If most of your customers come from your local marketplace, then the fastest way to grow your business is to become well-known in the community. Although it’s not difficult, you do have to be consistent. Over time, your company’s reputation will grow through word-of-mouth.

Moreover, chances are that your competitors won’t be doing it; or, if they are, then they won’t be doing it in a strategic way, and, as a result, they won’t be consistent enough to get noticeable results.

Let’s look at some strategies to build your brand, market your business, and improve your sales.

1. Build your brand

Strategy: create a booth at county fairs

The county fair is part of American tradition. It’s a way local government business leaders can make a social contribution to their community, helping people to bond through a shared interest. People come from all over the area. It’s a place where long-time family relationships are rekindled and new friendships made. It’s the perfect venue to put up a custom canopy to promote your products. You’ll quickly discover that custom canopies are affordable, customizable, and versatile, as well as easy to transport, simple to install, and durable under all kinds of weather conditions. They are one of the best ways to attract attention at a county fair.

2. Market your business

Strategy #1: Do local small business marketing

Write articles for your local newspapers

As a business owner, you are an expert at the product you’re selling. Write general purpose topics around what it is that you do. So, for instance, if, you have a hardware store, you can offer handyman tips; if you own a restaurant, you can offer recipes; and if you’re a chocolatier, you can talk about how to put together gift baskets for special occasions. Since you will get an author resource box at the bottom of your article, where you can share your business contact information, you should not pitch your business or products in the article.

Strategy #2: Do online marketing

Create a website and blog and drive traffic to it

A simple website presence will make it easy for your customers to find out more about your products. If you find a fulfillment service to take care of drop shipping, they will even be able to make online purchases.

Here are three basic things you’ll need to create an online presence:

1. A website to describe your products and offer an electronic shopping cart, a way of placing an order, or a means of making a reservation.
2. A blog to get traffic via organic search by writing articles. Since you may not have enough time to write your own articles on a regular basis, consider outsourcing your content writing to freelancers.
3. Facebook ads to drive traffic to your website with. While your blog will attract organic traffic, you should also consider using a paid traffic technique like Facebook ads.

Why Facebook ads?

Organic traffic takes time to work while paid traffic works quickly, often on the same day you place the ad. Generally speaking, you’ll earn about $4 for every dollar you spend because Facebook cost-per-click rates are cheaper than almost any other place you can advertise online. Facebook ads offer many targeting options, let you determine your spending limit, and help you enhance your customer loyalty. In addition, it’s simple to track the performance of your ads and determine your return on investment (ROI).

3. Improve your sales

Strategy: Create excellent customer relationships

The best way to sell is to build relationships with your customers. When you do, they will not only become loyal customers, but they will also refer your business to family and friends. After your initial sale, stay in touch with your customers by educating them on how to make better use of your products, by remembering to send them a card on their birthdays and anniversaries, and by sending them thank you notes, preferably handwritten ones, when they place an order or refer a new customer. In short, find as many ways as possible to add value to the relationship.

In the final analysis, these tips on strengthening your brand, marketing your products, and increasing your sales are fairly simple and relatively inexpensive. Additionally, the technical aspect of setting them up can always be outsourced. For instance, if you don’t know how to write good Facebook ads, hire a freelance professional who specializes in Facebook advertising.