Promoting your business to potential customers takes work and persistence. Research shows that, on average, consumers need to hear a message at least three times for them to have name recognition and recall, and nine times before they become a customer. Promotions that target new customers must therefore be consistent and continuous. But they don’t have to be expensive.

Every business has unique marketing needs, so there’s no single promotion that works best for everyone. A successful campaign requires you to be creative and make sure the promotion is closely linked to your product or service message.

A creative promotional campaign needs to both achieve business goals (increased sales, develop new leads, etc.) and stand out from competing campaigns. For example, if neighboring restaurants are all running a “Buy 10 sandwiches, get one free” campaign, you could instead promote a free cookie with a sandwich and drink order, or a children’s meal that includes a free toy.

Test, combine and alternate the following tactics to promote your business while respecting your budget.

Provide coupons and discounts

Distributing coupons or discount flyers can drive traffic to your door while increasing awareness of your business. Do your research to determine what the coupon should offer to drive business while still maximizing profits.

Review what your competitors are offering. Talk to some of your regular customers for their insights. Look at the promotions offered by other businesses and see if you can adapt the techniques to your business. As much as possible, learn from another’s experience. If you’re considering offering a 20% off coupon in the newspaper, chances are someone else has tried a similar tactic and if they are not direct competitors, they may be willing to share the results of the promotion.

Distribute coupons to area newspapers, store counters, door-to-door mail packets, or any location where people congregate. In many cities, restaurants that offer delivery will distribute menus with coupons to all the houses in the restaurant’s delivery area.

Give away freebies

People love to receive free items and services. Think about who your target customers are and what they would enjoy receiving and using. You can easily and inexpensively produce badges, bumper stickers, book covers, and other novelty items to distribute to your target customers. A nail salon, for example, could give away free emery boards printed with the salon’s phone number and hours.

Sponsor seminars or classes

Consumers appreciate free advice, especially when it’s about their personal needs and hobbies. Community seminars that relate to your business’ products and services can draw new and existing customers alike. They also can provide business owners who have more specialized offerings with a way to establish themselves as authorities in their field. One small cooking school hosts free classes throughout the year to draw customers who may decide to pay for a class on another date or buy any of the specialty foods and equipment for sale.

Hold a contest

Holding a raffle or other contest for your business can attract new customers and help you build a mailing list you can contact in the future with offers and promotions. Both the contest and prize should relate to your business to be effective.

For example, a store that does custom closets could publicize a contest to find the messiest closet, with the prize being a complete closet makeover. Just imagine the packrats who would jump at entering such a contest! The contest also could provide good photo opportunities to help your business get free publicity in the process. 

Companies can tie in regular contests with existing freebie programs. Some businesses offer a monthly prize to anyone whose car sports the business’ bumper sticker, encouraging customers to get their name out in the community.

Give to charity

Charity fundraisers frequently include raffles and silent auctions with prizes donated by local businesses. If you are trying to increase your company’s visibility among a particular customer segment, look into offering your products or services as prizes at the fundraising events your customers support. This tactic can be particularly effective because it focuses your marketing dollars on a targeted segment.

Host or take part in an event

You may be able to attract media attention or a crowd by staging a special promotional event, especially if it’s tied to another occasion. Just make sure the event ties closely with your company’s product, service or image. One big-city nursery frequently hosts gardening workshops in conjunction with a neighborhood garden walk, drawing plenty of novice and seasoned green thumbs.

Many cities and communities also throw street festivals throughout the year. These can be excellent places to have sales information booths or set up a mini-boutique for people to buy and sample your product.

Get involved in the community

Community service is a quick way to get positive publicity and generate support for your business. Ask yourself how your enterprise can be a “good neighbor” to your community. A pet store owner may “lend” its dogs and cats to visit local nursing homes. A chamber choir may do a goodwill tour of children’s hospitals around the holidays.

Many communities have children’s sports teams who are looking for sponsors. One neighborhood pizza restaurant made it a habit to support one little league team a year. That restaurant became the unofficial gathering place of the entire team and their families after every game, and many of the young athletes became loyal customers as they grew older.

Celebrate holidays

Send greeting cards or discounts to your best customers and clients around the holidays. Such a personal touch engenders loyalty while keeping your name in front of important customers.

Aside from special sales on major public holidays, you also may be able to tie promotions to one of the many lesser known holidays and “awareness days” that don’t get printed on the bank calendar. From “Bald Eagle Awareness Day” to “Avalanche Awareness Day,” it’s likely you can find an occasion to link to a special sale or event for your business.

Be creative!

Many successful ideas may not be found on this list, but with some imagination, you can come up with creative promotions that tie directly to what your customers want – even if they don’t know it yet. A pet breeder in a large city was struggling for several years until he started giving away customized "birth certificates" for the pets he sold. Almost immediately, his sales rose more than 10 percent.

Marketing and promoting your business can be more of an art than a science. It may take several tries to find a promotion that works, or you may find that a tried and true promotion needs to be freshened up. As long as you think like your customer, use your imagination, and keep experimenting to find the right ideas that deal directly with your business, your business will be able to get the attention and customers you need.