just chasing hectic sales and abstract results, we don't always see them.

P.S. And don't forget that it costs FIVE times more to acquire a new customer than retaining an old one. Therefore, do not forget about your client after the first sale (obtained by one of the methods considered in this report), in fact, work with him is just beginning here!

I would like to know from people whose experience is greater than ours in terms of promoting services in social networks:

We have created a page - what content should I publish there?
What audience should be targeted advertising agency on such sites?
Is it generally possible to attract clients to such an agency through social networks?

We looked at about 50 groups and pages, but did not come to a consensus on the publication policy.

Elnara Petrova, director of the communication agency NextMedia, author of the podcast "SMM without cats", curator of the online course "School of SMM Specialist"

Perhaps you will become one of the few agencies that are qualitatively represented on social networks, for example, we throw all our efforts to the clients' sites and conduct ours rather haphazardly. So, from the request, we do not know what exactly the agency is doing, we do not understand the average check, we are not familiar with clients and examples of work performed, so we will reason logically.

To launch high-quality brand sites on social networks, first you need to determine:

Target audience - register at least 3 target groups for each site. There can be several audiences on one site, and for each you need to prepare its own interesting type of content.
Communication tasks at selected sites. For example, you have a page on VKontakte for small and medium-sized businesses, selling consulting, searching for interns and potential employees
Goals and deadlines for each site - what do you want to receive in each social network in 3 months, six months, a year, and through what resources you will achieve these goals. Example: in six months you want to gain 1000 target subscribers on a page in VKontakte with an engagement of 0.03 (according to the JagаJam system), the number of visits to the site - 200 per month, the number of consulting requests - 5 per month. This requires unique content, an advertising campaign once a month (the budget may be limited to five thousand rubles), building a personal brand for the head of the company and leading employees, launching a useful mailing list, podcast or Telegram channel, analyzing comments under publications on sites like Cossa and mailing address letters to potential clients with the aim of getting to know each other. As you can imagine, there can be a lot of channels and your task is to choose the appropriate ones. For some, the most effective way will be to launch a blog on "Habrahabr", for others, a presence as a permanent author in profile groups on Facebook will suit.
Communication strategy - what messages you will use to stand out from the competition and attract the attention of the right audience. If your forte is visual content, launch a community on VKontakte based on this. Here

Organizations and firms that create promotional products also need promotion. Competition in this business is growing every year, which means that before starting your own company, you need to think carefully about how you will promote an advertising agency.

To do this, it is necessary to highlight the most effective methods of promotion and determine knowingly losing options, which it is better to refuse.

This article is intended to help entrepreneurs create their own, correct and thoughtful strategy that can advertise an advertiser.

Point decoration

Facade

Despite the fact that the management of an advertising agency is not faced with the task of attracting the attention of all passers-by without exception, you still have to take care of the external design of the facade. Of course, you do not have to use extremely bright, catchy colors or try to "catch" the eye at all costs - it is unlikely that your potential client, the owner of a large manufacturing enterprise or the head of a serious organization will stroll through the streets of the city and, spotting your agency, decides to stop by and find out exactly how you work. However, your building or space should be visually appealing, because if you manage to get a client, you will need to make a good impression on him, which certainly will not contribute to peeling walls or tasteless decoration.

Signboard

Your agency's sign should be prominent and include your business name. This is perhaps the most important requirement for this advertising tool. Again, you don’t have to order huge, glowing signs, as attracting passers-by at night is not your job. However, some agencies prefer to make or order really bright LED designs. The motivation of the leadership of such organizations is quite simple - a good, high-quality signboard is a kind of indicator of how the company will work with the client and what product it can provide to the advertiser. But if at the start of a business you cannot afford such advertising medium, a simpler version will be enough.

Entry group

Outdoor advertising

Billboards

Billboards will be good advertising tools for an agency. However, if you are just striving to enter the market, try to assess your strengths sensibly. You can design the poster yourself, but you still have to pay for the rental of billboards, which can be too serious an expense for a startup company. But if you can afford to install or rent billboards, try to place them in the business center of the city, on the main highways, in other words, wherever your potential customers can regularly visit - heads of organizations, owners of retail outlets, etc.

Pointers

Signs are necessary if your agency is not located on the first line of houses, but, for example, in the yard or around the corner. By installing a signpost, you ensure that your client can easily and easily find your business.

Internet advertising

Website

Having your own website is a must for any advertising agency. You should not save time and money on this resource, because it is the "face" of your company.

