As a small business, it is sometimes hard to make your voice heard above the noise of a crowded market. The big names in the industry have the lion’s share of the advertising power, so how do you get the word out about your products or services? Marketing is an important part of any business, but it doesn’t need to break the bank. Here are some great ideas for marketing on a budget.
Start with an email marketing campaign
Ideas for Marketing – Make a Video
It has never been easier to make quality, online video content with little or no outlay. This is particularly handy because a video is the single best marketing medium in terms of the way customers interact with it. If you have a smartphone, you are already well on your way to making that all-important marketing video.
But what does the video need to include? You have a few options here. ‘How-to’ videos related to your business bring in decent search traffic and build trust for your brand if they are easy to follow. Product description videos are proven to help potential customers make up their minds about whether to make a purchase. Finally, funny videos about your business and the people who work there create a human connection between viewers and your company.
Once you have decided on the type of video you want and shot the relevant scenes, you need to edit it. Most computers and laptops come with free editing software, such as iMovie and Windows Movie Maker, on which you can easily edit scenes together and add titles and other effects. There are also a number of options for editing on phones and tablets too. All of which are relatively easy to learn.
After that, simply upload it to YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter and promote the heck out of it. All it costs is a little bit of your time for maximum potential effect.
Host an Event or Webinar
The best way to draw in new customers is to become the local expert on something relating to your business. But to do this, you need to blow your own trumpet and present yourself as such.
A great way to do this is to organise your own event or webinar. For instance, if you are a florist, you could host a flower arranging class. If you run a computer repair business, you could hold a class to go through the most common issues that occur with people’s laptops. Obviously, you might want to limit this event to only show the really simple problems that you wouldn’t charge for, such as people accidentally turning off their trackpads. This allows you to meet your prospective customers, who will now think of you when they next need flowers, their computer fixed, or whatever it is that you offer.
People love to learn new skills, so you should easily be able to find enough willing attendees. You could offer it as a free course on your premises, or rent a venue and charge a small fee to cover the costs. If the classes become very popular, it might even turn into a decent money-making wing of your business.
Webinars work in a similar way, but you broadcast your class on the internet, rather than in person. Either way, these are great marketing ideas for a small business on a tight budget.
Ideas for Marketing – Encourage Online Reviews
One of the simplest marketing tools available is the humble online review. Simply encourage your happy customers to take two minutes out of their day to tell others about you. This could be on Google, Facebook, TripAdvisor, or anywhere that offers customers the chance to rate your services.
Survey Audience & Promote the Findings
Your local media is desperate for stories that originate in their patch. If a story is driven by a local company, they are likely to run with it. With that in mind, you should consider putting a poll or questionnaire online for your audience about something relevant to your business. An example is a mechanic asking their customers which jobs they are confident of being able to complete on their own cars.
Encourage people to take part and to share the survey with their friends in order to beef up the statistics. Once you have some results, stick them into a handy press release and send that to your nearby radio stations and newspapers. You should be able to spin a story from the results. For instance, in the mechanic’s example, you could lead with “Local Garage Discovers 80% of People in [local area] Can’t Change a Tyre”.
Both papers and radio stations have the remit to include a large proportion of local stories within the news sections. Even if your survey is on a national topic, the fact that it is compiled by a local business is enough to give it a regional angle that these outlets will love. You may find your company name prominently in print and broadcast all day thanks to this handy marketing tip.
Create Regular Blog Content
There is no better way to keep your website fresh with the new content that Google craves when it works out its rankings. You can stamp your authority in your local area or in your chosen sphere by producing regular, SEO-crafted, compelling content.
A blog gives current customers a reason to return to your site, making them more likely to use your business again. It also makes it easier for new users to find you through search, increasing the chances of them making a purchase with your company for the first time.
In addition, you can also create entertaining and informative posts that people will share with their friends. This means they do your marketing job for you. Supportal can organise your web content, including regular blog posts. Take a look at the Services page to find out more.
Ideas for Marketing a Small Business – Get Help
If you don’t have the time to plan these marketing ideas for a small business on a tight budget, contact Supportal today. We can help plan your marketing strategy. Drop us a line and we can discuss your needs.
