20 Affordable ways to market your small business
“A man who stops advertising to save money is a man who stops a clock to save time.” Henry Ford couldn’t be more on point with this quote. Marketing is the blood that pumps through your company and that's why we need to carefully think about how much we should spend on it.
Whether you’re running your business on a shoestring or just want to divert some of the investments onto other matters, cutting costs on marketing is advisable as long as it’s not damaging your business’s growth. For a newly established company, the US Small Business Administration recommends you spend 12-20% of your projected gross revenue on marketing your service. Giving out a fifth of your money does sound quite expensive but it is highly necessary. As your company progresses and you’ve established yourself in your field, the USSBA advises you to spend 6-12% of your gross revenue. By this time, you would have created more stability but that doesn’t mean that your marketing should be taking the backseat. Why? Because, your potential customers need to know that your services exist and are available for purchase. That’s what marketing lets them know.
Of course, the quality of your service or product is what makes the customer come back for more. That’s how you increase your repurchase rate but making the initial sale is the big challenge, so how do you do it? By spreading the word about the product of course. If you are aware of the importance of marketing your small business and want to know affordable ways to do so, then look no further. In this article, we will show you 20 ways you can broadcast your great product or service to the world in the most cost-effective methods.
What is marketing? A brief intro.
Advertising, Branding and Promoting. Aren’t these synonyms? No way! They are however interwoven and integral parts of marketing. Strictly speaking, marketing is the process of establishing a brand, creating content, building campaigns, running ads and making promotions. Advertising is a one-way communication that is done for the purpose of notifying potential clients that the service or product is available for purchase. Promoting is presenting the product or service to your customers by offering an incentive in order to promptly increase brand awareness or sales of a particular product or line. Prior to launching your advertisements and promotions, you need to have a well-established brand. To find out how you can do that, check out our blog on the importance of branding.
Do this before you choose your marketing methods…
Selecting the way you market your business is the final part of developing your marketing strategy. Before you choose your “hows”, you have to select your ”whos” “wheres” “whens” and “whys”. This section will determine whether you will market your company successfully or be completely under the radar. American investor, business tycoon, and philanthropist, Warren Buffet famously said: “An idiot with a plan can beat a genius without a plan”. This is why laying the ground rules for your strategy has to be done before you execute anything.
1. Define your Target Audience
“You have to start with the customer experience and work your way backwards to the technology”. These words were famously uttered by Steve Jobs in 1997 after Apple nearly went bankrupt the same year. Having realized that they needed a fresh injection of innovation, they rehired the man that initially founded them. Jobs brought revolutionary ideas to the table. One of the game-changing decisions that he urged Apple to make was to give the front seat to the customer, not the product. That’s why defining your target audience should be the first and most important thing on your list.
The DESTEP( Demographic, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technological, Ecological and Politics) analysis is one of the better ways to make yourself familiar with the people you will be selling to. You’ll get to know all the important facts about your audience- Where they live, what they encounter every day, what platforms they use, what their ambitions are and what problems they need fixing. After you define all this in full detail, you can move onto other matters.
2. Do a SWOT analysis
Being aware of your strengths and weaknesses will let you create a realistic picture of your current capabilities. You will know all the qualities you can utilize to your business’s advantage.
Doing this analysis, you will discover in what areas you need to improve, in order to increase the value and price of your products or services. You will also know what kind of offers you can promise through marketing. You can’t promise expertise if there is no expert on your team. This will prevent you from setting unrealistic expectations which you cannot meet. Customer experience will be more satisfying which you would definitely want to achieve.
SWOT also helps you realize the opportunities that are present in your field. You know that the chances are out there and this is how you find them. If there is a lack of assistance in a field you specialize in, you can be the one to fill that gap.
Threats are highly important to be aware of. There are plenty of hurdles businesses need to be on the lookout for and knowing them right off the bat can prevent many a disaster. Government policies, visa restrictions and pandemics are just a few of the examples of potentially detrimental factors. Imagine how much money you would be saving by cautiously researching all the mistakes that were made by your competitors. Learning from the slips of others can stop you from falling on the same spot.
3. Value Proposition
After you’ve considered your strengths and weaknesses and weighed in all the good and the bad, it’s time to determine the value you can offer to your clients.
Knowing how valuable your services are, is of key importance for you will shape your marketing campaigns based on the value you can promise. Knowing precisely in what ways you can benefit the customer will give you full confidence to sell the product. You will mitigate ambiguity and your offer will be fully transparent which is admirable by any kind consumer. This will have long-term benefits since you’ll be creating a brand image that is honest and that delivers every time.