So, develop a really high-quality design, create a user-friendly interface, try to make sure that by visiting the site, a potential client understands that you will provide services at the highest level.

If your site is made in a hurry, and its design is tasteless, you can hardly expect that you will receive a client.

If you decide to create a website on your own, be sure to read our articles:

Here we have laid out our experience and opinions on the use of various tools that you just need in your work. This will allow you to reduce the time spent on selecting the necessary resources for its creation and to get profit from the site as quickly as possible.

Direct + Adwords

Yandex.Direct and Google AdWords are the best advertising platforms in Russia. If your site meets all the requirements of these resources, you can place contextual advertising, the obvious advantage of which is that it is not directed at all users, but at people who are interested in the services that your firm provides. Moreover, such advertising also takes into account the territorial feature, which also makes its impact even more narrowly targeted.

Groups in social networks

Your target audience. Only by doing this can you develop content that will be of interest to your subscribers. You can focus on several of these groups at once, posting information that will resonate with representatives of each of them.
Your main tasks. Try to clearly decide for what purpose this or that page on the social network will serve. For example, a Facebook group can be used to find creative employees, attract small and medium businesses, and sell consulting.
Specific timelines and goals for each group. You can really use the resource effectively if you answer the question of what you want to get from each network. For example, you can set yourself the following task: gain a thousand active subscribers on a Vkontakte page, 10 active requests, and 300 transitions to your official website. Be prepared for the fact that in order to achieve this goal, you will have to regularly advertise the group on the larger thematic sites in the city, however, the cost of promotion on social networks rarely causes serious damage to the budget, unlike, for example, such outdoor advertising tools as billboards.
Strategy. Your content should be not only interesting, but also unique, so that it can distinguish your community from the competition. Define your strong side (this can be, for example, visual content) and actively use this advantage.

Ads on classified sites

Sending emails

Direct mailing to all potential customers is one of the most effective ways promotion for similar organizations. However, you will have to work hard to get the right database, but the effort is guaranteed to pay off. In such letters, try to emphasize your main advantages, those advantages that will make a potential client give the order to you.

Printable advertisement

Leaflets

It makes no sense to hand out your agency's flyers near the metro. However, it is still worth making a batch of such materials, because they can clearly demonstrate what your agency is capable of. You can leave them in your office as mock-ups or try to distribute them in places of business.

Business cards

Business cards are a mandatory attribute of any advertising agency. First, they will also show customers what level of service they can expect from working with your company. Secondly, they will serve as a material reminder of you. Business cards are multifunctional - entrepreneurs can not only use them themselves, but also distribute them to their business partners (of course, such a course of events can be counted on only if the client is satisfied with the services provided).

Brochures

Essentially, brochures have the same characteristics and functions as flyers, with the difference that they allow more information to be included.

Advertising in newspapers and magazines

If you can afford advertising in thematic publications, order advertising modules, or write an informative article mentioning your agency. Publishing like this will definitely benefit the business by significantly increasing the company's awareness.

Other

Discounts and price promotions

To attract and retain customers, arrange special promotions, possibly with a drawing of prizes, make pleasant bonuses, hand out souvenirs with your company logo.

Master classes

Master classes and seminars can become non-standard and creative ways to promote your agency. Promote your seminar, for example, "How to attract a hundred clients using outdoor advertising media" on all sites available to you. If the seminar is successful, there will certainly be entrepreneurs among its attendees who will want to work with you.

Word of mouth

Remember, the best advertisement is the quality of your service. Do the job efficiently and on time, try to make sure that your customers really promote their brand with your help. Your crystal clear reputation and their success will be the best recommendation for new partners.

"Barter"

If you want to increase your company's visibility, you can negotiate with a large organization, offering them your services in exchange for distributing your branded products and good recommendations to partners.

Electronic directories

Use resources such as 2Gis and 2Geo. Publishing data about an enterprise in these directories is free, but it is better to refuse paid advertising on these sites due to its inefficiency.

Calls to clients

Cold calling is one of better ways promotion of an advertising agency. Until you develop a solid customer base, they will become your main source of orders. Remember, passivity is definitely not for this business.

Which ads don't work for ad agencies

Radio and television. Such media are too widespread. In this case, this is more of a serious disadvantage than an advantage. Advertising companies, on the other hand, should focus on a narrow, specific segment. That is why broadcasting audio and video clips will bring nothing to the agency except additional costs.
Pavement signs, banners. These outdoor advertising tools are also not effective for advertising agencies. In fact, this is also due to the fact that such designs and posters are aimed at people in the mass, and not at a specific target group.

