It’s a problem that many small businesses deal with. Whether you’re starting out or recently expanded, a marketing budget can be tricky to manage. It can be frustrating to see other businesses in your industry spend and spend on marketing while you’re struggling to scratch the surface. Fortunately, there are things that you can do to market your business on the cheap.
Attend Local Business Mixers
Build your network and get to know people within your community. Whether they’re in your industry or not, you can benefit from networking events with other business owners by learning what they’ve done to grow. Additionally, it can open up opportunities for collaborations and cooperative marketing to cross-promote both of your businesses. Other business owners can also help to generate leads via referrals.
Teach a Class
People are always looking for information. It doesn’t matter if you’re teaching how to properly plunge a toilet or attendees want to learn how to fly a drone, people want to learn from experts. Teach a class either at your location or a community center. This will not only get your company’s name out in the community, but you’ll build a high level of trust among those who attend the class. After the class is over, the attendees can also tell their friends who taught them their new skills.
Publish Quality Content
Along the vein of people wanting to learn, you can share your expertise without holding a class. In fact, you can share your knowledge more often than what is practical for a class by publishing informative content on your website. Host a blog where you share some of your professional thoughts and ideas with your community. The best part of this is that you need to do anything else if you already have a website. Most website hosting platforms have a blog feed that needs to be activated without any additional costs.
Offer Discounts
The majority of your customers are going to love saving some money on your product or service. You’re going to have to take somewhat of a hit on your profit margins, but a coupon is a great way to get your product out the door or let people know about your service. If you sell t-shirts, it’s important to get the first few shirts out on the door on backs of customers. Other people will see what they’re wearing, ask where they got it, then send those people your way. Furthermore, neighbors talk to one another about where they got their car’s oil changed, who fixed their TV, and so forth. Get people in the door with discounts then let them spread the word about you for free.
Claim Your Online Listing
Google offers an amazing service for businesses called Google My Business, or GMB, where you can claim your online listing with their search engine. This allows you to customize your business hours, address, and contact information. This listing is typically one of the first few things you’ll see if you do a search for a local product or service in your area.
EWR digital internet marking company says, “Over the last few years, mobile web traffic has overtaken desktop traffic and it will only continue to grow. So, having a mobile-friendly site and your GMB listing for your company is not a luxury anymore — it’s a requirement.”
It is absolutely free to claim and manage your GMB listing, so it’s something that every business needs to make sure they do.
Use Social Media
While ads on social media require payment, simply using social media does not. Your business can be active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok at no extra cost to you. Social media is an excellent place to take advantage of free marketing opportunities, but it’s important to understand your target demographic and where you’re going to find them. Additionally, some products or services are easier to promote on individual platforms. You can look at your competitors to see what’s working for them or branch out and be creative and unique with your content. Social media can be a powerful tool for getting your brand in front of your customers.
Contact Social Media Influencers
We’ve established that social media is powerful, but it has more power if you have a large following. This is the strength that social media influencers have. You can reach out to influencers on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and others to have them use your product. Often there will be a fee attached to their promotion, but if you get it in their hand it’s something they truly love, you could get millions of eyes on your product for free.
A major part of working with influencers is properly matching someone to your brand. Find influencers within your niche and reach out to them. Keep in mind that not all influencers have millions of Instagram followers. If you sell fly fishing equipment, social media influencers can effectively push your product with as many as 20,000 followers.
