39 Small Business Advertising Ideas To Boost Sales 2022

Small Business Advertising Ideas can be easy and difficult at the same time. Easy, because there are limitless options. Difficult, because you have to choose one that best fits your small business, bringing you ROI on your spent budget.

Advertisements are the most common and popular ways of reaching out to the customer and an effective way of brand exposure too. With the changing decades, with the new evolution of marketing, advertisements are changing too, in their forms and types.

Then again, small business has budget constraints. So, you have to create your strategies very carefully on which advertisements to spend and which can possibly bring you the ROI you expect with creative online advertising ideas. Besides, it is significant to study the target market to know which advertisements bring their attention to you most.

So here are top promotion ideas for you to choose for your small business, classified under 7 sections.

Table of Contents

39 Small Business Advertising Ideas To Boost Sales

In-Store Promotional Ideas

1. In-Store Banners

Banners are one of the most common traditional advertising ideas. Do not just hang banners in different places in your local area (according to the target market). However, if you have a store for your small business, place a banner outside your store.

The contents of the banners can be anything, depending on the type of your business. It may be a showcase of various products you sell or the discount you are providing or simply an advertisement for your business.

Whatever it may be, make the contents clear, specific, and inspiring. Inspiring to bring the audience to you.

2. In-Store Branding

Brand your local store. No matter how cost-saving you want to go or how small your storage space might be, there is always an opportunity for branding.

From designing the wall to place decorate the furniture, everything counts as exposure. You might place a shelf in your store and keep the brochures or you might place the award badge on your walls.

You can be cost-effective and still plan out for branding too.

Local Creative Advertising Ideas

3. Flyers in Local Areas

Start exposure from your local area by distributing flyers. This can be an effective way to make your customers know about you. If your local area is not your target market’s place to live or visit, then distribute flyers on the places they possibly go.

4. Brochures

This is an important form of advertisement for your small business. Make a brochure containing the whereabouts of your business, your products, your USPs, your contacts.

You can distribute them too, instead of flyers. When customers visit your store, you can hand them too. This is old but one of the most effective offline Small Business Advertising Ideas for generating profits.

5. Graffiti Ads

One of the unconventional and cost-saving ways of advertisement is this. You can decorate the walls of your targeted area or even your own store walls by graffiti.

Of course, determine first, if this advertisement matches your business type too. For instance, this might be not a good fit for the B2B type of business.

6. Hype Advertisements

When you are launching your small business or when you are launching a new product, you can create hype. This helps to raise curiosity among your target audience. And they might start to look for answers to their curiosity which is your small business.

The hype can be banners, posters, or even those large balloons. Hype can be implemented through any form of advertisement. What matters is the content. The question mark contents, the willingly incomplete content about your business or product can be hype.

7. Local Event Ads

Sponsoring an event or even participating in an event might not always be budget-friendly to your business. But do not miss out the chance of poster creative advertising at local events. Look for opportunities in such events to advertise your small business.

Print Media Small Business Advertising Ideas

8. Newspaper Advertisements

You can make use of these print media ads if your target is the mass market. For saving up costs, you may go for local area newspapers too. Once again, the content is important.

9. Magazine Advertisements

If your target market is any of the magazine readers, you can post your ads there too. Magazine advertisements have become creative over time too. Often companies provide coupons or discount cards as a form of advertisement in the magazines. You can apply that plan too.

10. Editorial Ads

You can publish an article that talks about your business, the industry you set foot in, the benefits of the products, the prospects of your business. Through this article, you are actually making an advertisement for your business too.

Traditional Advertising Ideas

11. Radio Ads

Among the traditional marketing ideas, you can implement this one if your budget allows you a little heavy. Since there are no visual contents you need to be working on here, this can be a bit tricky. Contents that catch the attention of listeners is not as easy as it sounds. You need to work on important key points to be delivered on the ads.

