Once you have something to sell, people need to know about it so they can buy it! Most promotion and advertising does cost something – even if it’s only time – so you do need to think very carefully about who you are marketing to, and why.

Many people start out their small business idea with a plan for the product, but they don’t have a good plan on how to make sure that the people who want it know about it. Without customers, a small business will not get off the ground.

Word of mouth
Word-of-mouth advertising is when satisfied customers tell other people about your business (recommend it). It is a very successful way of getting news about your product or service into the community.

For example, Sizwe, who organised a bicycle delivery service for medicines, said that news of his business spread when people in the waiting room at the clinic were talking. He said that old ladies like to chat about their families and their illnesses: “My grandma told me she knows another lady that gets chronic medication from the same hospital, then she knows two other ladies, so that’s how we started.” Sizwe was able to build up a network of customers from a single customer to begin with – his grandmother. When she told her friends, they also wanted their medication delivered to them.

Another example is the Maths tutor, Thapelo, who started with a local student group. He had a few students at first. Their parents told other parents about how much better their children were doing at Maths. Then the other parents also wanted their children to have extra Maths lessons. Now Thapelo is tutoring four groups of school children in person, with ten in each group. Once the students and parents spread the word about his skills, he could teach more students.

You can also spread the word yourself. Promote (talk positively about) yourself whenever you can to friends and family and everyone you meet. It’s important to make yourself known in your area.

Social media
Customers share their experiences on all kinds of social media: community pages, Facebook, blogs, podcasts and platforms such as TikTok. Social media reaches so many more people than in-person contact, so word-of-mouth recommendations are really effective online. People leave reviews on sites for all kinds of products and services. A review tells readers what you thought of what you bought, so a really positive review can increase your sales a lot. A negative review can damage your business!

An example of promotion on social media could be Thapelo, who could advertise his tutoring services on sites where people in his area could see what lessons he offered. He might advertise on parenting sites, for example. Dineo might use her personal Facebook page to tell the community about her soup. If happy customers left positive reviews online, more people would buy her product because they knew people vouched for her.

An example of effective social media promotion is Maite, who made the dolls. She made a whole website with all the information about her dolls on it. She organised photo shoots for the dolls in each new outfit (which also matched new seasons in fashion!) She posted the pictures online on her Facebook and Twitter accounts as well, so that people could see the dolls in their trendy outfits. People who liked the dolls could order them over the Internet from Maite’s website. Many more people from all over the country, and the world, could see and access her products.

Pamphlets and posters
A sign or a poster is useful at a social gathering point. Think of where people meet in groups, for example, a taxi rank, shop, church or mosque, school, clinic or library. Noticeboards are read by many people who might need your services or product. Thapelo, for example, could put up posters for his Maths lessons at schools in his area, because that’s where the students are who might need tutoring.

Places that sell similar things to your product are also good places to put up posters or hand out flyers. Maite, for example, could hand out flyers at morning markets or craft stalls. A successful entrepreneur asks permission from the trader or organiser first, and keeps relationships pleasant.

You can also design and print or photocopy pamphlets and hand them out physically to people. Target specific neighbourhoods where you know people might be interested. Try door-to-door drops if you have lots of time. Sizwe’s couriers, for example, could leave pamphlets or flyers in the neighbourhoods of the customers they already service.

Incentives and offers
Incentives are positive things that motivate or encourage us to do something. For example, a fruit seller could give reduced prices to regular customers. She knows that they are returning customers, so everybody wins.

A special offer or a giveaway is a financial incentive – for example, if you buy two bags of peaches from your fruit seller, you get a bunch of bananas for free. Bigger shops have offers such as Buy Any Four Bags for R100, or a special day for pensioners. Another example is online products or newspapers that have a free trial period. Offers seem like a good deal, so people spend more money and the shop or trader is guaranteed returning customers.

Another way of promoting your product is handing out small samples (‘freebies’) so people know what they’re buying. For example, Lufefe could have slices of his spinach bread ready-cut outside a shopping centre, so hungry shoppers could have a taste. They would be more likely to want a whole loaf after that! Another example could be Dineo offering a discount if people bring their own containers for her soup. Lots of coffee shops do this, and people are loyal to them because they feel good about saving money as well as being earth-friendly. Tutors like Thapelo could make the offer that if customers bring a friend then they get one half-price lesson.

What have we learned?
There are lots of chances to promote your business through word of mouth and social networks. Think about how to use social gathering points for your marketing.