The current global market is highly competitive, so creating a positive brand image and spreading the word about your business is imperative. There’s no way your business is going to thrive (regardless of how good your products/services are) if your consumers aren’t aware of your business.
Budget restrictions are the biggest setback of every small business. It can be expensive to hire a digital marketing company to help you with creating a detailed marketing plan. Luckily, with the right technology, you can still leverage the power of digital marketing. Things don’t have to be expensive in order to be effective and you can optimize your small marketing budget and reach your target audience by choosing the right marketing channels.
1. Social media
The perfect and most effective marketing tool for small businesses. Social media platforms are what most marketing strategies are focused on today. It doesn’t require much investment, and besides Facebook, there are other platforms, like Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google Plus, that you can use for your marketing endeavors. Remember to conduct research to see where the majority of your consumers spend most of their time, as you shouldn’t run a profile on every social media platform there is.
Facebook Ads is the best initial step for leveraging the world of social media for brand building. Use Power Editor or Ads Manager to combine your Facebook Ads campaign with other platforms, back everything up with a solid strategy, and use their targeting options for narrow down the demographics and other engagement metrics.
2. Geofencing
Geofencing comes with a great ROI in the long run, but requires a bit bigger upfront investment. What you need to do is hire a good mobile app developer to develop an app with the geofencing feature. Next, motivate people to install the app on their Androids and iPhones. By covering the service area around your shop, you can advertise your business to nearby consumers. This is a very effective mobile marketing technology that enables you to advertise discounts and sales to those already in the shop, as well as to target potential buyers. Geofencing enables you to customize your marketing message based on your business location, links your business to the Internet, provides real-time analytics, and turns your big data into something small by narrowing down the huge potential market into a smaller niche demographic.
3. Local SEO
The best way to promote your business and make it as successful as you can is to use all the tools that are available. You need to create optimized content that will help you promote your business and raise awareness in the local market. One of the best ways to achieve that is by using a local Sydney SEO company that has all the knowledge and tools that will put your business on the map and show what you can do.
4. Networking
As a small business that operates on a small budget, you need to find low-cost opportunities for spreading the word about your business. You could get some good advertising by bartering your own service or expanding your circle of professional contacts. For example, if you operate a print shop, offer to do printing for a local advertising agency in exchange for their advertising services. Create a symbiotic business partnership where everyone wins.
5. Community work
Through community involvement, you’ll be able to build a relationship with your local customers based on respect and trust. You depend on local consumers, as a small business, and this is why the costs of community work should be included in your marketing budget. You can do it by funding a local event, or consider less costly options, such as giving away items like promotional pens, T-shirts, pens, USB sticks, or notebooks with your brand logo.
6. Free public relations
Any kind of PR is good PR. Always look to build relationships, so start by reaching out to the members of the local media directly or by finding out where and when local journalist gatherings are held. Speak to your new contacts about your business, inform them about it, and ask for a PR opportunity when you think the time is right. Ask for a TV, radio, or print interview, and come up with proposed Q&A to make things easier for them.
There’s no need to invest loads of money and hire professional digital marketing agencies to develop complex marketing strategies. These low-cost marketing techniques can do wonders for your small business, and if you realize that you need more funds, consider making cuts in other business areas. Remember that your main aim is providing the best possible customer service, which is the best and most affordable marketing strategy.
