Last Updated on Mar 23, 2022 by James W
To compete in your industry, you need to market your products or services aggressively. But what becomes your fate when you don’t have the millions of dollars big companies spend on marketing each year? Do you throw in the towel? Or seek a low-budget but effective way to market your product?
Many small business owners cringe in discouragement when they discover how much companies splurge on their marketing campaigns. For instance, Amazon spent a whopping $22 billion on marketing in 2020, but should that discourage you? Certainly not!
There are other cost-effective ways to market your business without breaking the bank or taking unnecessary loans. We have highlighted 4 of them below.
1. Create a free Google My Business Account
Who says you need to splurge millions of dollars to market your business? With Google My Business, you can display your business to your audience.
Ask yourself- do you run a local business? If yes, Google My Business is what you need. Common benefits of Google my business are:
- Boost your local SEO
- Help your customers locate your business on a map
- Allow customers to leave reviews
- It helps you communicate with customers
- It makes you visible to your target audience
- It helps complete your Google profile
Google My Business is one of the most effective marketing tools available. And guess what? This excellent marketing asset is free! You don’t have to spend a dime creating a profile.
2. Leverage traditional marketing
In the old days, businesses leveraged traditional marketing to promote their products and services. They used direct mails, broadcasting channels, and print media to advertise their products and services to the target audience.
However, things changed with the introduction of digital marketing. Businesses swapped traditional marketing strategies for digital marketing strategies. But does that make traditional marketing dead or useless? Definitely not!
Some traditional marketing strategies are still relevant in today’s modern world. And yes, some of these strategies are cheap and effective compared to their counterparts. Common examples of traditional marketing techniques that still matter are direct mail, flyers and brochures, face-to-face, print ads, telemarketing, and banners.
Why are banners important?
Banners remain one of the most used traditional marketing strategies because they are an affordable, measurable, and effective medium to raise brand awareness. Leveraging banner stand allows you to build or show off your brand distinctively and professionally. If used appropriately, they can give you an edge in a trade show. Many businesses are aware of this, which is why banner stands are still in demand.
3. Post and Engage on Social Media
Social media and marketing go hand in hand. You cannot create an effective marketing campaign without leveraging social media; it is like hoping to win Formula One with a Peel P50. Isn’t that laughable?
If you want your business to be visible without spending too much, we recommend boosting your social media presence and building an online community. If your business lacks social media presence, consider creating business accounts on big social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and even YouTube. Of course, this is something you can do whenever you are free. Ensure you take out time tooptimize your social media profiles to build a strong web presence, increase your reach, drive more relevant traffic, generate better leads, etc.
4. Tag people and brand on your social media
After creating a blog post about your business and pasting the link on your Facebook text box, what next? Do you publish it straight away? No, we wouldn’t advise that. Rather, we recommend tagging people, particularly your loyal customers, brand evangelists, or even neighboring companies and vendors.
Taking this crucial step will help broaden the organic search reach of your business to a new audience. It will also help you increase your following, thereby acquiring more clients. Ensure you encourage your followers to tag your social media handle or business location in their post.
5. Publish great content
Content marketing done right can provide tremendous results for your business. Like other options on this list, you don’t need to allocate thousands of dollars to create captivating and relatable content for your client. In fact, if you have good writing skills, coupled with some SEO knowledge, you can do the writing yourself. However, you should contact a professional SEO writer for the best results.
Remember, customers do business with people who they preserve as experts. Creating content that showcases your authority, expertise, and genuine desire to help would force customers to rush to your business.
6. Post helpful videos
Aside from writing blog posts that demonstrate your authority, build brand awareness, and answer important questions, it’s best to add videos in the fray. For those who are lazy to read, videos can provide them with the information they need. It can also answer their pressing questions. The best part about making videos is that it doesn’t require much skill. So you’ll end up spending less and getting a favorable outcome.
Your videos should be packed with value ( very important). You could demonstrate how to complete a task like installing software or setting up an appliance. Common video ideas are:
- Product demos
- Instructional videos and how-tos
- Behind-the-scenes coverage of what it is like to work at your business
- Interviews with your employees
After creating the videos, you can post them on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook. Ensure you add a branding message to ensure that your business stays fresh in the mind of your prospects. Alternatively, you can add a personal message, whichever is best.
Finally, don’t forget to wrap up your video with a solid call to action (CTA). For instance, if you sell sneakers, your CTA could be “order yours now” or anything compelling enough.
Conclusion
You don’t need to have a humongous marketing budget to raise brand awareness. Instead, you need an affordable and effective marketing strategy to promote your business. Many of the strategies highlighted above don’t require the expertise of a digital marketer, which is cool, as you get to save more money.