4. Carefully set objectives
Although it may seem cliché, the question “Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?” has to be answered at all means. Setting long term and short term goals will push your company in the direction you want it to go. Make sure that all your goals are precise and measurable. Processes need to be measured and monitored throughout time so that you can see if they are efficient or not.
KPIs are a must when it comes to setting goals. This method will let you separate the process in different time frames and actions. Doing so will divide the procedure which will make it easier for you to control the progress or delegate certain tasks.
Another important matter is to consider what goals can cancel each other out. It’s like when you go to the gym. You either set the goal to lose weight, or to gain mass. You need to take in more food in order to develop your muscles but that cancels out your weight loss. Similarly, if you eat less to lose fat, you aren’t providing your muscles with enough protein. The same example goes with expanding a business and increasing profit. Expansion is a wallet-draining process. It not only requires money, but time and effort from you and your staff. Therefore, you are weakening your chances of making more profit. It’s best to separate certain goals and put them in different time frames.
You also have goals which can propel each other. For example, increasing your follower list and researching your target audience are often achieved together by creating a series of quiz posts and promoting them on social media. The majority of people like answering inquisitive questions on Instagram stories. By asking them, you would be engaging with your audience and learning a lot about their experience, problems and needs. You can later analyze the gathered data and use it to enhance your service and make it more preferable for your target audience.
5. Research your market and competitors
You need to know your waters if you want to have a smooth journey. Doing detailed research of your industry will give a clear picture of how you can efficiently spread the word about your business. Also, getting to know your competition reveals what mistakes they are making. You can discover why certain customers of theirs are unhappy, which will give you intel on how you can avoid having the same bad result or steal those sad clients. Additionally, you find out some of your competitors’ clever moves which could give you a few good ideas on how you can enhance your strategy.
A lot of competitors are also willing to support each other, especially in the initial stages of their existence. This is another reason to research your “enemies”. You can make an approach and see whether they want to become “frenemies”.
6. Make a website
After you have defined who yourself, your target audience and gathered all the necessary intel, you’re ready to design a website that will be compatible with your brand image and will appeal to your potential clients. Nowadays, websites are the best proof for credibility. Studies have shown that 84% of consumers feel that having a website is what makes a business credible. While, having only social media profiles is often not enough to persuade a consumer that they can trust your platform.
You also don’t want to limit yourself by not being on Google. Optimize your website well so that it appears on the first page when someone searches for a service you can offer.
Websites are also a must because of their ability to showcase all your products or services in an organised manner. Imagine trying to present every single product with detailed descriptions on social media. Your content would be crammed like sardines in a can. The main use of social media is to promote products, not showcase them. That is your website’s function.
We know well that it can be a headache or costly to code a website from scratch but that’s something you can easily avoid in this day and age. In fact I tell most clients that spending a lot of money on a website is unnecessary. Website builders are a convenient and attractive solution for this problem. Platforms such as Wix and Wordpress save everyone who’s not web-developing savvy by giving easy drag and drop tools to build dynamic and vivid websites.
20 Affordable ways to market your business
There are plenty of ways to let your potential customers know about the availability and details of your services. We’ve done a lot of research and weighed in affordability and efficiency so you can have great results, all while staying economical. Without further ado, let’s look at all the cost-effective options!
1. Use Google
Google has certainly become the Santa Claus of internet platforms. With its many free marketing tools, small business owners are able to market their products successfully, all while not spending a dime. It is the perfect way to grow your online presence organically and you can do it by using the following means.
Firstly, Google analytics gives you insights on where your website visitors are coming from. Knowing this, you will know where the goldmine is and where you should target your hard-earned money. You will also see where the visitors are spending most of their time on your website. You can use this knowledge to put your more popular pages on the home page or delete some unnecessary segments that are just using up space.
Google trends is another great tool that reveals what are the current buzzwords. Having this knowledge lets you know what the trending topics are so that you can be part of a larger conversation and attract attention to your business. Timing is important, and if you are the one of the first ones to react to a viral segment, you could see a sudden spike in your publicity.
The last and definitely not the least tool is Google My Business. GMB is like an angel sent from heaven that looks over you and takes care of your website. It not only gives you valuable information like who’s looking for your business, it also improves your online visibility and enhances your AdWords and SEO strategies. In addition, it also helps customers find your business on Google maps, lets them know about your working hours and just about anything they want to find out regarding your business.
2. Blogging
Why do you think we’re writing this article? Writing blogs is one of the most effective ways of showing your client that you have great knowledge and expertise on a particular subject. The subject should of course be relevant to the service you are trying to sell them. It is a great way to present the value your company offers all while entertaining and educating your target audience.
