No Advertising Budget for your Business? Not every business has the same budget that Facebook has. So, we have rounded up our top marketing tips on how to boost your brand without breaking the bank.
Are you caught between no advertising budget, but knowing you need to market your product or services, so people know it exists? In this blog post, we’ll be sharing tips on affordable marketing hacks that every business should start today.
Cross-Promotion
Cross-promotion is an excellent marketing method, as it allows you to associate with similar companies who can upsell your services, in exchange for you marketing theirs.
An example would be, if you are providing financial services for online business owners, you may recommend that they use a particular web designer to create their website. The web designer is your cross-promoting partner. This web designer works with business clients, and he points these clients your way for financial services. It’s a win-win!
Be a Commenter
The purpose of marketing is to get your brand out there and as well-known as possible. One easy way of doing this is to comment regularly on posts made in your local area and by your target audience. With every comment, you’re establishing a persistent brand presence so a customer’s opinion of your brand will be decided on the nature of your comments, just make sure what you say is relevant and you’re not making silly comments.
Network, network, network!
Don’t neglect the opportunity to network in person. You’ll meet great people who are there for the same reason as you, along with meeting people who you might have never come across online. Every person you meet is another marketing possibility. You don’t want to go around shoving your business in people’s faces, but as the topic of work comes up in conversation, tell them about it. The whole idea of networking is marketing yourself to others.
Run a Competition
Everybody loves the chance to win something for free, and online contests are a great way to attract potential clients to your site. Giving away the cliché iPad, cash prizes, or instore products is an easy way to gain some viral potential and improve your brand’s image.
Tweet up a Storm
Twitter is a killer marketing platform. With an instant reach and massive audience, Twitter produces high levels of referral traffic, plenty of brand exposure, and a nonstop social buzz. Aim to follow at least ten influencers in your industry, look at who they follow, retweet their tweets, and mention them in comments. The more you connect with others, the quicker you’ll begin to build your own audience.
Don’t Forget Existing Customers
If a customer has already purchased from you, the hard work has already been done. Now, unless they walked away with an awful opinion of your business, it is likely they will return. Repeat business is far easier than initially attracting customers through the door. Ensuring you are staying within the GDPR guidelines, sending out a ‘We Miss You’ mailer is an easy and affordable way to reach out to your customers. The benefits are extraordinary and some of the best marketing happens with existing customers.
Claim that Hashtag
Hashtags are a great way to spread your message to a wider audience that is an interactive extension of your brand and has the potential to spread virally.
To put it simply, a hashtag is an easy way for people to search for posts that have a common topic and begin a conversation. For example, if you search #GretaThunberg on Twitter, you’ll get a list of tweets related to her powerful speech at the UN 2019 Climate Action Summit. Hashtags are now available on every major social platform, so you can create a hashtag for your business and use it on every post.
Get More Email Addresses
Growing your email list is one of the most enduring and effective methods of marketing. Not only does it allow you to directly communicate with your clients, but it also allows them to be the first to hear any exciting announcement you may have, first to receive your latest deal or just for you to share your latest blog post.
Let us know how you get on implementing these methods into your marketing strategy. If you have any marketing questions that relate to this post, please get in touch with the team at info@simpsonscreative.co.uk.
