Hi Imogen, welcome to the world of online marketing too.
OK, before you go off hunting for places to advertise you want to make sure you have a clear differentiator for your business. By this I mean, what makes your virtual office services different from the rest? (and price isn't the right answer)
The reason I say this is because you need to give your advertising / marketing the best chance of success. Too many business owners and marketers fail because they don't give potential customers a reason to click or buy. They just assume people should buy what they are selling just because it's there.
There are a ton of companies fighting for your customer so give them a reason to choose you!
My advice is to identify 1-2 key advantages that you have above your competition and then use it to create a clear benefit for your customer.
Next up, you find places to advertise or promote your services that fit your audience. I assume your audience is small business owners who don't want to be tied down with an office?
If this is correct then the chances are, these people might not even know they have a need for a virtual office so you want to get in front of them as 'the expert' to demonstrate why they should use your services.
For example, you want to use forums (like this one) to help out people who need help with their business and to offer them ways they can be more efficient and productive. For example, explain the cost benefits (because the expense is always an issue with small businesses), demonstrate the productive benefits of using virtual staff and highlight the perception advantages of having a London address (as an example) with international clients.
Write articles like:
- Advantages of Virtual Offices
- Top 10 reasons to use virtual offices
- How virtual assistants can transform your business
- 5 ways a virtual office can improve your productivity
You can also create client case studies and white papers from industry research. This will add credibility to your advertising.
Now, before you try to use advertising to get people to buy your service straight off-the-bat you need to realise that very few people impulse buy a service. It's human nature to do some sort of research or due diligence so you advertising should be focused on generating leads (email sign-ups) rather than straightforward selling.
Once you've got these people signed up then you can send them a series of 2-3 automated emails that will prove to them they have made the right choice with your company, how virtual offices will change their business and help them grow.
If you set up a Mailchimp account you can set up these automated emails for free.
@fisicx gave you some good places to advertise but you can also check out these:
- Facebook Retargeting (use the FB retargeting pixel to advertise to people who visit your site)
- Small Business Bloggers - Contact these guys and try to work with them on content for your own site (i.e guest post). They will then share it with their fans and followers who are your target audience.
- LinkedIn - Don't use this platform to sell. Use it to build your reputation and expertise. Share the content mentioned above and you will start to drive visitor traffic.
- Set up an Affiliate Program - Marketing a business is hard work so why not let someone else help you? If you set up an affiliate program (through someone like affiliate future) then you can offer bloggers a commission on anyone they send to your business.
- YouTube - Start vlogging about the benefits of virtual offices. YouTube is the world's second biggest search engine.
- Podcast - How many podcasts in your industry? Probably not many. Maybe your company could team up with a small business expert and start a podcast to help for small start-ups. This is a great way to gain quick exposure and a loyal following.
- Sponsor a podcast - This is very low-cost and a great way of getting your brand and the benefits inside people's ears. Podcasts are often listened to in the car or on a commute so it's a captive audience. Try to go for new podcasts with a smaller listener base.
- Students - Lots of students are starting businesses these days so they could be a great niche customer to go after. You can always set them up on your affiliate program to help them earn extra money.
One final point. Set up an email pop-up on your website to capture email addresses. Give visitors a great reason to sign up (like 20% off their first 3 months services) and make the most of every visit. Yes, pop-ups can be annoying but they work like a dream.
I hope that helps.
Matt