Examples of slogans of advertising agencies

Ease of advertising solutions.
We work like clockwork
Team of professionals!
The result is OBVIOUS!
Haven of unborn ideas
We do advertising!
The team that helps you win
Creative strategic purpose.
We will help you to become famous too!
Helping get out of the herd
We think better than you think!
We give wings!
We make you money!
New clients for your business!
New height of your business!
Do you want us to increase something for you?
We want you to be recognized, both in heaven and on earth!
International quality at local prices.
New horizons for a successful business.
The future is ours.

How to quickly promote a business from scratch? What are some effective non-standard marketing techniques to grab the attention of buyers?

Every entrepreneur, be it a beginner or an experienced one, is concerned with how to promote their business and attract as many targeted paying clients as possible.

Earlier we already wrote about traditional ways and his.

In this article, we would like to offer you other, non-standard methods of promoting your company.

# 1 Door hangers and door handles. Print promotional materials in a form convenient for hanging them on the door handles of your potential clients' apartments or houses. It looks more beautiful and more attractive than the sheets sticking out of the doorway, which, moreover, fall out when a person leaves his home. As a result, he has to bend over, and at this moment he already begins to get irritated.

To promote a start-up business using this method, you need to correctly compose an advertising text - it will be he who will determine whether a person will be interested in your offer.

# 2 Flyers under car wipers. If your target audience is car owners, then placing flyers under the wipers - great idea... Of course, there may be problems with parking guards or shopping centersbut worth it.

In addition, if you offer motorists goods and services that are really aimed at solving their "automobile" problems, then the degree of irritation from the target audience in this case is small.

# 3 Paid word of mouth advertising. To unwind new businessYou need as many people as possible (ideally, target customers) to know about your company. One of the most effective advertisements in marketing is the one that is passed on by itself - word of mouth by satisfied customers. If your firm doesn't have enough enthusiastic clients yet, you can hire people to strike up conversations in public places and compliment your business in an unobtrusive way.

# 4 Create a virtual showroom. Everyone is used to the traditional layout of the company's website. To impress clients and promote your operating businessYou can go the other way. Make the website of your company in the form of a virtual office, salon, store, exactly reproducing in reality. Let the internet user “walk” through your store and get acquainted with the products you sell. This will encourage him to visit your outlet and make a purchase.

# 5 Night silhouettes. To promote a business without investment and money, you must show maximum ingenuity and creative imagination. One of the creative methods of promotion is advertising using your company's silhouette logo.

Find areas in your city with heavy night traffic (for example, near a nightclub). Find a wall without windows - the larger the area, the better. Next, you need to agree with the owner of this building that at night it will be illuminated by a projector, and the image will be your business logo. Very creative!

# 6 T-shirts. Not only billboards, banners and posters on poles, but also ... T-shirts can act as outdoor advertising. Order a batch of T-shirts with a catchy design and advertising slogan and hire a group of people to walk around town and advertise your business. The larger the scale, the greater the effect of this form of promotion.

# 7 Write a book. can be independent entrepreneurial activity, but in this case it is about writing a book, printing it, and then distributing it to the residents of your city in order to attract attention and create, if not hype about your business, then at least sustainable awareness.

# 8 Lay out your business cards in relevant books. If you want to promote a business where there are many competitors, then you need to be ahead of them by several steps in strategic plan... And apply all sorts of "guerrilla methods" of advertising. One of these clever tactics is to leave business cards in the books your potential buyers read. This can be done discreetly in bookstores, libraries.

# 9 Paid crowd. Have you ever seen the thirsty crowd at the opening of a new Apple store, at the entrance to Disneyland, or at the premiere " Star Wars"? Artificially creating hype around your business with the help of a crowd of people who actually advertise you for money is a very powerful way to attract attention of both buyers and, if you are lucky, the local press.

# 10 A bright event. How else can you promote your business without contacting an advertising agency? Create a bright, non-standard event that will serve as a starting point for promoting your business. For example, if you have a food establishment, organize a speed donut eating contest. If you have a fitness room, hold a jock competition.

Thus, in order to promote your business, you need to spend some effort and money. If you want to do it for free, then creativity, imagination and imagination will come to the rescue.

It might be helpful to read: