Having a marketing strategy is a huge part of running a successful business however it’s not always financially possible to spend big money on marketing especially for small businesses. Here are 5 affordable marketing ideas that can help get your name out and generate more business.
1. Word of Mouth (WOM)
Word of Mouth is the oldest method of marketing out there and is still very effective today. Here’s what WordStream has to say about Word of Mouth Marketing
Word of mouth marketing (lovingly nicknamed WOMM) can make or break your biz. It can build you up and tear you down faster than an OC socialite. Do word of mouth marketing right and you’ll have (almost) no need of an ad budget; customers will share stories of your sublime service at dinner parties across the country, and that’s better than any billboard.
The popularity of sites like Yelp and Angie’s List, and even Health Grades for the medical industry, show how important the old Word o’ Mouth is. While anonymous online word of mouth is plentiful, savvy users are aware of how reviews can be manipulated and faked, which is why person to person WOM is still the most powerful form.
Via 5 Ways to Wield More Word of Mouth Marketing Power
2. Social Media
In todays market it is essential to have a social media presence however just have a profile for your business isn’t enough now, social media since it’s inception has always been about engagement. Basically posting relevant content of your own along with engagement of others content and groups. Here’s some points to take away from ThriveHive’s take on social media
Social Proof
Social proof is a powerful tool in marketing. When your business has a lot of likes and followers, prospective customers get the innate sense that you’re doing something right. They use the size of your audience and the amount of engagement with your pages to gauge how much confidence they should have in your business.
Greater Marketing Reach
The more engagement you get on social media, the more people who will want to engage with your business . They won’t want to miss out! Plus, when they see that you engage back, they will have greater incentive to interact with you and their satisfaction with your business will increase. The more engagement, the bigger your audience. The bigger your audience, the greater your reach .
Quality Audience
If your focus is solely on obtaining followers and not engaging with them, a few things are destined to happen. Either you won’t get more followers, you’ll get too many followers for you to keep up with, or you’ll get a lot of low-quality followers. Focusing on engagement with your audience helps you to pace your social media growth so that you build a quality following of users who are most likely to become customers.
VIa Why Social Media Engagement Matters to Small Business (and How to Get More of It) | ThriveHive
3. Email Marketing
Believe it or not email is still a very effective way of marketing. Not only is it effective you can begin a email marketing strategy that fits your budget and scale scale as you go along.
According to a recent report, people sent and received over 269 billion emails per day in 2017, and there are about 3.7 billion email users worldwide.
But who’s actually using email?
In the U.S. alone more than 90% of adults use email, and despite the rise of social messaging apps, 74% of teenagers use email as well.
So, no matter who your customers are or where they live, it’s likely they have an email account you can use to reach them.
Via Email Marketing Strategy: The Small Business Owner’s Guide
4. Start a Blog
Starting a blog in your business niche does several things for your business and its a great way of marketing your business and it also sets the precedence that you’re an authority in your industry.
Consistently updating an active blog for your business, allows you to personify your business by giving it a voice. Your blog is a space to discuss industry related topics, market trends, and upcoming products. Focusing on these topics actively builds brand-trust. Trust generates leads. Leads grow sales. Can you see where this is all going?
When you utilize your blog effectively, you are creating a two-way conversation between you and your customers, prospects, and other industry professionals which can be very helpful for gathering insights for future business development.
Having an active blog helps you to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to industry news and competitors. By staying ahead of the curve, you are positioning your company as a leader as opposed to a follower. Your blog also serves the purpose of having a place to share your brand story, although it should be noted that it’s not advised that you blog only about yourself as a company.
Via Top 5 Benefits of Business Blogging – MARION Marketing
5. Website
Ultimately having a website for your business is still one of the best marketing tools out there. There are millions of people out there using the internet to find services or products that they need. I’m sure you yourself have searched online for something you needed.
Think of all of the business that you could be losing by not having a website, even a bad website could be the same as not having a website. If a website is not easy to navigate or to access visitors will most likely leave. Their online experience should reflect the experience they would receive if they walked into you’re establishment to do business. Professional, accommodating, accessible and up to date to.
When deciding on what marketing strategies you want to do remember that you shouldn’t as the old saying goes “put all your eggs in one basket.”
Your homepage is obviously important, but unless your visitors are reaching your site because of a referral or direct search, your homepage is not going to be the first page that they see.
Instead, it will be a page related to whatever search query brought them to your site. For this reason, it’s important that every page contains great content that’s SEO-friendly and a clear CTA, utilizes a thoughtful link-building strategy, and that your website is running on a strong, fast foundation—your website theme and hosting. With all of these elements accounted for, you’ll have a high-performing, cost-effective operation.
Website marketing should be the center of all your marketing efforts. Your website is where visitors come to learn about you, where transactions occur, and where they become invested in your brand long-term.
Via 10 Ways to Use Website Marketing to Convert & Build a Loyal Following
