5 Ways Women Can Support Woman-Owned Businesses
With entrepreneurship on the rise, especially with woman-owned brands it is important for us to not only know, but practice supporting woman and their businesses. Here’s a list providing several ways you can support your fellow businesswoman.
By: Alexandra Shuford
1. Follow & Engage with their Social Media Platforms:
These days social media play a crucial role when it comes to a brands marketing initiative. Being that people spend hours daily scrolling Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, it allows a perfect opportunity to follow woman-owned brands, purchase their products and services, and introduce others to the brands. By following, commenting, liking, reposting, and saving content found on business’s social media, you’re helping drive engagement and traffic to their platforms. Which in turn will help with business growth, success, and a larger customer base.
2. Word-of-Mouth:
Word-of-mouth marketing has been around for ages. It’s simply the practice of informing family, friends, peers, and strangers of products and services businesses offer from a firsthand basis. Ever been walking down the street and had someone compliment your outfit, hair, or shoes, and you followed up with informing them the brand or person behind it? That is the simple yet impactful way of marketing known as word-of-mouth. Consumers are more likely to purchase a product or service when they see or hear from someone else about their positive experience with what a brand offers. It’s a great way to help small business owners get more exposure, and thus grow their clientele.
3. Professional Introductions
We all know someone who has a business or skillset that can use support or partnerships. Why not open your rolodex and introduce individuals who operate in similar niche’s and help them grow their businesses together? Often times a brand could use someone on their team to alleviate the business owner from all the tasks and responsibilities of operating a business. By connecting them with another skilled individual who may have solutions to their needs you are not only helping create opportunities for others, but also helping a small business grow its team, create work balance, and strengthen the quality of products and services.
4. Gifting Products or Services
So, you’ve tried out a business’s products or services and were left feeling great, and also inspired to share with your inner circle your experience. With a similar effect as word-to-mouth gifting your people with products or services from said brand is a great way to support a business. Gifting your friends and family is always a nice gesture, now add in you sharing a small business and their offerings to them and you’ve not only put a smile on your loved one’s faces, but also helped a business woman grow her customer base, and increase her sales. Much like word-of-mouth the impact spreads quickly, and now you’ve allowed the message to spread even further, with firsthand experiences outside of your own.
5. Create User Generated Content
By now most of us have watched an “unboxing” or “how-to” video or two. What you probably didn’t realize is every time you watch one you are taking part in a business being able to spread its reach to consumers. Now what’s better than watching those? Creating your own! By creating Youtube videos, Instagram reels, or tiktoks showcasing the items or services you received you are helping businesses spread brand awareness to your own social media followers, and also offer fun and creative content that will engage your social media audience (boosts your own brand engagement) and help create a pipeline of new customers for small businesses. When it comes to social media marketing, UGC is major and a current driving force in brand marketing.