15+ Low-cost Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses

You need marketing in order to get people interested in you. The bad news about marketing, at least the traditional kind, is that it can be pricey. That ad spend and those pay per clicks on Google add up. But there are a lot of ways to leverage marketing ideas and word of mouth to improve your reach without costing you much more than your time.

 

15+ Inexpensive Ways to Reach Your Audience

Put away the checkbook and make room on your calendar. We’re going to show you over a dozen ways to reach more customers and potential customers without spending a lot of money.

1. Solve a problem or answer a question with your content. Google claims there are about 5.6 billion searches conducted daily. Many of those are questions from people looking for answers and solutions. If you know your audience well, you can help create content that is valuable to them. This helps you become a resource for them and…
2. Create content that begs to be shared. If you answer your customer or potential customer’s questions, they’ll likely share your content with others. This means your name is reaching an even larger group and you’re becoming a resource for them to return to your site when they have questions about the topic. Through all this sharing, Google starts to see you as a quality site and the audience begins to know, like, and trust you. Make sure your content is easily shareable by incorporating share buttons and other tools like Tweet This. Eliminating the hard part of sharing will help more people do it.
3. Provide something they need. The Michelin review was produced by the same company that makes the tires. The thought behind it was that people who go on road trips will want to eat. Why not give them a listing of worthy restaurants? This resource didn’t directly affect tire sales but it helped the demographic that would buy from them. Think of something your audience would find valuable, some tangential product that you can give away for free, and create it.
4. Ensure everyone knows how to use your product or service. Create instructional videos showing how to use your product or service, best practices in using it, or new ways to use it. For instance, if you sell paint you might show the proper way to refinish an old piece of furniture. Video is the way a lot of people prefer to learn these days.
5. Showcase what your customers are doing.  Are your customers doing some amazing things with your product or because of your service? Bring their efforts to light by producing content around them. Sharpie features some fun product highlights from charitable efforts to hand-decorated guitars. Not only does that make your customers who are featured feel appreciated, potential customers see that and are filled with ideas and a desire to one day be on the site as well.
6. Use those credits. If you have a Facebook or other social media page, you’ve probably received credits from those sites to try out some of their advertising. Don’t ignore them. Use the credits to do a little experimenting and see if it brings in any new customers. But before you do, read up on the best practices so you’re not wasting them.
7. Become a visual business. Instagram and Pinterest may seem like a place where hobbyists hang out but there are actually a lot of sales that occur from people seeing things on these sites and then later buying them. Both sites have become a lot more than just pictures. Check them out and think about how you might start incorporating them more into your marketing.
8. Become an expert. Quora is a fascinating site where people ask all sorts of “what’s it like” and experience questions. You can jump in there as an expert in your field and give a lot of real-life examples and stories that will help get people more interested in you and your business. Don’t be overly salesy in your approach but do make sure that the name of your business is in your bio so that those who are interested in what you’re writing about can find you.
9. Publish on LinkedIn or Medium. In addition to the content you’re publishing on your business site, publish occasionally to LinkedIn or Medium. They likely have a larger audience than your blog does. You can even use content from your blog on these sites. Make sure you use keywords or hashtags when publishing so the right people can find you. Also, you’ll want to return to these sites if anyone comments on your content even if it’s a negative one. It shows you’re involved and approachable.
10. Speak publicly. There are many public speaking possibilities, especially if you’re willing to do it for free. This might include a lunch and learn at your chamber of commerce, the local library, a roundtable discussion at a local innovation incubator, a talk in front of an entrepreneurs group, or dozens of other groups that would be interested in your area of expertise. In these cases, you don’t want to be salesy. Some groups will let you plug your business at the end. If that happens, offer a free download that will help your audience. That way you’re directing them to your business website but you are giving them something they want, not just an empty self-serving plug.
11. Use the Facebook pixel. Facebook pixel can help you target people who have been to your page before. The pixel is free but you’ll use it with Facebook advertising. Facebook advertising is s a low-cost way to get your message to a very targeted audience. However, as you design your Facebook ads, keep in mind that people are on the site to have fun. This is not the place to push a high-level whitepaper. The best performing ads are ones that look like posts. Keep the same tone you use when posting as you would with your ads.
12. Create an infographic. These aren’t quite as popular as they used to be but they’re also easier to design now. Sites like Canva and others have infographic templates you can use to share stats about your company, industry, or area of expertise. They’re a favorite of pinners and people love to share the quick-hit content and colorful representations. The most effective infographics use your own data but if you don’t have data of your own, you can get it from a study on a topic that is of interest to your ideal audience.
13. Rework old blog posts. Just as you would clean out an attic periodically, it’s good to review the content on your blog. Are there any posts that you could republish with newer stats or information? For example, did you write a social media guide that was very popular because it had amazing ideas but it makes bold references to Google+? If so, don’t write these things off as a waste of time. Edit them for today’s audience and repub them under an “Updated for 2019” title.
14. Join a group. Join a Facebook or LinkedIn group where your ideal audience might hang out and then contribute to answering questions and being helpful. Don’t push your business. Just be present and give of your knowledge.
15. Rework all of your bios. Social media bios, both personal and page descriptions, are the ideal spot to help people get a little view into what you’re like. Make sure what’s there is how you want people to see you. If not, rework it accordingly. Every six months or so, check to see if they need a refresh. This goes for your LinkedIn profile too. As a business owner, you may not have updated that in a while. Make some time to do so. You never know who’s looking at it. Well, you do because LinkedIn shows you, but you never know who could look at it before deciding to do business with you.

Finally, and you knew we were going to mention it, promotional marketing materials are very reasonably priced these days. You can get small giveaways that run you under a dollar per person. They help people think of you at those critical moments when they’re deciding what they want or who to call.

Speaking of who to call…

Call the ThinkQuik team today and we’ll help you stick within your budget and meet your marketing timeline.