Today, it’s hard to imagine running a successful business without proper marketing. Especially in the age where the internet is bringing everything closer together. But, there is a lingering question about how much money you need to invest in it. It’s particularly intimidating for small business owners and startups, considering there are many large companies out there. If the large enterprises are investing a considerable amount of money in marketing, how do you compete with it? Fortunately, there is no need to wait until you have enough money to invest. You can start your marketing campaign right away. There are plenty of affordable marketing strategies you can try, that can help you keep up with others. Even with the big market players.
Affordable marketing strategies worth investing in
At least for marketing, there is no need to spend much money to make more money. Of course, you can always make some investment in professional marketing teams. But if your budget is sparse, hopefully, you can get similar results if you only invest more time and use alternative methods. There is some beauty in hatching your business from the egg and watching it grows competitive even with a limited budget. If that description sounds satisfying, here are some of the most effective affordable marketing strategy ideas that can help.
Before you start, you need to prepare
First of all, you will definitely need a website, today. As you may notice, the internet is becoming a crucial part of business marketing. Depending on the type of services you provide, your website will be a gathering point for your potential customers. So, it’s crucial to leave a good first impression, and interest your visitors for further engagement. Another aspect, often underestimated, is your business card. A convenient little physical (offline) item that can prove to be of great usefulness. It goes hand in hand with your website, and show a sign of professionalism. At least, as long as you have the necessary info printed on it.
Survey before acting
To develop your marketing plan correctly, you will need to have an insight into different factors. The first thing to do is to understand your targeted audience.
First, you need to check who they are and what their needs are. Second, to avoid assumptions about what they expect from your business, you need to ask them. The best way to find these kinds of information is through surveys. Simply, conduct a survey, including questions about your products or services. This is one of the effective methods to prepare since there is no need to hire a research company. Given enough time, you can do it by yourself.
Also, a great place to get this type of info and opinions are online forums. Additionally, you can use them to actively participate and conduct polls and surveys there.
Start with your online listings
Once you get all the information through surveys, it’s time to check your listing. See if there are any mentions about your business online. If not, especially if you are brand new, start making them as soon as possible. By all means, Google My Business is a great starting place. Basically, it’s one of the most powerful platforms to bring your business closer to the local audience. Because you need to fill in a lot of information, potential customers seeking your services will be able to access them in no time. It combines plenty of useful factors that can help your marketing:
- It will contain your NAP (Name, Address, and Phone number of your business)
- Has access to Google maps
- Offer reviews, ratings, posting, and many more.
Besides GMB, you should get listings on other platforms, like Facebook, Linked In, Yellowpages, Yelp, etc. The best part is, if done correctly, they will mutually help increase your search ranking position.
Email marketing as a part of affordable marketing strategies
This method will need you to grow your mailing list first. In which case, you can use one of many useful email marketing tools. Meanwhile, here is how email marketing benefits your business:
- It’s affordable
- Have a wide reach
- It’s easy to set in motion
- Can be automated
- Provide direct contact
- And it’s also very easy to track and adjust
Once you have your email list, reach out without hesitation, and try to get as many subscribers as possible. Eventually, you will see your traffic and sales increase over time.
Produce quality and relevant content
This method is known as content marketing. In a word, it’s producing and distributing relevant content that will attract people. It includes blogs, your website pages, video content, podcasts, courses, catalogs, and many more. To have an impact, besides the relevance and quality, your content needs to be:
- Optimized with SEO in mind
- Optimized for readers
- Creative
- Fresh and up to date
- With a proper structure
Even today, this remains one of the best ways to boost your SEO. With the smart implementation of relevant keywords, it will improve your ranking and increase authority. Which, after all, brings you more potential clients.
Social Networking
Since almost everyone is using Social Media, it can be a good place to promote your business. You can start your business profile, and create or join groups. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter are just some of the most popular social media networks. Remember, since you are owning a business, LinkedIn is often underestimated by new and small companies. It can be your perfect chance to take advantage of it and acquire more connections. Just like others, it’s a good place to advertise your services, demonstrate them, and build your brand.
The affordable marketing strategy that includes influencers
What started as a growing trend, ended up as a serious marketing field. Influencer marketing can be used today as a good strategy to launch and promote your business. Since people easily connect with the influencers, you have an open field with millions of followers waiting for their opinion.
Moreover, this can be a pretty much straightforward strategy because all you need to do is to get in touch with them. Some will exchange their review if you send them an example of your product, for example. While others might require a payment to check and advertise your service. Just make sure to always pick an influencer relevant to your industry. YouTube and Instagram are probably the leading platforms where you can find quality influencers. But, there are others as well.
Overall, marketing doesn’t have to be a huge investment. These affordable marketing strategies can help just like any other, given enough time, patience, effort, and determination.
