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Hi,

I've got a product that is aimed at offline small businesses; florists, motels, cleaning companies and the like. I'm looking for ways to advertise to them online.

There is so much content on the web aimed at online businesses and SEO that it's hard to find ways to target the brick and mortar businesses.

Things I am trying :

Facebook ads target at people who describe themselves as self-employed or business owners.
Creating articles / content that they would find useful
Press Release to magazines and newspapers
Emailing small business blogs asking them to review.
Google adwords but it seems so expensive.
Talking to business associations and communities for specific verticals.

Questions I have :

Who sells banner ads / text ads aimed at this market ?
What google adwords would work (hard question I answer I know) ?
What websites or blogs are worth approaching ?

Thanks

flag	asked Dec 31 at 9:02 Sam Howley 3●2

Claus Schwarm · Accepted Answer · 2009-12-31 13:28:48Z UTC

Why not ask them?

In fact, it sounds as if your case fits the conditions for direct marketing: It's a rather small target audience whose members should be easy to research. Also, they are unlikely to be online much (and if, not about their respective businesses). They probably also appreciate to have somebody talking to them in person.

Just research their addresses, create a direct mail offer and sent it out. Usually, post services have special prices for such kind of mass mailings. You may want to employ a copy writer for writing the letter(s). Or just get a book about copy writing and write it yourself.

Of course, you can also call or visit them.

As soon as you have a direct contact, it should be easy to ask them if they are online, and what sites they frequent.

Concerning keywords: I just tried "florist supplies" and Google estimates about a dollar per click. Your click-through-rate could be bad since your product is probably not what people expect -- but it's rather close to your target audience.

Hope this helps.

Benjamin Wootton · Answer 2 · 2009-12-31 11:44:10Z UTC

Online, I would be concentrating on the vertical communities, forums, and groups. I'm sure florists and hoteliers have places to gather.... cleaning companies, maybe not so much!

Try to engage with those communities, and include specifically tailored content for those verticals on your website.

Be careful not to fall into the trap of building products and speaking in terms aimed at the technology and startup world. If you sell to florists, most of your engagement needs to happen in that community.

Google Adwords is a matter of iteration, tracking, and testing. The knowledge in this article by Patrick turned my campaigns around.

Having said all of this, I wouldn't be afraid of offline promotion if viable for your numbers.

Advertising to Brick and Mortar Small businesses online (florists, cleaning companies etc)

2 Answers