Startups encounter numerous problems, but none are more perilous or life-threatening than the effort to stay cash-positive. Most businesses, caught in a precarious financial balancing act, forego expenditures they come to see as needless, such as marketing and advertising. The bitter irony is that completely ignoring marketing stunts a company’s growth, leaving it with less income to gather and driving it into an even tighter budget.
But here’s the thing: effective marketing doesn’t have to be expensive. Sure, higher-budget marketing methods may provide more exposure and consistency in the long run, but there are lots of extremely successful – low-budget marketing strategies you can employ to help your firm expand. Here are nine ways to do that:
1) Content marketing
Regardless of the format, there is no major financial outlay required for content marketing. Maintaining an on-site blog with fresh content that regularly educates or amuses your viewers is the most straightforward strategy.
Content marketing also includes videos, infographics, and podcasts. Reason? Your brand’s reputation will improve, your inbound traffic will rise, and many other methods from this list will be strengthened by using all of these content outlets.
2) Referrals
You may bypass the need for marketing entirely if you set up a system in which your consumers conduct the advertising for you. A product is four times more likely to be purchased when a friend recommends it.
Despite the evaluations in tech publications, we still place the greatest value on personal recommendations. To top it off, starting a referral program doesn’t have to break the bank; in fact, depending on your business model, it may even be completely free!
If you’re truly committed to this plan, you might provide a discount on your current customers’ subscriptions in return for introducing a new client or offering a cash incentive. Make sure your consumers know about it.
3) SEO
This is another low-budget marketing tip you can use to help your business. The time you spend creating blog posts and articles for your content marketing effort might be better spent working on SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
What if you’re a novice in the field of SEO? If you put in the time and effort, you can quickly grasp the fundamentals, no matter how difficult it may appear at first. Moz’s Keyword Explorer can help you uncover keywords that might bring a lot of traffic to your site with low competition; you’ll then update your site to incorporate those phrases.
Also, you’ll need to make structural modifications, publish consistently high-quality content, and gain backlinks to your website. It’s a lot of work, but the only expense is your time, and the long-term advantages much outweigh the effort.
4) Social media marketing
If you are willing to put in the time and effort, you may become an expert in the field of social media marketing. The first step is to create a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram account for your business. Make sure your profiles are complete, then start syndicating relevant information to your audience.
Be an effort to connect with people, and make sure to keep in touch. It’s possible to build up a steady flow of thousands of visitors to your site over time.
5) PPC ads
Even the most economical business may benefit from pay-per-click advertising, as long as they don’t target high-traffic head keywords. Some Facebook advertisements, for example, cost as low as $1 per day (though you’ll need to spend more than that if you want to see any results at all).
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6) Email marketing
Most marketers make a return on investment (ROI) as high as 400% from email marketing. This makes it one of the best low-budget marketing tactics available. You should be able to see a big return on your effort and money if you have a strong list (organically cultivated rather than bought) and a consistent but non-invasive stream of outbound email blasts.
7) Forums and groups
Lingering in public forums and social media groups has its advantages. Be on the lookout for people looking for answers to questions that you can answer or opportunities to market your business. Your chances of success go up the more active you involve yourself in both your local area and your larger industry.
The best part is that joining these groups typically doesn’t cost you anything, so you can get all the benefits for free.
8) Personal branding
Branding your personal identity is quite similar to marketing your company. For example, you may use social media to spread the word about your knowledge, and you can even set up your own blog to get more visitors and generate interest.
Ultimately, you’ll have a powerful channel to syndicate your material or acquire new leads because individuals prefer to trust other people more than businesses.
9) Form industry partnerships
Organize a joint venture with a firm in your sector but not a direct rival. You can use an offline event, a webinar, or a promotional giveaway to do this, as can a combination of the three.
With a company partnership, you’ll be able to reach twice as many people in your target market. A wonderful way for small businesses to gain access to marketing know-how, technology, and consumer bases that they otherwise wouldn’t have, is through the formation of industry alliances.
If you want to have a successful partnership, you need to put in the time and effort. Prior to entering any formal agreements, make sure you have all of your bases covered by talking to as many different companies as possible, figuring out how you can best work together, and clarifying your expectations.
