Ad Ideas for Small Businesses: Our 30+ list is here

Small businesses face a unique set of challenges when it comes to advertising. With limited budgets and resources, it can be difficult to get your message in front of the right people.
However, there are still many effective ways to get your brand noticed and drive sales. Here are 30+ ad ideas that you can use to promote your small business.

Where to place the ad ideas for small businesses?

1. Print Materials: While digital advertising is all the rage these days, there’s still a lot of value in print materials like flyers, brochures, and posters. Handing out flyers in high-traffic areas, leaving brochures in local stores, and hanging posters in prominent locations can all help you reach new customers.
   
2. Social Media: Billions of people wake up and go to bed while looking at their phones. Social media with so many users increasing every day is a great place to start advertising on. Use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok to promote your products and services, share updates, and engage with your audience. But because this takes a lot of time, make sure you choose the networks that your audience uses. If you are going for the older generations, Facebook is still all-in, but if you want to target the young ones, Tiktok or Instagram is a way to go.
3. Local Directories: List your business in local directories like Google My Business and Yelp. This will help you appear in local search results and give customers more information about your business. And if you are doing some construction, moving or any other physical task, you can also check Taskrabbit.
4. Email Marketing: Email is still one of the most effective forms of marketing. Build an email list of your customers and send them regular updates, promotions, and news. And this sounds easy. However, to get emails you have to provide a lot of value. For example, try making some free guides or e-book in the area your are selling. Or make a FREE informative event. You have to give something to get something back.
5. Referral Programs: Encourage your existing customers to refer their friends and family to your business. Offer incentives like discounts or free products to people who refer new customers to you. If you are not in the place to give free products or discounts at first hand, you can offer it for the second purchase.
6. Local Events: Participate in local events and sponsor community activities. This will help you get your brand in front of new people and build a positive reputation in your community. Making friends in business is also important. Your event contact list is your new referral list.
7. Trade Shows: Attend trade shows and conferences related to your industry. This is a great opportunity to network with other business owners and promote your products and services.
8. Print Ads: If you are targeting the older generations, you can still popup with an interesting ad in the newspapers.
9. Radio Ads: Radio advertising is a cost-effective way to reach a large audience. Consider placing ads on local radio stations that your target customers listen to. Most of the people traveling with a car listen to the radio. So use that chance to advertise it in a cool way.
10. Direct Mail: Send direct mail to potential customers in your target market. This can be an effective way to reach people who may not be online or who don’t regularly check their email. And you will be remembered because everyone is going for the e-mail inbox, not the old nice mailbox.
11. Car Wraps: Turn your car into a mobile billboard by having it wrapped with your company’s logo and messaging.
12. Signage: Place signs and banners outside your business and in high-traffic areas to attract new customers.
13. Public Relations: Get your business in the news by creating press releases and pitching stories to local media outlets.
14. Video Marketing: Create videos to promote your products and services on platforms like YouTube and Vimeo.
15. Influencer Marketing: Partner with influencers in your industry to promote your products and services to their audience. There are huge influencers as Jefree Star or Mikayla Nogueira that reviewed a lot of makeup that made the boom since Tiktok exists. However, micro-influencers can do it even better because it will be easier for people to relate to them.
16. Content Marketing: Create and share valuable content like blog posts, infographics, and eBooks to attract and engage with potential customers. And why is this important? Both for Google and your website visitors. Google will have even more information on you and will rank you higher. And at the same time, your potential customers will be informed on your procedure or services you have.
17. Google Ads: Place ads on Google search results pages to reach people who are actively searching for products and services like yours. There’s something new from Google, Performance Max ads that you will love to try.
18. Remarketing: Target people who have visited your website or engaged with your business in some other way with targeted ads.
19. Promotions: Offer special promotions and discounts to attract new customers and incentivize existing customers to buy more. You can make it work even better, if you ask a “favor” from your audience to receive something for FREE. We all know the Facebook’s “share this with 3 people” and we know it works. Why not using it in a campaign?
20. Branded Merchandise: Offer branded merchandise like t-shirts, hats, and mugs to your customers. This can serve as a walking advertisement for your business.
21. Community Involvement: Get involved in your local community by supporting charities and events. This will help you build a positive reputation and reach new customers.
22. Sponsorships: Sponsorship can be a great way to reach a specific audience. Consider sponsoring local sports teams, events, or organizations that your target customers are likely to be a part of.
23. Product Samples: Offer product samples to your customers to get them to try your products. This can be a great way to generate buzz and drive sales.
24. Employee Advocacy: Encourage your employees to promote your business on their personal social media accounts. This can help you reach a wider audience and increase brand awareness.
25. QR Codes: Use QR codes on your business cards, flyers, and signage to drive people to your website or a specific landing page.
26. Interactive Ads: Use interactive ads like quizzes, surveys, and games to engage with your audience and promote your products and services.
27. In-Store Events: Host in-store events like product demonstrations, workshops, and open houses to attract new customers and build relationships with existing ones.
28. Mobile Apps: Develop a mobile app to promote your products and services and provide a convenient way for customers to interact with your business.
29. User-Generated Content: Encourage your customers to share photos and testimonials about your products and services on social media.
30. Pop-Up Shops: Host pop-up shops in high-traffic areas to promote your products and services and reach new customers.

More creative Ad Ideas

1. Holiday’s themed photography: For Valentine’s you can make Love Story Contest – host a love story contest where customers can share their romantic tales and win prizes. Or offer a subscription service where customers can receive a monthly love-filled gift box filled with romantic treats and gifts.
2. Animated explainer videos: Create fun, animated explainer videos that break down complex concepts and make your product more accessible and appealing.
3. Virtual try-ons: Use augmented reality or virtual reality technology to allow customers to try on your product from the comfort of their own homes, without having to physically visit a store.
4. Ambient advertising: Create eye-catching ads that blend in with their surroundings, such as sidewalk chalk art or graffiti-style murals, to catch people’s attention.
5. Use memes & current music or video trends: People want to relate to things, and with memes and video trends you can make it very relatable. Also! If you use the trending music on Instagram and Tiktok, the algorithm pushes you to the audience that loves that music.

Hope these will help you understand how many cool things you can do to attract your target base. By using a combination of these ad ideas, you can effectively promote your small business and reach new customers. And if you still worry that you can’t do all by yourself, we are always there to help. Just popup in our mailbox at [email protected] with the title “I need digital makeover”.