8 Ways to Market Your Small Business Services on a Shoestring Budget
Reading Time: 5 minutes When there is a small budget for marketing, entrepreneurs and small business owners tend to cut back on non-essentials, including their marketing budgets. However, there are still several ways that you can market your business while remaining in-budget. As a small business owner, you need to look for ways to stand out from your competitors while utilizing your limited resources, and in this article, we are going to tell you how!
Today, digital marketing has taken over other conventional marketing channels, which were costly, especially for small businesses. Digital media marketing has leveled the playing field by making marketing more affordable and yet equally effective.
Facebook and Instagram have become the most used social media platforms and you can easily use these platforms for marketing your products without worrying about cost constraints.
There are several ways that you can market your business without having a large budget; these are:
Table of Contents
Easily Craft Stunning WordPress Websites that Excel in Speed and Design!
Divi AI Empowers You to Effortlessly Create Content and Produce Images Right within The WordPress Builder.
#1. Google My Business
The first thing you need to do is to make an account on Google My Business so that your business can appear in user search results. By listing your business on Google My Business, it appears on Google searches and Google Maps. Once that’s done, you can generate local leads and gain popularity once someone searches for your business.
#2. Valuable and Engaging Content
Content is powerful when it comes to digital marketing. You need to realize the importance of content and work on it. Content marketing is an inexpensive way to up your marketing game and build a network online. It includes maintaining a blog, social media content, and website content, among other elements.
Other ways in which you can use content to create brand buzz include:
- Email marketing
- Starting a dedicated podcast
- YouTube vlogs
- Webinars
Try to avoid monotonous ideas while creating content and look for ways to engage the audience through your content. Creating diverse content can help you get your audience engaged and can also improve your SEO rankings. By diversity, we mean that you should create content in multiple formats, i-e., texts, videos, graphics, and even multimedia posts to engage your audience. The more engaging and fresh your content, the more interaction it would gain.
#3. Email Marketing
No matter how small your business is, you need an email list. Email marketing is a cost-effective way to engage and build a connection with your audience. While you’re working at SEO of your website, it is essential to keep that traffic engaged and bring them back to your website.
You can collect the data from your customers and website visitors and engage with them through email marketing, informing new products launch, promotions, sales, etc.
Several services provide email marketing for free or basic cost; a few options are mentioned below:
#4. Customer Referral
For small business marketing, customer referral works wonders. Your customers are your most important asset, and you should provide them good customer service to grow your business. Many marketers ignore the power of customers, but referrals can help you grow your business like no other tactic.
Small businesses build their credibility through word of mouth marketing and consumer referrals. You can offer promotions to your loyal clients upon referring your business. A similar way to do this on digital media is through giveaways and making your followers tag new people, which can increase your engagement and bring you knew potential clients.
Small businesses such as boutiques, salons, event planners, and carpet cleaning companies usually work very well on customer referrals as people tend to trust the services recommended by their friends and family.
#5. Giveaways and Collaborations
Another interesting way for small businesses to get noticed is by collaborating with famous influencers or brands. There are different ways you can collaborate, like launching a specific product in collaboration with another brand.
For example, a company that manufactures fitness bands can collaborate with an influencer who gained popularity in the health and fitness niche. Such collaborations are mutually beneficial as they give them both business and recognition. You can also generate promo codes for customers buying similar products.
Collaborating with the right social media influencer for a giveaway can also generate leads, increase engagement, and bring you, new potential clients. This way of marketing wouldn’t cost you much as it is beneficial for both the parties. Collaborations and giveaways are a tried and tested way to expand your customer base and for brand recognition.
#6. Networking
For some people, networking can be daunting; however, it can help you build links in the market and generate leads for your business. Interaction with similar people and socializing can help you expand your knowledge as well as get you more clients.
#7. Live Sessions
Doing Facebook or Instagram live sessions is also an interesting way to engage the audience. According to experts, the new social media algorithms promote live sessions as people now prefer to see live sessions as compared to recorded videos. You can arrange live sessions with interactive webinars on relevant topics that interest your audience. It can help you in building brand awareness and help you gain the trust of the audience. For example, if you are a skincare product brand, you can conduct a live session with a dermatologist to answer people’s queries.
#8. Personal Touch
It is always a delight to receive personalized messages, emails, and handwritten notes, along with your purchase. Try to build a relationship with your audience and customers by adding a personalized touch on their purchase or interaction.
An email with your client’s name, a handwritten thank you note, or something similar can help build a connection, and the client would feel valued. It is a good way to market your products and enhance customer experience without having to spend money.
Send your clients a thank you note or some kind reminder after every several months. A customer will always remember if you treat them gently, and a small kindness goes a long way.
Some of the link on this post may have affiliate links attached. Read the FTC Disclaimer.
