When running a small business, it may seem difficult to spread the word and develop a following.

Luckily, with these 5 simple online and offline marketing tips, you can meet like-minded individuals, grow your customer base and increase your sales in no time.

1. Social Media

When promoting your business, social media is the easiest way to reach your target audience. When promoting your business, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest are effective platforms for showcasing a product. Facebook Business Manager allows businesses to narrow their audience by interests, demographics, and buyer behavior for advertising on both Facebook and Instagram. For eCommerce, businesses can also sell to consumers using these platforms. On Facebook, products can be sold using Shopify’s Facebook Shop plugin, you can set up a shop directly on your Facebook page. With the addition of Instagram’s Shopping Tags, posted pictures now show product price tags within images. Despite this being a new feature, it may be an effective new strategy to generate sales through Instagram’s platform.  There’s also Pinterest, which features buyable pins along with visual search (similar to Instagram’s shopping tags) which allows businesses to sell to users directly through the platform, free of charge.

2. Press Releases

Press releases are a great way to give an update on your company’s latest achievements and have your brand recognized by the public. Next time your company has a big announcement or reaches a new milestone, write a press release.

Press releases should be one page long, have a captivating headline, and have quotable sentences that make your article easy for journalists to promote. Once published, reach out to journalists who may be interested in your content, and let them know why they should use your article in their next media publication.

2. Email Marketing

Email marketing may seem outdated. However, there are still 3.7 billion email users globally. With an extremely high return on investment of 3800%, consistent email marketing is an effective way to boost sales. Email marketing is often more effective in plain text and can be facilitated using Mailchimp’s free (or paid) service. Email addresses can be collected through your website, social media platforms, or in-store. By sending weekly newsletters to subscribers containing discount updates, and coupons, email marketing can have a positive impact on your business.

4. Join the community

To get your company’s name out to the public, it is important to engage with people within your business’ community. For example, you’re starting a marketing company, attend business conferences and meetups. Making yourself known within the community is important to build a reputation. Chances are, if you’re going to conferences, you will meet people who aren’t yet knowledgeable on the topic of the conference. By showing your knowledge of the topic when networking, you can meet new potential customers and gain their trust. If your business is still growing, this may also be a great way to find potential employees and business partners.

5. Get involved

Volunteering for an organization is important for any business which wants to give back to the community. Along with doing a great deed, this allows you to meet individuals who share the same values as you. Making contacts with like-minded individuals may benefit both you and your business in the future. If you can’t find an organization that fits your values, there are other ways to give back to your community. Teaching a free class at your local community center once a month is a great way to add value to your community and to get individuals interested in your field of business. It is important to note that volunteering should never be a way to sell a product but rather to do a good deed, and meet people who have similar interests as you.