Marketing on a small budget

Marketing is important for any business, of any size. However, when you're still in the early stages of setting up, your budget can be squeezed, and marketing is often pushed aside or forgotten about entirely. This can be due to the various costs involved alongside the costs of setting up and running a business.

However, marketing is a vital part of any business, no matter what size they are, and as a bonus, it doesn't have to be expensive. We've compiled a list of marketing ideas to help you find your feet and broadcast your business to its target market.

Remember: the way you market your business should be tailored to your business and goals in order to ensure it's seen by the right audience at the right time.

Refine Your Marketing Strategy

Before we begin, its important to understand what a marketing strategy is and why all businesses need to have one.

Marketing strategies can be as simple, or as complex, as your business needs them to be. But as a starting point, you should look at including items such as:

• Defining your target audience
• Understanding where your target audience is
• Understanding how your target audience interacts with your competitors
• Outlining the channels you will be using to reach your target audience

If you are unsure who your target audience is, and how they consume marketing material, you could waste advertising budget marketing to people who are not interested in your products.

Once you know more about your target audience, you can start marketing towards them. To help with this, we will cover 8 marketing tips for low budgets.

1. Networking

This is no doubt a term that you've come across before and will time and time again, but networking is vital. The saying of "it's who you know" couldn't be more important in this scenario - people use their associates and contacts to provide the services they need. Networking events are often free or low-cost and allow you to seek potential clients and advertise what you do to those attending. It may seem daunting being in a room full of like-minded people, but the more you network, the easier it becomes.

2. Keep a Social Network Presence

Social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are a great way to present your business. Set up a page on Facebook or an account on LinkedIn or Twitter, make sure your branding is aligned and consistent, and then you're ready to start publicising it. Tell your customers about it, and showcase it on your flyers and business cards. Social networks are not only free, but they can help you reach the right people at the right time. If you're not sure what to post, then this social media guide from CoSchedule can help.

3. Hashtags & Follows

If you're all set up on social media, make use of popular hashtags; little keywords that start with a hash (#). If a topic is trending, you can join in the conversation. Some users of social networks keep a watchful eye on hashtags.

You could also pick out key people to follow on Twitter, or pages to like on Facebook. Mention them in posts using @ before their name, and they'll even be notified of you mentioning them. Hopefully, they'll follow and like you back and maybe even reply, giving you broader coverage yet again.

4. Facebook Boosts

Boosts are used to raise the awareness of one particular post you publish on Facebook, even targeting it towards a specific audience. They're straightforward to set up, and you can cap your spend to keep your costs controlled. Post something useful on your page, attach an image to make it eye-catching, set up a boost and away you go!

5. Start a Blog

Blogs are great, not only because they provide content which could keep users coming back to read new posts, but because the original content works well with search engines such as Google and Bing. It is important, however, to keep it updated, so visitors don't lose interest. Seeing a blog that hasn't been updated in a few months can be off-putting for visitors to your website. The best part about a blog? They can be started and run for free!

6. Business Cards

Some people will say business cards are old fashioned, but when you're talking to someone about an opportunity, giving them a business card with all your details on is really convenient. The best part about business cards is that they're relatively cheap if you shop around.

7. Run a Competition

This highly depends on what your business offers, but if you've just set up a new business and are keen to build up your portfolio, a competition would be a great way to get going. This works well with social networks and even hashtags like #competition. You may have the expense of providing the product or service for free, but you'll be showcasing what you offer, how you offer it, and the quality you provide too.

8. Email Marketing

Look at any business, and they all have one thing in common - a database. Every business has a database of some sort full of customers or potential customers details. It's a great way to target those who have shown an interest in your business, or those already using your services, to upsell or cross-sell to them. Building a database can be free - to start with, you could use a simple spreadsheet of names and email addresses. To take advantage of your database, drop them an email using tools such as Mailchimp or Campaign Monitor.

Not sure what to send out? Send a newsletter with a quick update about your new products or share your success stories.

Remember: Under data protection laws (like GDPR), you need to have the relevant consent from people before sending marketing materials to them.

These are just a few affordable marketing methods to help your business find its feet, but of course, there are many other alternatives. You may find none of these work for your business, but a bit of trial and error will help you find the right mix of marketing for you.

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