One thing that small businesses all struggle with is marketing. Running a small business can take a lot out of your day. You have to think about product development, overhead costs, and cost-effective marketing strategies.
In a perfect world, every entrepreneur would have unlimited budget for all kinds of marketing techniques. Unfortunately, that’s rarely the case.
That’s why it’s important for small business owners to know what they can maximize in terms of marketing and how.
Although you might be limited by your budget, that doesn’t mean that you can’t market your product and business effectively. There are tons of low cost marketing ideas that can net you great returns with a little time and effort. Here are just a few of them below.
Boost Social Media Engagement
If there’s a technique that’s proven to be the real ally of entrepreneurs all around the globe, it’s social media marketing.
Social media has become the main hub where businesses can connect with their customers, and vice versa. At its core, it’s absolutely free, with paid advertising or boosting posts a welcome, but not always necessary option.
These tips, which include timing your posts to when your audience is online, creating unique and meaningful content, and starting conversations, can easily be used for other social media sites.
Regardless of the platform, it’s clear that social media marketing is an essential tool for any small business. In fact, conducting a social media strategy is really important in almost any competitive market if you want to build a strong brand for your business.
Build Favorable Impressions
Another technique you may want to look into is, surprisingly, freebies. Giving customers something for free might seem counterproductive at first, but it’s something that’s going to net you positive returns in the long run. Smart Company’s Nicola Moras writes that the freebie philosophy is a surefire way to get your business more successful.
Freebies help build positive associations with your company, and allow customers to get to know you and your product better.
When businesses give out freebies, they look more trustworthy and likable, which for small businesses is a huge deal. Plus, now that customers are more familiar with your brand, they’ll be more likely to purchase from you in the future. That’s definitely worth a couple of dollars investment per customer, if you ask us.
Reach Out to Your Local Community
Finally, one thing you’ll want to do is to reach out to your local community. How? You can try a small direct mail campaign.
Direct mail marketing entails sending out marketing materials to a certain population, whether based on a mailing list or confined to a geographical area. A post on effective direct mail marketing on Triadex Services, outlines that when done right, a direct mail campaign can pull in new and old customers quickly and efficiently.
Why? Direct mail is personalized, targeted, measurable, and cost-effective. It allows you to reach customers at their literal doorsteps.
It’s cost-effective because you see more returns and engagement per dollar spent on your campaign than with any other technique. You can even make it easier on yourself by employing the services of a direct mail marketing company. Whatever path you choose, there’s no better way for bringing your product into customers’ homes.
If there’s a technique that’s proven to be the real ally of entrepreneurs all around the globe, it’s social media marketing.
