The best ways to market your small business

There are a great many ways to market any business, including a shipping business, but the most important part is that you gain the help of the professionals within each of the fields to make sure that your business looks its best and that it comes across to your customers as highly professional. Having any marketing ploy that is halfhearted will reflect badly on your business and this is also true of your website.

As most, if not all, of your advertising will be driving your customers to look at your website you will need to make sure that it is up to date and looking good before your advertising strategies are played out and not left as an afterthought, as this could make the advertising that you have already carried out a total waste of time and money.

Online advertising

Your mind has probably already turned to online advertising; indeed it was more than likely the first thing that popped into your head when the word advertising is mentioned. However, there are right ways, wrong ways and appropriate advertisement maker to go about the online advertising and they both have widely different results.

The worst thing you can do if you do not have any knowledge or even a little bit of knowledge is to do it all yourself. This is the route that will cost you the most money for very little return. The best thing you can do is hire the services of an experienced online marketing business to help you gain the sales that you desire but only after a through background check.

An experienced marketing business will have in-depth knowledge of SEO, the use of keywords and should be able to get your products or services in front of the right audiences so that you will get the most interest and sales.

Established platforms

There are other online avenues that you can and may like to try when it comes to achieving your marketing goals and one of these is the use of established platforms. There are now quite a few platforms that you can advertise your businesses services on, for instance sites like Logomakerr.ai where the public can generate free logos and modify it accordingly without breaking the bank, making it perfect for small business owners.

You may also want to consider platforms specific to your niche, for example those setting up a small craft business may want to upload products to the likes of Folksy and Etsy.

However, there are more specialized businesses that will also let you advertise your shipping business if you are looking for shipping work, where you can go to get an ad hoc job for your truckers to collect and deliver should you need either space filled in one of your trucks or a one-off job to bring in some extra cash. This can be a very valuable tool which you should learn more about.

Social media

If you are looking more for your local area, then there are platforms on social media where you will be able to advertise your business and services to those within your local and neighboring communities.

Creating a good name for your business within your own territory can be a good thing as it means that the jobs you will gain will be quick paying jobs which you may be able to slot in amongst the more laborious long-haul jobs and keep your drivers busy. It also means that they will be able to have a few jobs where they are close to their homes rather than having to spend even longer away from their families. This will not only improve their wellbeing but could also prove to be beneficial to their overall health as well.

Offline advertising

When it comes to advertising it is important not to forget about the more traditional methods of offline advertising. This could be anything from putting flyers through doors to advertising in local papers, magazines and even putting a voice to your business by placing radio adverts.

You may think that all this could be a waste of time, however, you would be surprised by the number of people that will hang on to flyers offering a wanted service or will even pass that flyer on to a family member or friend that may have need of the services offered on it. This can also be true of the newspaper and magazine adverts. You will probably find that the customers you reach from advertising like this are not the ones that will go online looking but will instead cut adverts out from publications to be saved for a later date.

When it comes to radio, you will find that there are a lot more people listening to what is being said and advertised than you realize, and if your advertising is good, your business will stick in the memory of those that are requiring shipping work. There are a lot of businesses such as warehouses, industrial and manufacturing businesses that have the radio on while their workers are working so having your shipping business advertising on the radio could be a particularly good move.

Company swag items

Obviously, there are some very subtle ways to advertise too, and these include the very clever use of company swag items and uniform. By making sure that all your drivers (and members of your workforce) are kitted out with a standard uniform, from trousers, sweatshirts, jackets and even hats which carry your business name and logo (if you have one), they will advertise your company wherever they are.

It is highly likely that you already have your business name and logo on your vehicles – and if you haven’t you are missing a trick. Vehicle wraps are not as expensive as you think, and they have a good lifespan, they do not damage the paintwork underneath and when they have had their time they are easily removed and replaced.

By providing your drivers with company swag items you will be taking marketing to the next level. When your drivers are out on the road, they are going to require extra items which can all carry your business name and logo, from drinks bottles and blankets to windscreen shields for their privacy they can all be advertising your business all of the time.