5.Magical Ways to Advertise Business: Word-of-mouth always works!
This is definitely the oldest form of marketing and advertising used by businesses since the world began.
While it may bring slower results than radio or television, it still works very well.
Because people are becoming increasingly suspicious of paid advertising,
I still think word-of-mouth remains one of the most trusted methods in the world today.
When a customer is happy and satisfied with a product or service.
There’s a natural human tendency.
That they are likely to share this experience with people.
In their circle of trust and influence – family, friends, colleagues, neighbours and sometimes, strangers.
Word-of-mouth is so effective and powerful that many successful business rely solely on this method.
To advertise and market their products and services.
Network marketing businesses are a good example.
So, how exactly can your small business grow an army of passionate customers who will use word-of-mouth advertising to your advantage?
6.Magical Ways to Advertise Business:Always sell good and genuine products
sell a product or service that really works and provides great value to anybody who uses them.
If a product or service delivers on its promise and does more than what it says, it’s a winner!
Most people buy products or services to solve a problem or satisfy a need.
Nothing will make a customer happier and more satisfied.
Than getting a product that makes a very challenging problem go away.
They’ll scream your name from the mountain tops!
7. Magical Ways to Advertise Business:Great customer experience.
Most times, it doesn’t really matter how large or deep-pocketed your competition is.
You can grow a successful business on great customer service.
People like to buy products and services from businesses that treat them with respect.
People love to be given attention and treated well.
And will always return to enjoy that beautiful experience again.
Don’t forget, customers spend their hard-earned money on your products.
Don’t you think they deserve a big “Thank you’ with a wide smile on your face?
People hardly forget a great customer experience and will happily tell other people about it.

8. Magical Ways to Advertise Business:Live a life of encouragement ,and motivation
Sometimes, word-of-mouth advertising doesn’t come automatically.
You have to encourage, motivate or incentive your customers to do it for you.
Start a referral or reward program for your existing customers.
The more people they refer to you, the more free products, services and discounts they will enjoy.
The reward should be large enough to trigger their interest.
And make them take action.
It’s a win-win method that always works.
I once helped a friend of mine create a loyalty and referral program for her barbershop and beauty salon business.
The way it works is simple.
All existing customers were registered and given a unique code.
Whenever they spend money in the shop.
It increases the total amount they have spent to date.
If this total reaches a certain level.
They are awarded certain discounts for all the services they pay for.
There were four levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum) with increasing rewards.
The results were amazing! Almost every customer was referring their family, friends, neighbours.
And total strangers to the salon to spend money under their code.
Thereby increasing their totals and making them reach the Gold and Platinum levels faster.
9. Magical Ways to Advertise Business:Free’ works like magic
Everybody loves free stuff.
Giving away some of your products and services for free does three very positive and interesting things for your small business:
First, it lets people out there know that you exist.
Second, it gives you a chance to prove the value of your product or service and show that it really works.
Third, it provides your future customers with a risk-free way to try out your products or service without spending any money.
And if customers find value in your products or services, they will be willing to pay money for it.
Let’s say Samuel wants to start a barbershop in his neighborhood and he’s looking for a simple, cheap and effective way to advertise and kickstart his new small business.
He decides to put up a sign in front of his barbershop that reads:
‘Free Haircuts. First 20 People Only’.
This reads like a sign that will definitely catch a lot of attention, right?
That is the power of free!
Anybody who walks into his shop for a free haircut and loves the service.
Will happily return next time to pay for it.
And will likely tell his friends, colleagues and neighbours about the ‘cool’ new barbershop down the road.
Most people have a weakness for the word ‘free’.
In their minds, it’s another opportunity to enjoy or use something without spending any money.
Customers love ‘free’ because they have nothing to lose.
They just sit back, relax and enjoy the service or product without any risk.
By drawing them into your business.
You give them a chance to see and experience something that would have been totally hidden from them.
If you didn’t open your door.
However, you must make sure that the free stuff WILL NOT last forever.
From the outset, determine the number of people.
Who will enjoy the free stuff or how many days the promo will last.
Not everybody should get free stuff; it’s the scarcity element that makes it very appealing.
10. Magical Ways to Advertise Business:Offer discounts and deals
Just like free stuff, discounts and deals work well too.
They are another creative and low cost way to attract more customers to your business.
People often see discounts and deals as a huge opportunity to save money.
And enjoy a product or service for a whole lot less.
In fact, discounts and deals usually influence customers.
To buy more products or services than they initially planned.
They love to ‘take the opportunity’ because the same products may not be so cheap tomorrow.
Offering deals and discounts are also a powerful way to publicize your brand.
There are now a couple of deal websites in Africa that advertise great deals to deal-hungry customers on a daily basis.
11. Magical Ways to Advertise Business:Start a Contest
Everybody loves to win.
It’s not just always about the prize you win.
It’s the thrill of getting lucky or beating other people.
Call it ‘ego’ or whatever you like, but it always works.
Let’s say you’re in the wedding business and sell wedding gowns.
Bridal accessories and other stuff to young people who are planning a wedding.
Let’s also say you start an interesting contest and the prizes include a designer wedding dress.
