In an extremely competitive market, it’s often difficult to get your business to stand out from the crowd. Advertising can get expensive, so it’s wise to look for cheaper ways to get noticed. Check out this article for three useful tips that will help.

As an entrepreneur, you already have a lot on your plate: dealing with new employees, managing finances and working hard to deliver the best possible product or service to your customers. It’s natural to get frustrated when, despite your best efforts, you don’t seem to reach potential customers as fast or as effectively as you’d like. Additionally, advertising can be expensive, especially for a new business. Nonetheless, just because you can’t allocate a big budget to advertising doesn’t mean you can’t look for alternative ways to put your small company on the map.

First off, if you haven’t done it already, conduct some market research. This will help you determine where your ideal clients “hide” and how to best reach them. What are their hobbies? Do they spend time online? What are their values? Knowing the answers to these key questions will help you craft an effective strategy to catch their attention.

“All's fair in love and war.” We would also add that all’s fair when it comes to promoting your business, as well. As long as you don’t forget about your company’s values and long-term objectives, you can come up with smart and effective ways to make your business stand out from the crowd, even with minimal to no cost. Here are three ideas to get you inspired.

Devote to a cause

Find out what the community cares about and get your company involved with the cause. Corporate giving can boost branding and sales while keeping your employees happy and motivated at the same time.  Consumers and community stakeholders are more likely to support companies associated with good causes. For example, look at G Adventures, a tourism company that strives to provide a memorable experience for travelers while simultaneously minimizing its impact on the environment and respecting local cultures.  

Achieve a PR boost by supporting a cause unique to your employees or your business. Start by asking your customers what causes they believe in, and then contribute to them. You can solicit donations, or organize events to support the charity. Furthermore, look for a charity that already has something in common with your company – perhaps you can find one that serves the same demographic as your business? However, you shouldn’t engage in these activities just for publicity. You should instead strive to understand the value of giving back and make sure your gesture is genuine and authentic.

Go green

Boost the branding of your company by promoting environmentally-friendly business practices. More people must make a commitment to help the planet. By enforcing a greener policy, you can set an example for other businesses in your community while simultaneously winning sympathy points from potential customers – not to mention the fact that you can save some cash by reducing waste.

There are many ways in which you can reduce the carbon footprint of your company. For instance, start using biodegradable packaging for your product, or offer customers biodegradable bags instead of standard plastic ones. If you operate in an office environment, reduce electricity consumption and limit paper use. Furthermore, you can volunteer alongside your team to organize a tree planting event or help clean the world in one day. Atop it all, you’ll find volunteering for a cause to be a great team-building exercise.    

Promoting your business should be an ongoing task. Just because you’ve reached a certain milestone (let’s say 100 new clients) doesn’t mean you can suddenly relax. Work on your initial strategy, improving it or remodeling it based on your needs. Constantly look for ways to increase customer satisfaction and win over new clients. After you’ve both established a good reputation and raised brand awareness, a wise idea would be to conduct a survey among your customers. Find out what they appreciate about your company, what they would change and what you can do to keep them satisfied; their insight will prove invaluable when brainstorming new ideas.