Marketing can be expensive for a small business with a low budget, and it is totally understandable. But nonetheless, it’s still incredibly important even for a small business and can still be achieved in other affordable ways. In this case, you will need to dedicate a lot of time and creativity and remember, anything can turn into an opportunity. Here are 7 affordable marketing tips that every small business can implement to their strategy.
Have a strong online presence
It’s mandatory for any business to have an online presence. Social media is free and reaches almost half of the world, so having none, is basically like you don’t exist in the world. With social media, people can easily reach your business, get to know you, your story, and your services, but most importantly connect with you. You can also turn social media into an online shop without paying anything or burdening your business economically, by using Instagram or/and Facebook shop.
Create good relations with your community
Work on your public relations, don’t forget that word of mouth will forever be important, especially when it comes from people of status. Connect with your community and try to attract the attention of journalists to get a chance of recognition. Remember that journalists are awaiting something groundbreaking, an emotional story, or at least an interesting one. Building relationships with the media will assist you in the long run.
Become a sponsor
Probably the most common way of marketing is becoming a sponsor. Sponsoring a game or a charity event will create a good name for your business and attract new customers. Whether you can sponsor thousands of dollars or just a few bucks, you just need your name to appear on the sponsor’s list, you will decide that according to your business budget.
Take place in business fairs / events / exhibitions
Networking with other businesses is just as important as networking with journalists. Businesses are owned by important people, people that you will need in your network and maybe get a chance to collaborate with them
Get involved with influencer marketing
Trust matters a lot when buying a product, so this is where influencer marketing comes in. Influencer marketing is becoming one of the most popular marketing strategies, as it’s easy to access many followers. Choose your influencer wisely, not by how many followers they have but by how much engagement they get.
E-mail marketing
E-mail is a classic way of marketing, it has been in use for many years by numerous businesses. It has proven to be very effective and is definitely a very cheap way to incorporate marketing into your business. With email marketing, you keep existing clients engaged, but also approach new ones with exclusive deals and important information.
Create a survey
Making a marketing plan before anything is important, in order to make a marketing plan though you need to understand your clients, their needs, and what they want from your company. The best way to achieve that is by creating a survey with important questions about your services or products. It’s easy to create a questionnaire yourself and doesn’t require many resources, and it will give the answers you are looking for.
Many people believe marketing should be expensive, but that is not the case at all. Marketing is all about creativity, and creativity is free.