Nine low-budget and inexpensive marketing ideas – Ways to make a PRO-Like splash for you who thinks implementing effective marketing tactics is expensive!
Marketing is the lifeblood of any small business. Can you use inexpensive marketing ideas to Examples of businesses that are thriving without engaging in some form of marketing and advertising are certainly limited.
But, small businesses also struggle financially from time to time, especially when they are just starting out. We got you covered. These 9 effective and inexpensive marketing ideas and tactics won’t blow your small marketing budget.
Never let ads write checks your website can’t cash
– Avinash Kaushik
Budget-Friendly Tactics to Boost Marketing Campaigns For Your Enterprise
Does marketing seem like a back-burner issue? A study by CBInsights noted that poor marketing was the eighth-most common reason why small businesses fail, highlighting the importance of getting it right. Effective and inexpensive marketing ideas for small businesses
Naturally, when you’re running a business, you want to focus on providing a good experience for customers whether you operate a pet food store, a graphic design firm, or literally anything else. In order to get those customers, however, you usually need to do some marketing, and it could be the difference between staying in business and having to close up shop.
9 Effective and Inexpensive Marketing Ideas for Small Business
Fortunately, there are numerous ways to engage in successful marketing campaigns using cheaper inexpensive marketing ideas, even if you are working with a tight budget.
Here are shoe-string creative marketing hacks to devour.
Build a website
For many small business owners, the thought of spending money on a website seems excessive. But, buying a domain name and employing user-friendly tools to build the site (like Wix) is becoming easier and cheaper by the day.
Websites are also important because between 70 and 80% of consumers tend to research businesses and their products and services before calling or stepping foot into the business. If your competitor has a website, you may be losing out on potential clients simply because they couldn’t find any information about you online. This is one of the most significant low-budget, inexpensive marketing ideas to start right away.
Get on Social Media
Of the easiest inexpensive marketing ideas to leap your business fast using the growth hacking inbound marketing machine is social media. Even though Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest are the leading social media networks, there are smaller niche forums and membership sites that that focus on market segmentation and differentiation like Thinkers360.
Social media increases exposure.
In fact, 90% of small business marketers believe that their social media marketing campaigns have produced an increase in exposure to relevant audiences. To really get your name out there, you may also consider buying promoted ads on these platforms if your budget allows, or better still, engage an influencer.
Consider writing articles that employ lists, use subheadings, and are able to be skimmed by busy clientele. If you don’t have the time to write articles or if you are unsure of your skills, consider hiring a freelancer. You can find relatively inexpensive work that can generate plenty of leads.
Online Giveaways
Yes, the premise of an online giveaway is that you will have to part with a product or service for free. But, the number of eyeballs that end up seeing your giveaway will increase your profile and potentially lead to new customers.
Typically, these giveaways are carried out on social media. You simply ask your current followers to share a post to get a free item or service. Then, their friends will follow our account and share the giveaway, as well. It is, again, a great way to increase awareness, collect data, and potentially get more customers in the process.
Incentivize Customer Referrals
Which of the most simple, inexpensive marketing ideas can you implement today as a business?
This marketing method also involves giving away something for free, but it can bring in a number of new customers. Incentivizing current customers to bring in new customers can help grow your business by leaps and bounds. Of course, you want the incentive to be valuable enough that people are willing to refer their friends, but not so valuable that it ends up breaking the bank.
Update and Recycle Your Content
It is important to have good, engaging, and fresh content, but what if you’ve run out of ideas? A great way to produce new content without having to write an entirely new article or post is to update existing content with facts and figures.
Indeed, you can take a blog post you wrote a few years ago about the value of your particular service and update it with facts and figures from new studies. You can repost the updated version so that it appears at the top of your blog or simply create a new entry.
Another thing you can do is repurpose infographics like the one on power words below. Cut them up into smaller graphs and then write an article about each section. You get 10-20 more pieces of content out of a single infographic.
Additionally, you may want to take existing content and transform it into a new medium. Maybe a stat-heavy article could see new life as an engaging infographic. Likewise, a blog post that explains how to do something could be turned into a video.
How easy was that for working inexpensive marketing ideas?
Partner with Other Local Businesses
If you run a small business that pulls its customers from a local community, then partnering with other local businesses can help broaden your reach. Your business is essentially gaining access to a separate business’s audience and vice versa. Your advertising will help them, while theirs will help you.
It is a win for you both.
It’s obviously best if you partner with a business related to your industry. For instance, if you run a business coaching program, it might be valuable to partner with a small business marketing consultant. Their clients will know where to get a refreshing perspective on their businesses and your clients will know where they can go to get up-to-date business marketing solutions to scale their enterprises.
Use Google My Business
Google My Business is a free tool on Google that essentially allows you to take control of your business as it is viewed on Google. When you look up a business, you usually see some basic information about the establishment in a sidebar to the right. What a win from top inexpensive marketing ideas list? With Google My Business, you can add information like:
- Your company website
- Hours of operation
- Phone number and other contact information
- Street address
- Photos
You can also respond to any customer reviews whether they are good or bad. This is a great way to smooth over any issues or thank customers for their patronage. Google will also identify you as a more trustworthy entity and bump up your website and content on any relevant searches.
Put a Car Magnet on Your Car
Another great way to increase awareness in your community is to simply advertise yourself while you’re driving. A car magnet can provide all the basic information about your business. It’s also pretty eye-catching. Window decals also provide a similar benefit. A full paint job might be out of your budget but would also increase awareness.
The Bottom Line
You don’t have to break the bank to engage in a good marketing campaign. Be active on social media, update your website with good content, and engage with prospective customers, and you will be able to reap the rewards from an à la carte of inexpensive marketing ideas.
Related; Try these cost-effective tried and tested user-friendly tools for successful kick-ass campaigns with a punch
Feature Photo: Photo by Startup Stock Photos from Pexels.
Your Thoughts on Effective and Inexpensive Marketing Ideas
Of these 9 effective and inexpensive marketing ideas, which one do you use most? Why? Is there one that has surprised you?
What is that creative marketing hack you use to wow your audience that you would love me to add to this list of best inexpensive marketing ideas?
Contribute by adding your feedback using the comments section at the end of this post below. I look forward to hearing from you
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This is a Guest Post by Anthony Gaenzle, the Founder of AnthonyGaenzle.com a marketing and business blog. He also serves as the Head of Marketing and Business Development at Granite Creative Group, a full-service marketing firm. He is a storyteller, strategist and eternal student of marketing and business strategy. Interact further on Twitter and LinkedIn.