One of the keys of owning a successful business is understanding the importance of marketing. According to Forbes, one of the main reasons some companies fail in business is because lean marketing best practices are not implemented. If you own a startup and one of the founders is a guru in marketing, you are well on your way. However, most business owners must hire a subject matter expert or a team of marketing professionals to get started. It is an exciting experience to open the doors of your establishment with the right employees and equipment, but if consumers have no idea you exist, it will be a disappointing reality.
If you are starting a new business or need to lower business expenses as you promote your business, our effective marketing strategies will help you stay on a budget.
1. Host a class on a topic relevant to your industry
The ability to create value in customers lives is one of the main reasons why people decide to open a business. Imagine the exposure your company can get by hosting a class at a local educational institution. If using a PowerPoint presentation be sure to include your company logo throughout the document. To ensure attendees will remember your company, include a link to your name, website, and contact information. Remember to bring marketing materials and use online printing services for your team to bring brochures, one pager, business cards, visuals, and a marketing kit.
2. Ask for free advice from successful marketing professionals
Annual strategic planning is essential for long-term growth. Networking will help you stay connected with marketing professionals that are seeing results, which is a good way for you to learn new strategies. Now is the time to reach out to successful marketing professionals that regularly work on campaigns and are achieving results. If they are open to sharing their best practices, it can prevent you from making common mistakes. Ask your contact about new SEO practices, their thoughts on the next big strategy in marketing, industry related blogs for your team to follow, and the best way to approach a campaign.
3. Use your internal resources
Most business owners dream of a multi million-dollar budget to hire a celebrity or top models to help promote their products and services. If you have a small budget, one of the best ways to save money on marketing is to send an internal email to employees expressing interest in photographers, videographers, or graphic designers for upcoming initiatives. It is a good way to improve employee relations by showcasing employee’s talents and recognizing them in internal communications of their participation. We recommend that you take photos of clients and offset events.
4. Reuse your current article content and include it in sales literature (i.e. brochures, newsletters)
One of the best-kept secrets of professional writers is re-using their published content for new marketing campaigns. It can be a blueprint to revamp writing to stay consistent with changes to your branding.
When you maintain your current branding, it will help you to differentiate yourself from competitors. Branding is one of the reasons customers continue to purchase from a company that they are comfortable with using on a regular basis. The last thing you want is for your content to sound inconsistent with messaging because a slogan or important points are missing. Best of all, repurposing content will save you the time and effort in creating an entirely new branding.
5. Hire freelancers
The cost of of hiring a freelancer versus a marketing agency can save you thousands of dollars if not more at the end of a fiscal year. A company with a list of freelancers to help with writing, graphic design, and marketing services can expect subject matter experts that remain well connected in your industry. A benefit to working with freelancers is their business depends on staying up to date on innovative strategies and the successful one’s network with social influencers. Social influencers can act as a support to help your social media posts, articles, blogs and website URL go viral.
The best part about marketing is you can be as creative as you like while earning a return on investment if the strategy works. Try using these tips for your next marketing campaign or project to stay within budget.