Posted by Without proper digital marketing, it’s not possible to advertise your business and help audiences know about your brand. Quality marketing strategies and public relations help you increase brand awareness, improve business visibility, and generate more traffic to boost sales. Whenever you learn how important proper marketing strategies are for your business, you want to implement the most powerful strategies. Especially, if you have a small business and are taking your first steps in your industry, you need to make the right choice in marketing your business to save you time and money.
If you are just starting your own business and don’t have enough money to invest, this guide is for you to help you market your business on a limited budget. Let’s get started!
1. Implement guerilla marketing
Guerrilla marketing is the implementation of unconventional or creative ways to increase sales or generate interest in a brand or business. These techniques are frequently low-cost or free, and they include the usage of more human interactions or viral social media messaging. Its purpose is to generate interest in a product or brand so that more people would buy it or share the business with others. For example, Mr. Clean’s marketing was excellent in emphasizing the product’s cleaning capabilities.
Many people walk through crosswalks each day, so Mr. Clean has cleaned one of the crosswalk stripes and made it an eye-catching white. When compared to the rest of the dingey stripes, this stripe has stood out. Pedestrians would notice it because it was brightly colored. So, they would be more inclined to post it on social media.
For guerilla marketing:
- Know who your target audience is.
- Decide the location.
- Come up with the idea and location that your audience least expects.
In this way, you can create a surprising moment for your customers and stick in their minds. It can be street marketing, ambush marketing, ambient marketing, etc.
2. Boost the social presence
Social media has become the core reason for business growth as many people spend their time on social platforms and use the Internet to communicate. First of all, start by creating an online account on social media channels, including Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, etc. Keep in mind that you can communicate with your audience, answering their questions through them. Publish interactive and eye-catching posts, such as videos (instructional, how-tos, interviews, behind-the-scenes), carousels, quotes, etc. Use long-tail (when you provide advice), custom or location-based hashtags (if your business is local), and tag your clients or partnering companies to boost organic reach.
3. Don’t forget about public relations
You should definitely opt for public relations services if you don’t have them in-house to boost your brand reputation. PR tells about your story and helps to raise brand awareness, build credibility, boost reputation, and establish customer relationships. Here are some points for you to take into account:
- Consider the problem your product or service solves and how it stands out.
- Think of with whom you will work to reach your target audience, like bloggers, influencers, podcasters, etc. This will be determined by your company’s size and industry category.
- Consider what kind of marketing tactics you will use as means to reach your targets, including emails, social media, press releases, webinars, etc. Try to determine the optimal approach for each.
4. Include content marketing
How can we imagine a business growing without a proper content marketing strategy? Content marketing is essential as whatever message you convey or whenever you want to tell a story of your brand, you use the content. And good storytelling is what attracts people the most to your business. You need to ensure that your website is SEO-friendly and you have a separate blog section on your site. Your blogs should also be SEO-friendly to provide higher rankings on search engines, like Google. Remember that your content should be something that will interest your audience and solve their problems. With that in mind, you need to ensure you:
- Answer the frequently asked questions.
- Inform your audience that you are aware of their problems.
- Solve your customer’s problems.
- Write interactive blogs.
- Share data-rich and engaging infographics.
- Host podcasts.
- Write guest posts.
Content marketing can help you generate new traffic, engage customers, increase conversion rates, and boost sales.
One of the most powerful ways to get results from content marketing is guest posting. Through writing content for websites that accept guest writings, you can get backlinks, establish relationships and generate more traffic to your website. Guest posting can help you boost your brand reputation as customers will understand that you are one of the leading businesses in your industry. You can even think of some ways to repurpose your evergreen content, turning 4 to 5 blogs into an ebook, or an interview into a blog.
5. Organize giveaways
When you give anything away for free, you engage your customers. You may strengthen customer relationships and engage prospects by holding contests and giveaways. It doesn’t have to be something costly and luxurious. Try to come up with as simple rules as possible for your contest. It could include something like this:
- Tag your two friends.
- Like the post.
- Share the contest on your story with a branded hashtag.
- Tag our brand.
You can also promote your items by giving them away for free or at a reduced price in exchange for customers trying them out and giving honest feedback. You may also give them products with your logo on them, including pencils, shirts, and pens to improve brand awareness. After each contest, inform everyone who the winner is and congratulate them. Keep in mind that contests can engage new leads, drive traffic, build client relationships, and increase conversion rates.
6. Look for partnerships
Collaborating with the right company will be beneficial for both you and your partner. It’s an affordable and easy way to market your business. Don’t partner up with direct competitors, instead with companies who provide industry-related services. A partnership can help you advertise their business and get your brand advertised on their online platforms. And through link-building, you’ll boost your ranking and generate more traffic. When you’re a small firm with tight financing, partnering with similar enterprises, like vendors, suppliers, and manufacturers, makes sense. Not only do you both benefit when your businesses prosper but also when you recommend each other, you get even more exposure.
7. Consider Google My Business
Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool through which you can inform prospects about your business, including contact information (phone), address, and working hours. A GMB profile, particularly for small businesses, is one of the most effective free marketing tools available. This free listing promotes your business in the local part of Google search and Google Maps. And during branded searches, your company can also appear in the right-hand Knowledge Panel. This is a simple but essential step to be sure that customers can locate your company or service online. If your address, phone, website URL, or working hours change, you must update your listing.
8. Use email marketing
Email marketing is another affordable way to interact and establish relationships with your loyal customers and prospects. You can send them informative content and help them know first about your discounts, new products, and updates.
9. Offer referral programs
Create a program for current customers to be rewarded for referring new consumers to your company. Referral programs are a great way to market your business because they produce money while also bringing in new prospects. The significance of these programs is that they assist you to expand your market by promoting your business through word-of-mouth. It’s a win-win situation because you’re giving your customers discounts in exchange for bringing their friends and family members to your business. You may show your appreciation for the efforts of your clients by offering them discounts or prizes. Referral programs boost brand visibility and generate prospects.
These were some of the powerful ways you can market your business and hit a home run without breaking the bank. Let your creative juices flow!