How to promote a new small business: a 9-step plan with a threshold for each step
How to promote a new small business, in short: 9 steps over 90 days, each tied to a number. Days 1–30 prepare measurement, days 31–60 build trust, days 61–90 cut what fails and back what works. Every step has a pass threshold; do not move on until you reach it.
Why a threshold? New businesses spend money without being able to answer “is it working?” A threshold turns that into a number. Google’s own SEO guide says you may need a few weeks to judge the effect of your work, so the plan runs in 30-day phases.
How do the 9 steps spread over 90 days?
Nine steps sit in three 30-day phases, three steps in each. At the end of each phase you check one thing: did the threshold hold? If not, do not move on; extend the same phase by 14 days. The table shows the whole plan on one screen.
| Phase | Days | Steps | End-of-phase threshold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Get ready to measure | 1–30 | 1, 2, 3 | Source recorded for at least half of customers |
| 2. Build trust | 31–60 | 4, 5, 6 | 10 genuine reviews, 9 answered questions |
| 3. Cut and back | 61–90 | 7, 8, 9 | Cost per customer known for each channel |
Phase 1: Which 3 steps get you ready to measure in the first 30 days?
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- Step 1: Record a 7-day baseline
- Step 2: Give each channel its own trace
- Step 3: Switch on the profile and site counters
The first 30 days are less about bringing customers in than seeing where they come from. Unmeasured promotion is throwing stones in the dark. By the end, the source of at least half your customers should be written down.
Step 1: Record a 7-day baseline
For 7 days, add nothing beyond your opening announcement and note daily customers, calls and messages. This baseline is your zero point. Write it even if the till is quiet.
Step 2: Give each channel its own trace
A separate QR code on the poster, a ready message like “Writing from the map” on your profile, a separate Instagram link. Ask every customer “How did you hear about us?” and note it in its own column. Threshold: all traces in place within 3 days.
Step 3: Switch on the profile and site counters
The Google Business Profile performance screen, Search Console and GA4 show views, calls and clicks. Threshold: the first month’s view count noted by day 30.
Most common mistake: asking “How did you hear about us?” in week one and then dropping it. If you do not ask every customer for 30 days, the column will mislead you.
Phase 2: Which 3 steps build trust in days 31–60?
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- Step 4: Ask every happy customer for a review
- Step 5: Write up any question asked three times
- Step 6: Open a small test budget on one channel
Phase 2 fixes the biggest gap: nobody knows you, so other people’s words weigh more than yours. Reviews, answered questions and a small test budget are the tools. Target: 10 genuine reviews and 9 answered questions.
Step 4: Ask every happy customer for a review
Threshold: 10 genuine reviews by day 60. Do not offer a discount or gift in return; Google’s rules ban incentivised reviews. In regulated sectors such as healthcare, check the relevant regulation before asking patients for reviews.
Step 5: Write up any question asked three times
If the same question comes a third time, write the answer on your profile, site or a pinned post. We call this the “rule of three”. Threshold: 9 answered questions by day 60.
Step 6: Open a small test budget on one channel
One channel, a fixed monthly cap, no setting changes for 14 days. Threshold: at least one call, message or directions request after 14 days. Set the cap with the scenarios in new business promotion budget.
Phase 3: What do you cut and what do you back in days 61–90?
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- Step 7: Count customers per channel
- Step 8: Work out cost per customer
- Step 9: Count returning customers
By Phase 3 you have two months of source data. The rule: a channel that brings no customers is cut, one that does gets a bigger share. Each channel’s cost per customer should be calculated; without it, a budget decision is a coin toss.
Step 7: Count customers per channel
Total the source column for 60 days. Threshold: a channel with no customers for 30 days is cut or tried 14 more days with one change.
Step 8: Work out cost per customer
Divide what you spent on a channel by the customers it brought. Marketers call this customer acquisition cost. Threshold: it should stay below the gross profit one customer leaves.
