Inexpensive Marketing Ideas For Small Business

 

Small business owners, all have the same goals. It’s all about growing your business and connecting with new customers. Understandably, this can be a struggle! If you’re passionate about what you want to sell, communicating that to a potential customer isn’t always easy. That’s where most small businesses struggle most. We have the world at our fingertips, but many aren’t sure where to start. Today, we’re giving you Inexpensive Marketing Ideas For Small Business Advertising that you should try in 2021!

Having a small budget for advertising shouldn’t discourage marketers from launching campaigns. You’d be surprised how some companies get away with unconventional Inexpensive Marketing Ideas For Small Business Advertising that yield outstanding results. These out-of-the-box methods are often referred to as guerilla advertising and they do wonders for small businesses.

 

Here are few Inexpensive Marketing Ideas For Small Business you can implement today.

• Get with the Times: Using Social Media

It’s 2021 – if you’re not on social media, you’re missing a lot!  As a research tool, social media is one of the best ways to identify common questions that possible customers may have. Not only is it a great research tool, but allows you to connect directly with current customers. That said, you shouldn’t use social media as a broadcasting tool -it’s a communication tool. Share, listen, talk, and learn. Lastly, explore social media sites that are lesser-known. Keep an eye out for the NEXT thing.

Social media counts as far as advertising goes. Most of your customers are already on at least one platform. Social media sites welcome businesses all the big players (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.) offer ways to integrate businesses into their site.

Twitter is also an effective way to communicate with your audience. It allows you to find relevant points of discussion and lets you jump in and be connected. It’s a way to humanize your brand and show some personality. It’s also a tool you could use to address concerns your customers may have and promote upcoming promotions or events.

Use Pinterest and Instagram to raise interest in your brand. By publishing photos regularly, you can show users what your company is up to and what projects you have in the pipeline. Photos build excitement and intrigue.

Scheduling posts shouldn’t be a problem considering all the online tools available built specifically for this task. Some social media sites even have built-in scheduling tools so you could plan your posts ahead of time.

• Go Old School: Hand Out Flyers

If your budget is tight, you’d have to make up for it by working harder. Nothing beats going out and handing flyers to anyone who would have them. Flyers are cheap but effective.

The right flyers will let your audience know who you are and what your company is about. It spares people from having to look you up online. Information is made available to them right then and there. Even non-designers can create their flyers online now for free.

• Search Engine Optimization + written content

The importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) cannot be understated. Whenever we have a question, we Google it for an answer. You want to make sure that when people are searching for a question that your business answers, that they find you. One of the best ways of doing this is through a good website-based SEO strategy AND regular, fresh, written content. High-quality content done for months and years is what improves those results. As Google continues to develop an ‘understanding’ of natural language, so too will the results. If you’re not blogging consistently, you’re falling behind.

• Video marketing

The second biggest search engine in the world after Google is YouTube. Video marketing benefits your marketing strategy by answers questions in an easily consumed media format. Video content is more involved than writing, but the benefits can be immense. Using your product in the videos, or answering questions about your product is a good place to start. If you can come up with a UNIQUE way to make the content engaging, even better! Experiment, adjust and be consistent in your video marketing efforts – if done right, it can pay off big time.

Uploading on YouTube is free and with the quality of cameras they have on phones now, you likely own a camera capable of shooting in high resolution. Why not use the inexpensive marketing ideas for small business tools you have at your disposal? Even doing simple unboxing videos garners hundreds (if not thousands) of views.

If you have a unique product on your hand, look for YouTube personalities who might be interested in showcasing it for his channel. These YouTubers are always creating new content and your product could be the next item they feature. These people have a built-in audience to share their videos with. In a way, they’ll be promoting your product for you.

Send them an email and ask if they’re open to working together. There’s a good chance that they are.

• Go where your competitors aren’t

While it may seem like going to places where your competitors are, is a great way to take THEIR market share. BUT, what if you go where those competitors aren’t? By getting creative and looking for your audience in elusive places, you have a better chance of being the only one finding them there. That’s called an untapped market – and is ripe to grow your business!

• Google AdWords

If your content and SEO strategy aren’t paying off immediately, you can pay Google to surface your business in search. Google AdWords gives you full access to pay for nearly any search terms. Now, when exploring paid search results, it can get expensive if you’re not careful. A good rule of thumb is to set a small budget and see if it pays off. Change things, update and experiment until you find a result that pays dividends. Then invest more in your Google AdWords strategy!

• Email lists

Email lists are one of the best ways to connect with your customers. While they are difficult to create, they offer you a direct line to their inbox. It’s a way more personal way to interact with someone than trying to get them to visit your website or view your other content. Email lists may have fallen out of fashion, but their value is ever-present and a top inexpensive marketing idea for small business.

• Give away

Whether you’re building an email list or growing a social following – a good way to do so is a giveaway. Now you COULD give away your product, but you don’t want to do that in perpetuity. Instead, create something of value that you can give away to everyone. This can be something like an e-book, or a digital tool. By creating something of value, you create demand, and if the price is N0 – many people will want it. This also establishes trust and makes people far more likely to want to buy something from you.

• Develop an affiliate program

If you have a product or service that other people can sell for you – an affiliate program is a great way to encourage this! Affiliate programs reward people financially if they sell your product/service. The most common ways of doing this are unique affiliate links or through a custom promo code. Make the reward worth it, and this may be your best marketing strategy for 2021.

• Experiment with the unknown

Never fear experimentation – instead, embrace it! Experimenting with the unknown is one of the best ways to break out of a marketing strategy funk. Imagine there are no limitations on what you can do – now try to make them happen. Maybe it’s a new social network, or a unique community to get involved in. Perhaps it’s a wild idea to send your ten-millionth customer to the Space Station. Or for one day, you want everyone in a town to wear your shirt! Never be afraid to experiment with wild ideas – you may just stumble upon something great!

These inexpensive marketing ideas for small business will help you get started in 2021. All of these can be applied by small businesses around the world and in any industry. Whether you’re a startup YouTuber, a streamer, a music artist, an editor, or any other business owner – your marketing strategy starts now! Pick one (or many) of the above ideas and try them out!

At the very least, you’re going to learn a lot!

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