Potent Ways to Market Your Business on a Tight Budget

Marketing is tough. Not only are customers a jaded lot these days, but they’re also spoiled for choice. Moreover, when you’re a growing business, your budget tends to be limited. You can’t exactly afford to launch one full-fledged marketing campaign after another as the biggest brands do. Fortunately, you don’t have to – you can effectively market your business by investing only a reasonable amount of time and money. Amabusinessguy weighs in here.

Take care of the basics

Before you consider creative and marketing strategies, make sure you have the basics covered. Having a solid online presence makes you come across as professional and trustworthy to new customers, not to mention easy to find and research. Invest time and energy in making sure you have a firm foundation:

A professional, optimized website
A Google listing
Social media handles
Basic search engine optimization
Reviews or testimonials
A business blog or YouTube channel

Set up a long-term content plan

Marketing involves building up a presence, which takes time. A marketing campaign generates interest, but it can’t and won’t hold a customer’s attention long-term. Without good-quality content as an anchor, any interest will be but a flash in the pan. Back your efforts with high-quality, useful content in the area of your expertise, which is also how you capture Google’s attention and generate traffic organically. Be prepared to invest a few years in the endeavor, advises Search Engine Journal.

Reconsider your marketing channels and mediums

Traditional marketing mediums aren’t as effective as they used to be because customers have changed. A business blog, for example, will still generate interest, but it may not be as accessible or easy-to-digest as a video blog. Consider releasing a YouTube introduction about your brand to be digital-age ready. Talk about your business, your USP, and why you exist to engage customers. Make sure it’s a minute or two long – people tend to lose interest quickly.

Make use of cutting-edge tools

The biggest brands tend to stick in people’s minds because they have catchy and occasionally plain beautiful logos – like Apple with its half-bitten apple. Use a logo creator online free tool to avoid steep logo design service fees. Using a tool is as simple as browsing logo templates, customizing the style and icon, adding in text, and adjusting the font and colors. With a suitable logo, you’ll make a powerful first impression and build brand awareness readily.

On a slightly different note, you also want to get more mileage out of system storage and device performance. These days, digital files are the norm, which can add up and quickly overwhelm your network and systems. There are also tools you can use for free to make recordkeeping and document management more efficient.

When you genuinely socialize on social media, it helps in several ways. Firstly, you come across as reputable, transparent, and accessible to customers new and old. You get a convenient, accessible channel to share your content. You can network with potential customers without location restrictions. One way to kickstart your social media marketing efforts is by rolling out contests with rewards, as well as giveaways. For example, if a portion of your target audience is made up of sports fans, give out Los Angeles Dodgers tickets for the first person to answer 10 baseball-related trivia questions. If your customers are more into entertainment, hand out concert tickets if they can name a song or two.

Finally, it gives you access to customer feedback, which you can use to improve your product or service. Scott Social suggests following best practices for maximum success.

Partner up to cross-promote

Teaming up with another brand in your niche is a simple, effective way to market. With cross-promotion, you get to access your partner brand’s existing customers, and they yours. You can potentially double your customer base overnight and generate some positive press at the same time. Make sure you partner with a trustworthy brand, though – their reputation will affect yours.

Offer free products and services

Nobody wants to spend their hard-earned money unless they have to. That’s why giving potential customers a taste of your offerings with a free, no-catch trial of your product or service is so important. It allows customers to try your brand out and form their own opinion about your offerings. Also, it generates gratitude and makes it likely they will engage with you long-term. Some strategies to try out are offering free trials, coupons, discounts, and going “freemium.”

Conclusion

Successful marketing is always about building a relationship with customers and winning their trust. They have to believe in your brand and product or service. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes, understand their needs, and target your marketing efforts accordingly.

Amabusinessguy is a hub for entrepreneurs, investors and business students to source for reliable and actionable information. Reach out today to find out more! amabusinessguy@gmail.com

Potent Ways to Market Your Business on a Tight Budget