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SOCIAL MEDIA

You really cannot hide from this aspect. Even baby boomer parents are into technology and social media so there is no excuse for young businesses and entrepreneurs to take social media lightly. In terms of outreach, social media gathers a much greater audience than print and digital advertising due to its sharing power. Whether you are looking into sponsored page options or not, always keep the word about your business up on various social media accounts.

BUILD YOUR REPUTATION ONLINE AND OFFLINE

Write something, anything, on your products or services or topics that you have expertise on. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about your company, the product or services you are trying to promote. It can be on healthy lifestyle and importance of having breakfast for instance, if your business is tied to the F&B scene. If you are running a retail business, you can also write about how wearing the right clothes for the right occasion or mixing and matching your wardrobe speaks about your personality. Contribute voluntarily to magazines and newspapers. When you reputation increases, chances of your products or services surviving the market are higher.

PROOFREAD

Often, we see signs, logo and images that goes viral on social media for all the wrong reasons. You may have fantastic products and services. You may have been in business for a while but ensure all communication materials that go out are proofread for grammar, language and consistency to keep things professional. If it’s too costly to engage professional content management services, run your communication materials through close friends or family members with language proficiency and pick up a skill or two over drinks or dinner.

GET RECOGNISED

Big brands survive because they have the quality assurance. Try to get your products or services certified by any standardisation bodies. Get the basics covered. Certification also applies to you as the founder or manager or the business. Get these recognitions in place and you have automatically set a benchmark for your competitors.

HOST OR CO-SPONSOR EVENTS

One of the best ways to get your brand name and image recognised is through community engagement. Holding social events, something as simple as green initiatives for instance can help boost your stand in the locality. If your finances enables you to co-organise CSR programmes and give away to charities, grab the opportunity.

PLAY WITH EMOTIONS

This is not as bad as it sounds. There were reasons why people loved watching that Petronas or TNB television advertisements during festivals or Merdeka Day. These ads always played up some form of sentiments that are close to people’s heart. Sentimental and humour infused ads relate to people easily and they tend to remember them longer. Leverage on video sharing platforms like YouTube to advertise and enjoy the chances of it going viral. At times, engaging with up and coming YouTube celebrities has its advantages.