When it comes to managing a successful business — no matter the size – there’s one thing for certain: marketing is a must. What good is your product or service if no one knows about it, right?

If you want to expand your customer base and increase your revenue, here are 25 small business marketing ideas to try. Note that these strategies vary in price, but most can be achieved with a modest marketing budget.

1. Create a Google Business Profile

When you’re looking for a plumber, where do you search? Do you pull out a phone book and magnifying glass, combing through the white pages? Probably not. Chances are, you reach for your phone and take a look on Google. 

By creating a Google Business Profile, you can

  • claim your business
  • add photos, hours, and other info
  • even gather reviews — all within Google

This will give you a direct line to people searching for your business — and even give you visibility within local search queries (i.e. “lobster rolls in Boston,” or “HVAC repair in Tucson”). Want to build your brand awareness? Start here.

2. Lean into social media

Having a good social media presence can help drive sales for your business, expand your visibility, and give you an additional avenue to connect with customers. Start by setting up accounts on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn, and post regularly.

This is a great place to let your creativity shine. If you’re a bar or restaurant, post your specials or events that are happening, like game watches or live music. If you’re a retailer, post flash sales or run contests and giveaways. Even if you’re in eCommerce, a social media account is a great way to alert customers of sales and improve your reach. 

The goal is to get engagement and drum up awareness for your brand. Consistency is key — stay on top of trends and use good hashtags!

3. Optimize your website for SEO

Search engine optimization, also known as SEO, is an invaluable digital marketing tool. In practice, high-quality SEO helps your business rank higher on Google’s search results — essentially putting you at the head of the line. 

One of the most important elements of SEO is having a good website that lets Google recognize your services — organize it in a way that Google values, and make sure it’s being indexed.

SEO can be pretty in-depth, but SEMRush offers tips on setting up Google Search Console and Google Analytics, conducting keyword research, adding Schema markup, creating landing pages, and more. 

4. Double down on local SEO

The other edge of the SEO sword, as it were, is engaging local SEO best practices. After optimizing your website, you’ll want to work toward building traffic to your domain. You can do this by 

  • Updating your Google Business profile
  • Getting links from other websites (known as referring domains)
  • Working on your social media
  • Authoring excellent local content on your site (known as content marketing)

Once Google recognizes you as an authority in the area, it will start to put you at the top of the search engine results page — one of the most valuable elements of online marketing!

5. Keep up with a blog

An excellent way to score points with Google and improve your rankings is by keeping up with a blog — it’s also a relatively low-cost marketing effort.

If you’re a donut shop, you could write posts about the best seasonal offerings or the history of donuts. If you’re a plumber, you could author the dos and don’ts of installing a water heater. If you’re a camera store, you could write deep-dive reviews on new products.

You can also author local content by creating a list of things to do in the city in which you’re located, even engaging with other local businesses or influencers to collaborate. Remember, your target audience is local people — author some quality content and bring them in.

6. Get involved with email marketing

One of the most effective ways of communicating directly with your customers (and potential customers) is by having a robust email marketing program. Encourage people to sign up for your email list and hit them with a monthly email newsletter, or let them know when a sale is happening. 

You can also use an email marketing campaign service like Mailchimp or SalesForce that will automate and send emails for you. Be sure to experiment with subject lines and have your content strategy ready to go!

7. Encourage user-generated content

User-generated content is a great tool to add to your marketing plan — and it’s also very cost-effective. 

Start by encouraging customers to create social media posts — this might include taking photos of your products and posting on Instagram, creating TikTok reels in front of the mural or ivy wall in your restaurant, or even posting reviews on Google or Facebook. 

Word of mouth always helps — happy customers interacting with your brand can attract a bigger audience, and it can simultaneously bolster your online presence!

8. Take advantage of free ads

Paid ads … for free? Take advantage of free pay-per-click (PPC) advertising credits — they’re well worth it. 

When you advertise on search engines like Google, or on social media networks like Facebook or Instagram, you’ll usually pay the platform a sum of money each time your ad is clicked. But platforms like Google and Facebook will sometimes offer free credits just to get you to try it. 

So keep an eye on your inbox and on promotion centers in the app. PPC can cast a wider net — don’t let those free advertising credits slip through your fingers.

9. Start a YouTube channel

Kickstart your on-screen career by starting a YouTube channel to help grow your business. How this looks is entirely up to you. If you’re a coffee shop owner, you could post tutorials on how to make cortados and pull ristretto shots. If you own a music shop, demo guitars and effects. 

The goal is to create quality, relevant content to give you a new way to connect with potential customers in your target market — and even offer your own expertise. You might even be able to make some extra money from advertising on your channel. 

10. Host events or webinars

Do you have a brick-and-mortar building with a space for hosting? Do you have a tripod and time to teach? Consider hosting events or webinars as a marketing tactic to increase your presence and build your brand!

This is another avenue where you can be creative. If you have enough space, you can host mixers, conferences, concerts — you name it. Webinars can consist of anything. If you own an Italian restaurant, teach attendees how to make linguine. If you’re an IT consultant, offer a webinar on cybersecurity. Whatever you do, just make sure it connects to your products or services.

11. Try out guerrilla marketing

Even if you can’t tell the difference between a Rembrandt and a Ross (happy little trees, right?), you’ve surely heard of Banksy, the anonymous graffiti artist and activist. While the notoriously anti-capitalist artist would surely be loathe to have been included in this post, their methods are genius for any small business owner who wants to dabble in guerrilla marketing.

Guerrilla marketing relies on the element of surprise, consistent branding, and sometimes, going against conventions. Creativity is the name of the game — but guerrilla marketing is a surefire way to get people talking about your brand. This could look like placing stickers around town with QR codes to your website, interviews with people on the street, random games, or flash mobs. 

12. Consider sponsorship marketing

If you’ve ever watched teams in the English Premier League play, you’ll notice one thing — the only surface not plastered in brand logos is the grass on which the game is contested. Turkish grocery stores, Malaysian insurance companies — the branding is a veritable smorgasbord of international companies vying for visibility.

So how can small businesses get in the game? Think local. Can you sponsor a youth soccer team around town? A local concert series? Sponsorship marketing is a direct way for you to get your name in front of people. 

13. Encourage testimonials

Customer reviews — and testimonials, in particular — are invaluable marketing tools. They offer an opportunity to get honest feedback on your products or services, and in many cases, positive reviews can increase sales.

Need more reviews for your business? Try offering your customers incentives (like a free product, coupons, or a discount on their next purchase) to leave honest reviews on Yelp, Trustpilot, or your Google Business Profile.

Double down on what works

You’ll probably want to try more than one idea on this list — that way, you can see what works best. When something works, experiment with different budgets to see how far you can take it.

Remember though, that some ideas — like improving your search rankings on Google or starting a YouTube channel — take time to grow. In fact, Google and YouTube often take 3–6 months before you start seeing results.

The best combination is often a mix of short-term and long-term strategies. So play with your options, find out what works best over time, and remember to have some fun. The more creative you get, the more likely you are to get results!