How to Promote and Increase Traffic to Your Tattoo Shop

While we always like to think that "if you build it, they will come," some will, and some may totally not even realize your there! Marketing can seem daunting, although it's a must. Whether you've been relying on word of mouth, inking at expos, or creating a site, here are ideas that you can do for free to put your tattoo shop on the map (figuratively and literally).

While nothing beats word of mouth, give your customers an easier way to share you by using key social media outlets and web-search platforms. Along with your style, your future clients are looking for reputation and location, so here are some powerful free tools to get on right away if you haven't done so yet.

Google My Business
Google My Business connects you directly with customers, whether they're looking for you on Search, Maps or Google+.
Yelp
Endless users will rave your work, how professional and clean your establishment, and you can enlist your clients to give you props for a great job, and will drive tons of traffic to you. You can show pics of ink or piercings you've done or are proud of. And with upgraded services, you can feature specials or special ocassions happening at your shop, like holiday or summer specials.
Craigslist
Prepare some nice ads with your tattoo shop. Nice ads with all your business info and some cool pictures of your work. and some content. and save it in a document on your computer desktop, then go back and repost it every so often, It really works well. and is literally 0 cost!
Youtube
Have your work recorded giving pointers or show your methodology, or discuss aftercare tips for clients. Promote yourself to the public.
Other classified sites work well for promoting your shop. you can use local classifieds, these classifieds are also usually free or a small fee to be listed.
Social media profiles
Create a Facebook page for business, a Twitter account, Linkedin, Instagram. Each of them works great for promoting your shop, work you've done, and all of it builds your reputation. Don't forget to invite your clients to share their ink on your pages. They have friends who have friends, and will swear by you!