Free advertising ideas for small businesses – Small Business UK
Free advertising can be a good way to improve your brand awareness, promote your business and discover new clients – all without breaking the bank!
Key takeaways
- Social media can be a powerful tool to advertise your business
- Claim listings to boost your online presence
- Offers and discounts can generate loyal repeat customers
- Refer a friend programmes have high conversions
What is free advertising?
Free advertising is a subsection of marketing primarily focused on brand awareness. As there is no ROI (return on investment) to consider, the success of an idea can be measured beyond typical performance barometers, such as follower increases on social media, sales enquiries, or foot traffic.
How you define ‘free’ affects what ideas qualify as free advertising.
As a fundamental point, there should not be any expenses to implement the idea. However, costs as a result of the idea – such as 2-for-1 offers – are a grey area. We’ve included them but listed them towards the end of the article as they’re not ‘free’ in the traditional sense but can be cheaper alternatives than paid advertising.
While free advertising is a budget-friendly option for small businesses, it can often involve a lot of time and energy to make the ideas work. Make sure you strategise what you do, and when, as trying to do every idea all at once may minimise the effectiveness of your advertising.
Free advertising ideas you can try
1. Optimise your Google business profile
If you haven’t done so already, claim your business profile on Google. This can be done by checking on Google Maps to see if you already appear then click on Claim this business. If you don’t appear on Google Maps, simply go to Google Business Profile and create a profile.
You will need to provide an email address, website, phone number, your hours of work, and include high quality pictures of your shopfront and products.
2. Post on social media
With approximately 57.6 million social media users in the UK, social media can be a great tool to get your name out there – if you can nail the content.
It’s important to bear in mind what sort of content tends to do well on each platform.
- Instagram – reels and stories
- Facebook – posts in local groups
- LinkedIn – status updates that provide insights and/or inspiration
- YouTube – educational videos
Have a look at some of your rivals to see what they’re doing, but don’t just copy them – that won’t make you stand out.
While it’s free to post on social media, it probably won’t be free to create memorable, potentially viral content. You may need to hire a videographer or buy a decent camera to make the content, and there’s the time element of making content to factor in as well.
Be wary of using greenscreen memes from apps such as Capcut to go viral. While you may nail the trend, you could find yourself in breach of copyright laws. At the very least, the post will be removed and you could find your profile suppressed on searches. At the worst, you could face legal charges.
Want to know more about marketing on social media? Check out our article: Top social media tips for small businesses
3. Create valuable content for SEO
Over the course of running your business, you’ll have developed expertise and knowledge in your field that others could benefit from. It might be what buyers should look out for when buying a property if you’re an estate agent, or what food pairs best with each pasta shape if you run an Italian restaurant.
Key to creating valuable content for SEO (search engine optimisation) is answering commonly asked questions in your field. Make sure you look for keywords that other people are entering into search engines like Google or Bing, or what is appearing in AI overviews.
Right now, Semrush are offering a free 7-day trial period that allows you to scan your domain and spot opportunities in SEO and AI search.
4. Claim your listings on review sites
Review sites are becoming increasingly valuable tools for businesses to win over the trust of prospective customers and clients. By claiming a listing on a review site, you show that your business is active.
Here are some key review sites:
Make sure that the correct company logo is displayed on your listing profile, as well as any information like your website, phone number and description.
Responding to reviews and feedback demonstrates that you care about your customers’ experience. However, do so positively and professionally. If someone has left a scathing review of your business, don’t get into an argument. Instead, acknowledge their feedback and say you will bear this in mind going forwards.
If you think there are fake reviews on your listing (including those that are wrong), check out our article on how to handle fake reviews.
You should also ask your customers to leave reviews. Usually the best time for this is after a sale in an automated email or as a QR code to your listing page on the bill or at the counter.
Just bear in mind that you cannot incentivise customers to leave reviews. You cannot offer payments or rewards for someone to leave a review; they must be spontaneous.
5. Make the most of your shop window
If you have a physical store, your window can showcase your best offers and products. Displaying your menu on a window allows passersby to get tempted. You could also write your best products on the window – just make sure to use chalk markers if you don’t want it to be permanent.
