Many
small businesses have small marketing budgets. Further, many are under the impression that they are unable to market effectively due to having such a small budget. Realistically, there are quite a few things that can be done when there is only a small amount of money to spend.
#1: Business Cards
Business cards are considered a must. These can be used to hand out to people when meeting them at seminars, on the streets, or anywhere else. They can be placed inside of local businesses, and can provide details on what a business offers.
#2: Flyers
Flyers can be printed in colour or in black and white. The latter is going to be the more affordable option, though either can fit within a small marketing budget depending upon the quantity printed. These can be used for special events, new products, or anything else – and distributed in order to generate more interest.
#3: Create a Video
Creating a video is simpler than many people might assume. This can be launched onto YouTube, shared across social media, or in various other ways. It’s a quick way to share a significant amount of information about the company.
#4: Email Distribution
If email addresses have been collected, it’s possible to send emails to customers in order to let them know about new things that are going on. There are various apps and websites that will collect emails in order to make it nice and easy to send emails.
#5: Start a Newsletter
Once there is a collection of email addresses, it is also possible to start a newsletter. This could be sent weekly, monthly, quarterly, or as needed when there are new things going on. MailChimp and other websites can be used in order to simplify the creation of the newsletter and automate the sending.
#6: Word of Mouth Marketing
Word-of-mouth marketing can be one of the best ways to promote, particularly when there is a small marketing budget. This is simply asking customers to share their experiences with the people that they come in contact with. Providing a small incentive can be lucrative, as well. This is often referred to as a referral bonus.
#7: Loyalty Program
A loyalty program can be easily launched. It is designed to keep people interested in coming back to the business. It can be tracked by the amount of money that they spend, the number of times that they come in, and various other ways. Loyalty cards can be printed in the same size as a business card and hole punched when they come in, or digital loyalty programs are available as well.
#8: Have a Website
A website is considerably more affordable today than it was 10 years ago and that is because of content management systems as well as pre-made templates. There is no longer a need to hire an expensive web designer. It’s possible to do this on one’s own, and a web presence can result in a significant amount of additional marketing.
#9: Posters
Posters can be easily printed and hung in local businesses and around town. A QR code could also be placed onto the poster, where people have the ability to scan the code and the product immediately to the website.
#10: Social Media Presence
Having a social media presence is critical, and this includes being on Facebook and Twitter. Various other social media platforms may be effective based upon demographic, such as LinkedIn with business professionals as well as Instagram with the under 30 crowd.