12. Movie Theater Ads

This can be a bit costly too but worth the exposure if your target audience is movie lovers. All you have is a few minutes to grab their attention and make an image of the mind of the audience.

Remember, the audience in theaters mainly goes for the movie. Ads may irritate them and they tend to block out the messages in ads. So make sure to craft an attention-grabbing ad.

Support Media Publicity Small Business Advertising Ideas

13. Vehicle Ads

You can wrap a poster around your business or vehicle or any particular vehicle and there you go! Your ad is ready to roam around the city or area! Often you can see taxi cabs wrapped with ads. You can try that too if your budget allows you.

14. Car Stickers

If vehicle posters are too much to handle, you can go for car stickers. A car roams around various places and if you set a sticker of your logo on it, your brand roams with the car. Result- the possibility of maximum exposure. You might need incentives for the car owners for their permission to put stickers. Maybe a discount to them or a one-time offer will work as an incentive.

15. Human Billboards

You read that right. Among the Outdoor Advertising Ideas, this may actually cost less compared to others. You can hire volunteers, make them wear your branded t-shirts, and distribute your brochure or flyer. Instead of distribution, you can ‘form’ this human billboard for any other creative advertisements too. You may even arrange a flash mob.

16. Other Support Media Ads

Ever wondered about the small ads on the shopping cart, street signs, or street benches? Yes, they are a great source of exposure. Why don’t you try those ads for your small business then?

17. Gift Giving Sponsors

Often your target audience attends events with raffle draws or event games. You can sponsor the prize for winners in such cases. This draws the attention of your target audience. You might also note the impulse of your audience about the prize. The prize can be your products, coupons, vouchers, etc.

Online Small Business Advertising Ideas

18. Pop-up Ads

You might have noticed various ads popping up now and then in various websites. In the era of internet, target your potential customers through these pop-up ads. You might research which sites they are most likely to visit and put up your ads there. Very effective for online small business advertising.

19. Paid Search

Do you want your web address to come up first when your target customers search for products related to you? Then go for paid search. Given this point, you must research what keywords your target audience uses the most in search engines.

20. Online Newspaper Ads

The print media might not post online what they print always. There are sometimes separate agendas for online and print content of the same newspaper company. In either case, adding your ads here is also an effective medium of advertisement.

21. Google My Business

Enlist your small business in “Google My Business” and help customers find you easily. The process is easy and absolutely free! It also helps to build up your free website. Moreover, you can engage with your customers too and learn how to build up the exposure of your business.

22. Catchy Email Signature

Your end signature at the end of your mail acts as a brand exposure too. You do not have to be too fancy and give a lot of thought to it. Just after your polite ‘Best Regards’ ends, putting up your logo and necessary contact points of your small business acts as an ad for contacting you.

23. Email Newsletters

When your target audience visits you, take initiative to take their email address them. Once you are able to get your audience to subscribe to your business website, you can email them your business newsletters. Your newsletters can include regular achievements of your business and your vision.

This can be an influential advertisement since your audience will be more prone to being your client/ customer.

24. Online reviews: Small Business Advertising Ideas

People tend to believe in reviews more online. It is more effective when they believe that reviews about you are not paid. Although you cannot control the natural or credible review totally, you can initiate or inspire your customers to rate you.

To put it in another way, after you serve the customer, request them politely to put a review for you. This is another effective way of online small business advertising.

25. Business Awards Badge

There are lots of business awards competitions online where you can participate and strive to win the business awards badge. Upon winning the business awards badge, promote it everywhere around. On your websites, on your business social profile, and even on your local store. This will increase the credibility of your business.

26. Social Media Posts

Among the Social Media Online Advertising Ideas, this is one that has the potential to influence your target audience most based on the contents of the course. Be sure to update regularly on your business social accounts.

The online reviews apply here too. Be interactive with your followers and be an active respondent to their queries. Do not only generate attention-catching posts but also interactive ones.

27. Messenger Ads

Facebook is the most popular social website and so is its messenger and one of the most effective Small Business Advertising Ideas for high ROI.

