Modish Biz Tips

11 Free (and cheap!) Marketing Ideas

{photo by 24gotham- free advertising at its finest!}

Last week, we talked about online advertising: why you should, what to expect from it, and where you can do it.  But, maybe your advertising budget is all spent for the rest of year (budget? I'm supposed to have a budget?) Or maybe you're just looking for some ways to supplement your paid advertising to get even more people over to your shop.

Well, here are 11 free, and cheap, marketing ideas that'll help you spread awareness of your shop without breaking the bank. None of them are new ideas, just little reminders of what you can do (especially during the upcoming holiday season) to help your business out!

1. BLOG!
If you don't already have a business blog, start one!  Blogging is a great way to gain rapport with customers, keep people updated on your business, and send people to your shops!  It's time consuming, so be prepared, but it can be very worth your while. Plus having an outlet to share your creativity, passions and inspirations is always fun, no matter who's reading it!

2. Send a newsletter
Newsletters are a great way to stay in contact with your past customers and give them incentive to shop again. You can send one out to announce a sale, a special deal just for them, introduce your new line, let them know what events you'll be participating in, etc. I recommend using a newsletter service that will build your mailing list using opt-in forms (don't spam anyone- only send to people who've signed up!) and help you create newsletters. These are usually paid for services, but are inexpensive investments. I use (and love and recommend!) iContact, but there are lots of similar services out there. Google away and you'll find them!

3. Participate in giveaways
You can donate some of your goods to a giveaway and get instant traffic to your site for a really minimal investment! There are many blogs who run giveaways often, and you may even try contacting ones who don't to see if they'd be interested in sponsoring a special one just for you :)

4. Participate in special blog features
Getting your shop mentioned on one of your favorite blogs is obviously great exposure, but can sometimes be hard to do. An easier (and often forgotten) way to get mentioned is by submitting yourself to one of their special feature topics! Check out the blogs you read often. Do they need people to interview? Do they frequently feature guest bloggers? I'm always looking for people for my handmade spaces feature. Heart Handmade wants you to Shop + Tell. Design*Sponge is always on the lookout for good before and after projects. These are examples of great ways for your shop to get noticed, and you'll be helping us bloggers out too!

{photo by 24gotham- free advertising at its finest!}

Last week, we talked about online advertising: why you should, what to expect from it, and where you can do it.  But, maybe your advertising budget is all spent for the rest of year (budget? I'm supposed to have a budget?) Or maybe you're just looking for some ways to supplement your paid advertising to get even more people over to your shop.

Well, here are 11 free, and cheap, marketing ideas that'll help you spread awareness of your shop without breaking the bank. None of them are new ideas, just little reminders of what you can do (especially during the upcoming holiday season) to help your business out!

1. BLOG!
If you don't already have a business blog, start one!  Blogging is a great way to gain rapport with customers, keep people updated on your business, and send people to your shops!  It's time consuming, so be prepared, but it can be very worth your while. Plus having an outlet to share your creativity, passions and inspirations is always fun, no matter who's reading it!

2. Send a newsletter
Newsletters are a great way to stay in contact with your past customers and give them incentive to shop again. You can send one out to announce a sale, a special deal just for them, introduce your new line, let them know what events you'll be participating in, etc. I recommend using a newsletter service that will build your mailing list using opt-in forms (don't spam anyone- only send to people who've signed up!) and help you create newsletters. These are usually paid for services, but are inexpensive investments. I use (and love and recommend!) iContact, but there are lots of similar services out there. Google away and you'll find them!

Advertising: The benefits and Drawbacks of different outlets

Last week we talked about why you should advertise, but how about where you should advertise?  And what are the benefits and drawbacks to each?  There's lots of different advertising outlets specific to indie/handmade shops, so let's take a look at them, shall we?

{images of Decor8, Modish (my site :) and Design For Mankind- 3 great blogs to advertise your indie shop on!}

Blogs:
Blogs are a great place to advertise your shop!  Most blogs offer banner advertising, which are those colorful ads you see on sidebars. They each have different sizes available and often many options, so consult each one for particulars like that. Most blogs sell advertising space at a flat monthly rate, often with discounts if you purchase multiple months at a time. Their rates are based (or should be) on the amount of traffic their blog receives and can vary anywhere from $20 for one with a smaller readership to $300+ for one with a large readership (some are even $1000+ when you get into the HUUUUGE readerships territories!) 

When deciding on a blog that's the best match for your advertising dollars, the key information to know is how much traffic their site receives and who their readership is. You want to make sure the pricing seems in line with the amount of traffic you can expect to receive, and also be sure that the blog's readership is one that hosts your target customer, one that appeals to their tastes, price range, gender, age range, etc.

• Benefits: often there are discounts with multiple months purchases :: some blogs offer special write ups in the editorial section of the blog (like my "sponsor spotlights") that are a great way to gain additional exposure for your ad :: good blogs have dedicated readerships and lots of traffic coming in every single day, so your ad is guaranteed to be seen!


• Drawbacks: your banner will be competing with many others, so it needs to look good and stand out! :: the average click-thru rate for a banner ad is around 1%, which means of 100 people who see your ad, only 1 will click it- make sure you choose a blog with a large enough readership that's targeted to your customer base to make it worth your moola- you can also help to up that click thru ratio with a well designed ad

You can find a big list of handmade and design focused blogs here (on a prior post), many of which sell ad space and offer gift guides around the holidays. You can also check out blogads and project wonderful, two popular advertising networks that many blogs work with instead of running their own ads.

Online Advertising- What you should know first

{photo Pink Ponk of a vintage Sony advertisement from the 60s}

Is was as true then as it is now: one of the best ways to get word out about your shop is by advertising! 

And in this day and age, since your shop is already online, why not catch a potential customer with an online ad?  They see, they click, they're at your site. It's instantaneous and an awesome way to find fresh customers for your handmade shop.

But money is often in slim supply and advertising can be scary- it is sort of a gamble, afterall.  You have to try to gauge which advertising is going to be the best bet for your money and the best customer match for your products. And, you should know what to expect when you place an ad- which results mean you should keep going and which results mean you should try again somewhere else.  So, let's get to it!

Why advertise at all?

With all the risk involved and your hard earned money taking the brunt of it, why even advertise at all?  It all goes back to building your brand, baby.

You need to make potential customers aware of you, of what you sell, of why you're different than everyone else. 

By advertising, you help build that awareness of your brand.  You set up a relationship with customers- one that will result in sales whether it be immediately, or down the road.  The more people you can introduce your shop to, the more customers you'll potentially gain.

It's simple math, yet not so simple to know whether or not your ad is going to be effective or not.  Unfortunately, there's no way to know how your ad will perform until it's up and running, but there are some things you can do to at least sway your results in a more favorable direction.

1. Target your ad towards a specific audience

You'll be much more successful with your advertising if you can target your prime customer base directly. You need to know:

• who is your target customer?
• who is the audience of the site you're looking to advertise on?

The demographics of gender, income and interests should match up so that you're showing off your shop to your ideal audience. Are your products higher-end? Geared towards moms? Made for design-savvy 30-somethings? The easiest mistake to make is advertising your products towards people who aren't an ideal match for your goods - do some research on your potential advertising venues before you take the leap.