Step 9: Count returning customers
How many of the first 90 days’ customers come back? If few do, the problem may be the experience. Threshold: the number noted and a target set.
Say you run a dry cleaner in Avcılar, Istanbul, and your 60-day notebook looks like this. The figures are hypothetical and only show the logic.
| Channel | Spend in 60 days | Customers | Cost per customer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Map profile posts | TRY 0 | 18 | TRY 0 |
| Instagram test budget | TRY 6,000 | 12 | TRY 500 |
| Flyers | TRY 3,000 | 2 | TRY 1,500 |
If gross profit per customer is TRY 400, flyers go first, Instagram gets one change, and profile posts are stepped up.
If a threshold fails, where should you look?
BU BÖLÜMÜN ÖZETİ
- Low views
- Views, but no calls or messages
- Customers come, but do not return
When a threshold fails, locate the problem first. Are you unseen, seen but not chosen, or are customers not coming back? Each needs a different fix, and mixing them up sends money to the wrong place. The numbers tell you which one you face.
Low views
Check the Step 3 counters, then compare with the six mistakes in why nobody knows your new business.
Views, but no calls or messages
Usually photos, hours or reviews are missing. The numbers to check are in six numbers to check after month one.
Customers come, but do not return
This is not a promotion problem. Look at product, price or service, and hold the budget.
Who sets up this plan, and what does it cost?
You can build all this yourself; if time is short, a fixed-price package does the job. Adapte’s Get Visible Online campaign is TRY 36,000 + VAT, upfront and fixed, for 3 months. That matches the 90-day plan, and results are reviewed together after month one.
Total and coupon
With 20 percent VAT the total is TRY 43,200; check the current rate on your invoice. If you have the 10 percent coupon, just mention the code when you apply or in the meeting. For a recipe suggestion, fill in the needs form on the Get Visible Online campaign page.
Weekly tracking template: a 6-line checklist
Ten minutes a week keeps the plan running. Fill in these six lines every Monday. After 13 weeks you have the full account of 90 days.
- How many customers came this week, and how many have a recorded source?
- How many customers did each channel bring?
- How many times were the profile and site viewed?
- How many new reviews arrived?
- Which question was asked for the third time this week?
- How much was spent on which channel?
Quick Summary
- The plan is 90 days, 3 phases and 9 steps.
- Phase 1 threshold: source recorded for at least half of customers.
- Phase 2 threshold: 10 genuine reviews and 9 answered questions.
- Phase 3 threshold: cost per customer known for each channel.
- A channel with no customers for 30 days is cut or tried once more with one change.
- No discounts or gifts in return for reviews.
Short Glossary
Pass threshold: A pass threshold is the measure used to set the number you must reach before moving to the next step.
Baseline: A baseline is the zero point recorded before promotion, used to measure what the promotion changes.
Customer acquisition cost: Customer acquisition cost is the indicator found by dividing what you spend on a channel by the customers it brings.
Next Step
If you want the plan spread over 3 months at one fixed price, apply for the Get Visible Online campaign and get a recipe suggested from your needs form.
Sık Sorulan Sorular
Shop, office or service-area business, the maths is the same. Pre-opening work is in the new business promotion guide. The founder’s route is in how to promote a new company.
Rent is paid monthly, so the plan reports monthly. Weekly numbers swing; one rainy week can wreck the picture.
The Website Recipe builds Phase 1’s base with a Google Business Profile, basic SEO and visitor tracking. The Google Ads and Meta Ads recipes, with conversion tracking, fit Phase 2’s test budget. The ad budget is not included and is paid to Google or Meta separately.
There is no fixed time. Google’s SEO guide says you may need a few weeks to see an effect, so review results in 30-day phases.
No. Google’s rules ban incentivised reviews. Ask happy customers for reviews with nothing in return; in regulated sectors such as healthcare, check the regulation first.
No. The TRY 36,000 + VAT fee covers setup and 3 months of work. With the Google Ads or Meta Ads recipe, the ad budget is paid separately to Google or Meta.
Updated: October 2026