You can create ads on Facebook where customers can be directed to your inbox if they click the ad. Hence, build such contents that customers are inspired to buy or at least have queries about you.

28. ‘Learn More’ Ads

Another power-intensive ad is the ‘learn more’ feature on social media, mainly on Facebook, Instagram, etc. You can tag this ‘learn more’ with your social media ads where the audience will be directed towards your website once they click it.

To demonstrate, you can put a picture of a dress collection of your boutique and once customers click on the ad, they’ll be able to see its features, and price at your website.

29. Social Media Celebrity Endorsement

Social Media Celebrities can bring you a lot of followers when they endorse your brand. So, this can be a good strategy for your ad content, whether visual or video content. Moreover, these influencers can talk about your products or services too. This makes a good influence on your sales.

30. Blogging

Blogging about your business, products, and services can be a good source of advertisement. This also educates your customers about you, and your products and helps to build up relationships with your customers. Promote your blog writings on your social sites and initiate an interactive comment section.

31. Small Business Advertising Ideas – Video Ads

TV ads may be too expensive for your small business. However, the best alternative option can be to make quick video ads and post them on your business social accounts. Another key point here is that it is better if the videos are short, quick, and effective. The audience is reluctant to hold patients to see long-duration videos unless the content is attention-grabbing.

32. YouTube Video Ads

No, these are not the same as the above-mentioned video ads. You might have noticed small ads interrupting your actual videos. These can be a good source of strategy too. The challenging thing here is the ads are only for a few seconds. So better make the contents worthy.

These type of ads also exists in the case of Facebook videos.

Sale Support for Small Business Advertising Ideas

33. Coupons/ Discounts

Provide coupons or discount tickets to customers as an incentive to bring them to you again. Though this is very effective, using them too often may generate a bad habit. A bad habit of customers willing to take your products or services only if they get discounts.

34. Punched Cards

These days there are punched cards given to customers where the card is punched every time they buy the product. After a certain number of punches in the card, customers are given gifts, free products or refills.

The main advertisement to be done here is making the offer known to the target market. Spread through your target market about the punched card offer. This will not only expose your brand but will initiate a boost in the sales too.

35. Customer Reference Ads

Need an immediate increase user number of your products? Customer Reference works wonders in this case. Arrange a strong referral ad in this case. The reference doesn’t work that easy. Your ad must benefit both the referral and the referee. This can be done either through online or traditional advertisements.

36. Augmented Reality Ads

One of the most creative and fast-growing Small Business Advertising Ideas is the augmented reality ad. It has become the source of game-changing in advertisement competition. Before you try it out, do research about different successful campaigns that boosted sales for a business.

In the case of interaction with consumers, this form of advertisement is probably winning the clutter.

37. Occasional Ads

It is important to realize that your target market connects to you more when your ad contains emotional content. Customers tend to choose you more when they can relate to you. With this in mind, create ads on important occasions like national holidays, international women’s day, Labor Day, earth day, etc.

38. Shelf Advertisements

Many often you make your products available at different stores. You can advertise there too. You can sponsor your own brand’s shelf at the store. Your own shelf advertises your product in a distinctive way.

39. Local Chamber of Commerce

Register your small business in the local chamber of commerce. The plus point here is that you will get a chance to advertise your business products among the many this chamber sponsors.

Wrapping Up

Whatever advertising way you choose from the above-mentioned Small Business Advertising Ideas, there can be a possibility of a backfire of expected reaction. It all depends on the nature of your target audience. Therefore, whatever you do, study your target audience beforehand. Sum up their interest, and behaviors before creating an ad. You can try experimental marketing ideas to see their response to trial too. Hence, do not just align your advertisements with your budget, align them with your target market too.

Marketing is a world of creative evolutions. There is no hard and fast rule in the business world in continuous change. You can even come up with your own offline or online advertising ideas. Got any? Share in the comments.

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