When it comes to starting out with a new venture, funds are invariably low. And so often, advertising and marketing falls by the wayside, even though it can be one of the most essential contributors to growth.
But it doesn’t have to go overlooked and, you don’t have to spend a small fortune either.
With our amazing cost effective marketing tips for small businesses, you can take advantage of some super cheap options that could really give you the boost you need.
Cost effective marketing options for small businesses
Encourage referrals
How many times have you bought something or hired out a service because someone recommended it to you? We’ve all done it at some point or another, and this is a huge part of spreading awareness when it comes to marketing a small business on a budget.
Whether this involves running a competition on your social media and asking your followers to tag someone who’d love your product, or personally asking your customers to write a post about the service they received from you, it doesn’t matter as long as new potential customers can see it.
You may also want to give existing customers a small discount for recommending you to a friend. All of this helps to spread the word and market your business, while costing you just a small amount of cash.
Create a great website
Nowadays, creating a website is a piece of cake. There are so many intuitive platforms out there that can help you to create something simple, good-looking and effective.
When you’re writing for your website, think about content marketing. You don’t need to be a marketing wizz to create the right type of content, but it is important to think about what you’re writing to make sure the right people are clicking on your site.
For example, if you’re a dressmaker and you only deliver locally to York, you should say that in your copy a few times. This will help search engines understand what you do and where you are, so the people who are looking for a dressmaker in York on Google end up on your website.
That’s a very loose understanding of SEO, we could go into more detail that would drive loads more traffic, but for now that’s a good start.
Set up social media
If you haven’t already, get yourself on a social media platform and start to share. When it comes to creating a social media presence for a small business, the main trick is to be genuine and be true to your brand.
That means only sharing things that are relevant, connecting with your audience in the same way you would in real life and telling your story.
If you’re having a great day for orders, you’re putting your first product up for sale or you just hope everyone has a great day, share it with your followers. Everyone loves a success story and it’s even better when you feel like you’ve helped a small business by following them or purchasing a product.
What’s more, social media doesn’t cost a thing, so it’s a great option for a cost effective marketing strategy for a small business.
Network
Get to know people out there and spread the word. Small businesses are amazing in that they’re all in the same boat, and the support for each other is fantastic. By speaking to other local business, or even businesses you’ve connected with on social media you can collaborate and share in success together.
Never hesitate to speak to another business owner and promote each others work. It’s a great way to spread the word and support each other.
Do it yourself
More often than not, a small business starts out with just one or two people, and it comes down to you to do all the marketing. This can involve social media, content marketing, SEO, PR and paid marketing.
While you may not be a professional in any of these areas, you can definitely master all the tricks of the trade and demystify industry secrets if you know how!
Our marketing services are specifically designed to help small business owners empower themselves to create and execute successful marketing plans. On top of that, they’re cost effective too.