Or a fully-sponsored honeymoon trip to a local resort.
To enter for this contest, all the couples will have to do is submit a romantic poem about how they met each other.
Can you imagine the kind of buzz this could create for your small business?
To spread the word about the contest.
You could use word of mouth and social media like Facebook (we’ll talk about this a little later).
Potential couples will start to talk about the contest and create free attention and buzz for you.
Even though many of them will not win the grand prize.
They will still be interested in finding out more about your products and services.
A word of caution though.
Make sure you can comfortably afford the prize(s) you plan to give out.
Draw out a reasonable budget and stick to it.
It makes no sense if the money you make from selling your products during the contest cannot cover the cost of running it.
12. Magical Ways to Advertise Business:Get Listed on Popular Local Directories
In the old days, long before we had mobile telephones.
There were these very large books known as ‘the Yellow Pages’.
Every person and business usually had their telephone numbers.
And sometimes addresses listed in the Yellow Pages.
Because there were fewer telephones back then (known as landlines).
It was easy to get everybody’s names and numbers in one book.
Today, with more than 800 million people with mobile telephones across Africa and personal privacy concerns.
It would be impossible to do that.
Thanks to the internet, small businesses can be listed for free on local directories.
When a small business is registered on a local directory.
People around the world can find it on the map and view its contact information.
The best part is, you don’t have to pay anything to become registered on these directories.
Some of the most popular ones out there are Google Places, Yahoo Local and Bing Places.
As you can see, all of these directories are run by the big global internet search giants.
Get on board today and fast to claim your place.
13. Magical Ways to Advertise Business:Join the Social media
Social media is changing the way business is done in today’s world.
More people now depend on the internet for information nowadays.
More people are watching YouTube than they watch television.
More people read news websites and online magazines.
Instead of the paper versions.
Even big companies have recognized this shif.
And are now investing more in online advertising over the traditional ones.
Since more people now spend more time on the internet.
It only makes sense that you follow them there.
There are different forms of online advertising but one of the most popular remains Google’s Adwords Program.
Google is by far the largest search engine on the internet.
And millions of people around the world depend on it everyday for information.
It made more than $30 billion dollars from online advertising.
With a small daily budget of $10 to $20 per day.
Small businesses can attract thousands of potential customers to buy products and services.
However, it is important you know that online advertising will work best for your business.
If you have a website for your business.
15.Magical Ways to Advertise Business :Print and Distribute Flyers
Flyers remain a simple but very effective way to publicise and advertise your business.
They usually work best for small businesses that target customers within a particular area.
Such as university campuses, residential estates, offices and industrial areas.
To try out this method of advertising.
You don’t need to invest in very expensive flyers.
If you have limited funds, it’s best you focus more on the message you want to deliver and not on the pictures, graphics or colours .
In fact, you can design a simple one for yourself using any of the free templates in PowerPoint on your computer.
Some other FREE tools you can use to design really beautiful flyers are Canva.com and PicMonkey.com.
There’s also another great option.
You can hire a professional designer on Fiverr.com from anywhere in the world to design a great flyer or marketing material for you.
You can distribute these fliers by yourself or hire some help to work with you.
Putting the flyers on parked cars and house entry doors usually work well.
You may also encounter some interested people who may want to know more about your business and ask questions.
That would be a great time to apply some word-of-mouth advertising to the mix.
Flyers worked well for Colin Thornton, one of the inspiring entrepreneurs we profiled here on Smallstarter.
When he started his computer repair business from his parents’ garage.
He printed some flyers and shared them to people in his neighbourhood.
That’s how he attracted his first set of customers and today.
He has grown that small business into a successful multi-million dollar company.
16. Magical Ways to Advertise Business :Get Involved In Volunteer Work
Doing volunteer work is often an overlooked opportunity to enjoy free publicity.
Get involved in volunteer work in your community, church or mosque.
Sponsor an event or offer your services for free.
Have you ever wondered why big companies invented ‘CSR’.
The common acronym for Corporate Social Responsibility?
For some reason, customers love to support businesses that give something back to the society in some way.
Most times, all that is required may be your time, effort and encouragement.
If you plan to use this method of advertising.
Remember to make sure that all donations, sponsorships and support are done in the name of your business and not yours.
Conclusion:
Now you some interesting ways to attract more customers to your business. It’s action time!
We have discussed quite a couple of simple, cheap, interesting and creative ways to spread the word about your small business.
While some methods may not work for every business.
You will not lose anything by trying them out to see which ones work best for you.
Like we mentioned before, the best marketing and advertising strategy is to combine several of these methods to increase the number of customers you can attract to your business.
More customers mean more sales. More sales mean more profits. And profits are always good news for any small business!
Have you been having any difficulties with advertising and marketing your products and services?
Have you tried any of the methods mentioned above?
What was the result?
No matter the outcome, good or bad, I would love to hear from you and share your experience.
You never know, it may help somebody out there.
And by the way, if you enjoyed reading this article and you’re thinking of raising capital to start or grow your business, you’ll love my amazing and life-changing FREE course. BusinessHAB.com