Marketing your business move

Moving your business to new premises can be a stressful experience. Once you’ve done the hard yards of moving your staff and equipment, how will your customers find out where you’ve moved?

The key is to spread the word early so your customers can always find you, and so you can attract new customers in the area you’ve relocated to.

Pauline Linton, who heads the social media team at PR agency Edelman, says there are many cost effective ways to get your message across.

It’s important to ask some key questions:

• Who is the business targeting?
• How do these businesses usually get information?
• Who are they connected to?

Linton says the first step is to consult your business plan, which should already provide a clear direction of who you need to communicate with.

“When you are putting together your business case for investors or yourself, you need to be really clear on who you are talking to,’’ Linton says.

“Where this becomes exceptionally important is in communication and how you promote your business, because then you’re not looking at the cheapest way to talk to everybody. It becomes targeted.”

One cost effective way to market the business, she says, is to throw a party at the new office, and invite customers, suppliers and prospective customers.

Other ways include establishing a database and sending out a newsletter to provide updates to customers.

It’s even better, she says, if the business has a digital presence, including a website, Twitter handle and Facebook page.

Small business marketing: Is there such a thing as free advertising?

Linton says posting videos of the new office or business on the Facebook page is an effective way to cut through the clutter and get the message across.

“If, for example, I am opening an office in Petersham, I would be leveraging local channels to promote the business,’’ Linton says.

“If I already have a Facebook page or a Twitter account, I would announce that I am moving to a new office in Petersham, and I would post specifically to the people in my local area who are the most relevant to me.

“If I have an Instagram account, I would be taking a photo of my office and using all the relevant hashtags. If I’m on Twitter, I would be doing the same thing.”

Linton says the beauty of Twitter is that your message will reach beyond those who follow you – as people often look for specific conversations through hashtags.

The beauty of Twitter is that your message will reach beyond those who follow you.

“In that sense, Twitter for a small business is a really effective and cost effective way to promote your business,” she says.

Another innovative approach is to use the relatively-new live streaming app, Periscope.

“If you are moving into a new office, why don’t you Periscope it, livestream you moving all your boxes in, give your audience a sense of what the space looks like now, take some before and after shots and make them feel part of the journey?”

Having a digital presence is also important to keep up with your competitors and boost the credibility of your business.

“It’s really important to have a digital presence, even if you have a café or an accounting business or a florist, because more often than not, people will go online to check the credibility of your business and if they see if you have made an effort to improve your presence online,” Linton says.

Moving office: More than packing boxes