We all know that skillful blog writers, unfortunately, don’t grow on trees and hiring an expert writer usually doesn’t offer their services for a low price. However, you can always hire a standard writer which you could guide towards writing a blog that would definitely increase your brand awareness. You can do so through any number of outsourcing platforms such as Upward or Freelancer. Here at bizee.co we offer a blog writing service.
3. Attending business events & NEtworking
This is a great way to do some face to face networking and market your services. You would be spending money only on the business cards you’d be handing out and on the transport fare. The biggest bonus of this form of marketing is that it can be fun and educational for you. Meetup is a platform where you can find out about business events that are being held in your area. Be sure to give information about your services but only if the person is interested in knowing more. No one likes a pushy salesman.
You can also work hard on building your network through LinkedIn. It is a numbers game if you want to generate leads so make sure you put in the time, sharing interesting content and engaging with people as on any social network.
4. Run webinars
Webinars will give you the opportunity to show to a large group of potential customers what your company has to offer. This is much more time-efficient than having to speak to each client individually.
There are plenty of platforms that offer free trials and integrations which let you stream simultaneously on both Instagram, Facebook and other social media. Easy Webinar is just one of the many platforms you can choose from.
5. Public Relations & Word of mouth
There are a few ways to do some PR and here is one affordable one. You can set up connections with journalists and reporters yourself. The way you can source potential stories and articles that could be a good fit for your bran for business even before they are written and work on getting yourself in the news through services like HARO. I have done this and it works - find out more here.
Word of mouth is an age-old form of marketing. There’s a reason why it hasn’t gone extinct. It is one the most trustworthy and inexpensive forms there are.
You’d be surprised how big a list of friends, family members and acquaintances you can think of. Imagine if just half of them recommended your services or shared your story or promotion on Instagram. It’s not shameful to ask someone for assistance. Most people are willing to help, especially if it would only take up a minute or less of their time.
6. Make cold calls
Another vintage form of marketing that can bring great results. Calling establishments that could benefit from your services gives you the chance to make a more personal connection and let them know of new promotions they would be interested in. There are however people who hate this kind approach, so be patient and accept if they are not willing to communicate.
7. Creating email lists
Platforms like MailChimp offer free services if you’ve got fewer than 2000 subscribers. Sending engaging promotional emails is a great way of letting your customers know of new special offers.
Newsletters are also a great idea. Writing them on a weekly basis and including interesting facts will make your readers anticipate next week’s newsletter with excitement.
8. Make a podcast or be a guest on them
Podcasts have taken 2020 by storm. More and more companies are buying microphones on Amazon and building their future guest lists in order to start holding podcasts. The reason being that this form of media creates a great reach on social networks.
If you wish to focus on other forms of content, you can approach other businesses who make podcasts and share your story and offers with their audience. Hosts are always on the lookout for new guests and If you’ve got a lot of value to bring to the table, there is no doubt that they’ll happily invite you to their show.
Making your own podcast is pretty simple with a podcast virtual assistant.
9. Give away E-books (Lead Magnet)
Another great way to show the value you bring without spending little to no money. Writing useful E-books with your logo will create an amazing reach and you will gather a great deal of contact information. Getting new emails will help you market in other ways and requesting feedback will continue the conversation with the potential customer.
If you are unwilling to give away your product for free, you can sell them via E-junkie and still build a decent email list which you will later use to market your services.
Make sure you set up your lead magnet to capture people’s details before giving away an e-book, like this.
10. Make your car a moving billboard
How often do you see vehicles with ads on them? There’s a reason why that hasn’t died out yet. It’s one of the forms of advertising that doesn’t fail to amaze. If you’re not keen on painting your car, you can always design bigger stickers and put them on a visible spot of your vehicle.
11. Utilize social media
Where do people spend 4-6 hours of their day? On their phone, of course. Funny cat videos aren’t the only thing they are searching for. People also follow pages which offer useful tips on how to upgrade their life or business. This is a need that you could be meeting by posting daily content on Instagram, Facebook or other platforms. Using social media is free and you don’t need to run ads in order to create a community. Building your follower list can be done organically through carefully planned and innovative campaigns. Be sure to create content that speaks for your brand and resonates with your target audience.
Learn more about our Social Media Management packages.
12. Sponsoring charity events
Not only will you be doing a good cause, you would also be doing your company a favour. Marketing as this is a great way to shed good light on your brand image, get great publicity and promote your services which ties back into the PR side I spoke about as well as providing good, shareable and worthy content for you social media channels.
13. Partnership marketing
If you’ve done enough marketing, you must have a good list of contacts who have their own small business. Choose the right business to collaborate with and create combined campaigns that will create mutual benefits. This type of marketing is both economical and you have 2 heads working on increasing your brand awareness and advertising your products.