Don’t forget the classic sandwich board to show any deals you have, but check with the local council to see if it would inconvenience wheelchair users.
If you have an online store, think about the first impression people have when they visit your website. Are the banners eye-catching? Could the overall design and feel of the landing page be improved?
The same applies for social media. Your Facebook cover photo should contain a professional, high quality banner with your logo and contact details – nothing too fancy. On Instagram, pinned posts on your grid allows users to navigate to important content, such as a post or reel about who you are and where to find you.
Linktree is a good tool to use to add links to your bio, whether that’s your homepage or your other social media platforms. This is especially useful to have as Instagram does not allow you to post links in post captions, only in stories, so you can add ‘link in bio’ to posts which have a corresponding link.
6. Create great offers and discounts
This goes under the bracket of ideas that’ll cost you money, but the loss comes out of revenue – provided you create the right offer or discount.
Key to a great offer is that buyers feel that by buying the extra product they save money, which sounds like a paradox – because it is, unless they were already going to buy the extra item anyway.
If you are wanting to maximise profit, your offers should try to minimise these occurrences as otherwise you’ve devalued two items needlessly. Instead, the offer should tempt consumers into getting they might not have got.
For example, if a sandwich costs £5 and a side of chips costs £3 on its own, but your meal deal costs £7, although you’ve lost £1 as a business, you could see it as £2 gained – especially if the item, chips, is cheap.
However, if you are looking to drum up interest and noise around your business, an audacious, limited time only offer can build awareness of your business and expand your client base.
For example, if you’re wanting to introduce more people to your café, you could offer £1 coffees for two days. While this might raise eyebrows, the sheer volume of traffic could minimise your losses, especially if you have pastries, sandwiches or cakes available as people may be willing to spend more because they’ve saved.
Just make sure you’re prepared for the onrush!
Discounts for certain professions, such as armed forces personnel or students, or age groups, such as kids under 12, can entice consumers on the fence into your business.
7. Customer referrals
Many larger corporations reward existing customers for referring a new client (often called refer a friend) with cash or a voucher after all the qualifying steps have been completed, and there’s no reason why small businesses shouldn’t incorporate this into their marketing.
While it may cost you an initial outlay in commission, referred clients are not only more likely to convert; they’re more likely to stay, too. This is because customers who make referrals are essentially acting as a matchmakers, with word-of-mouth one of the most trusted form of marketing.
If you’ve built up a pool of loyal clients, let them know that if they refer someone to you you’ll give them commission or a discount on the service you provide them.
8. Reach out to a local journalist/hotels
Local newspapers are always in search of content, especially evergreen pieces that will continue to generate clicks and views long after they were first published.
You could ask if the food or culture writer would like to review your café, bar or restaurant as part of attractions for the city. Hotels and Airbnb hosts might also be keen to include you in their visitor handbooks if you offer something in return, whether that’s discounts for their clients and/or staff.
If your business isn’t hospitality, a local journalist could write an article on your business’s achievements. If you’ve won an award recently, let them know and they might be interested in writing a wider piece on your story and inspiration.
9. Take your van on day trips
Provided the van isn’t needed that day, you could take your business’ branded van to the shops or to an event over the weekend you were planning on going to anyway. It may be that you happen to be in the right place at the right time for a prospective client.
Just make sure you don’t park on double yellow lines.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does free advertising take to work?
Free advertising solutions often take a while to show results. Social media posts can be the quickest way if you go viral, but bear in mind increased traffic doesn’t always equate to sales. SEO, content and optimising your shop window will work in the long run.
What’s the most effective free advertising for small businesses?
This will depend on a variety of factors, including what industry you work in and what advertising you have done already. However, if you have not done so already, fixing your Google Business profile and claiming review listings is a great way to increase your visibility and promote your brand.
How can I track results for free advertising?
Google Analytics allows you to track website traffic between specific date ranges and count page views. Meta Business Suite can track Facebook and Instagram viewers, content interaction, link clicks and followers.