If you think there is a synergy between your business sand another, then get in touch.
14. Do personal branding (VIdeo)
It’s not easy for all of us to get in front of the camera and present ourselves to the world. However, the benefits that personal branding brings definitely speak louder than your fears of being judged. Sharing interesting stories from your work or life experience and emphasizing key lessons that you have learnt throughout your business journey can increase your engagement with your target audience, all without spending a dime. And, in my experience, it doesn’t take all that long to get used to the sound of your own voice.
This also bring into play video marketing and video content for your blog or social media channels. Video is by far the most successful medium for speaking to an audience. And if all of this is starting to sound like a lot of work, here is a little tip… you can record one video and;
post on YouTube
share on Social Media channels
publish as a podcast
use the transcript for a blog post
15. Join business organisations
Alone, you can go fast. With a team, you can go far. Being a part of a business group will give you extra support and a few perks. Most organisations are willing to advertise your business for free and they give you promotional discounts on other services that could potentially aid you in your marketing campaigns.
16. Find Instagram pages that do shout outs
You’d be surprised how many of these actually exist. They often have a huge following and are willing to advertise your service on their page. You normally have to like their pictures, follow them or reshare their story and they are happy to give a helping hand.
17. Advertise on social media
Facebook and Instagram are as user friendly as any platform can be. You can choose your objectives, whether you want to lead customers to your profile, official website or chat. You can choose a precise audience to target. If you play your cards right, you can turn your 10 pound investment into a boatload of website traffic, profile visits and customer enquiries.
18. Run ads on specific sites
Platforms such as Gumtree or Craigslist are platforms that could run your ads for a reasonably cheap price. This is great when you want your potential clients to find out about your ongoing promotions.
19. Use pay per click advertising
This form of marketing is great because it makes driving traffic to your website a lot easier and you pay only if people click your link. In theory, it is extremely cost-effective. However, if you get a lot of people clicking, the fee will go up so just make sure to check frequently or set a limit.
20. Make a referral system
Offering one-time incentives to your current customers so they would find new ones is an investment that quickly pays off. Giving away free merchandise or consultations will be admired by your clients and you would see your profit highly increased.
What’s the right way for you?
Even though these are all inexpensive types of marketing, using all of them at once is not advisable if you want to cut your costs. While Google my Business and Social media are a must, there are some forms of marketing that might not go well with the type of business you are. To make this decision easier for you, we’ve made up a list of questions that will help you decide how you will market your services.
1. Where can I find my potential customers?
After you have thoroughly done the DESTEP analysis, you’re well informed about the places and websites your target audience visits. If you’re targeting the younger generation, running Instagram ads would be like shooting fish in a barrel. While, opting for the more mature part of the population will make you focus more on Facebook or Linkedin.
If you’re targeting companies, then suit up and head over to the nearest business event to network and hand over as many business cards as possible. Also, join business organisations and enjoy the many perks they offer.
2. What are my priorities?
Is your priority to increase revenue or to grow your business? Is it to establish stronger roots in your home country, or is it to expand overseas? If you want to increase your sales fast, then you can put growing your email list on hold and focus on the contacts you’ve gained so far. Target people you’ve already made initial contact with by creating promotions with products they cannot afford to miss out.
3. How far am I in this game?
As we mentioned at the beginning, the amount you should invest in marketing depends on whether you've just begun your journey or you’re already well established. If you’re still green, choose options that are best for building a community. Writing blogs and making giveaways is a great way to get the ball rolling and gather a crowd. Use other forms as well but remember, don’t go above 20% of your projected gross revenue.
The importance of insights
Keep in mind that marketing is a journey and like in any journey, you sometimes need to stop and see if you’re going in the right direction. Your insights are your compass and they’ll be showing you if you're staying on the right track. Carefully analyzing your Google My Business And Social Media insights will prevent you from drifting away with your content and you will know where to push your investments.
Industries evolve and it’s important to keep up with new trends and adapt to them all while retaining your core features that make you special as an establishment.
If you notice that your numbers are radically dropping, that means that you need to change something. Don’t be afraid to experiment. You will learn the best lessons through trial and error.
Remember to always keep the traits of your target audience in mind and you will surely choose the form of marketing that will appeal to them. If you need any assistance with defining or researching your targets, contact us and we will show you how you can find them easily!
Author: Thomas Smallwood is an outsourcing specialist. Having worked in companies around Europe, from the support desk to the boardroom, he founded bizee.co to help small businesses grow through efficient delegation to skilled virtual assistants. He is an award-winning blogger and a passionate advocate for mental health awareness.
Connect with Tom on LinkedIn.