When it comes to marketing you probably believe that you need to take out a hefty chunk of your annual budget to account for all those paid ads and sponsorships and giant banners that scream the name of your brand at passers by. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Here are 10 low budget marketing techniques that deliver real results – branding-wise and profits-wise.
1. Create great content
If you’re an expert in your industry, it’s time to get typing up blog posts that feature informative content about things your customers are searching for. An underfloor heating specialist, for example, might put together a listicle-style article about how to keep your home insulated and warm or about how to maintain an underfloor heating system. Ensure the content you are creating is engaging, informative and easy to share on your social media channels. Which brings us on to…
2. Use social media
Social media is essentially free to use and works best when you have a clear idea about what you want to say each day. Perhaps plan in posts, Mondays could be all about sharing an interesting fact about your industry, while Wednesdays could be sharing blog content and Fridays could be all about funny gifs. Try your hand at a variety of platforms to work out what works best when it comes to engagement and your audience.
3. Attend industry events
It might cost a train ticket and perhaps an overnight stay in a hotel but industry events are essential for marketing purposes and where you can network with like-minded, connected people to discover leads and perhaps future partners.
4. Guest post
Ask other business sites if they are interested in featuring a post written by you on their blog, it’s a great way of putting your brand and yourself out there as a thought leader in the industry. If they have a huge following it gets you and your brand’s name in front of them with no fuss.
5. Interact online
Don’t be afraid to get involved with discussions with other people in your industry online, watch hashtags when big events are on and get tweeting or spend some time on the LinkedIn forums chatting with other people about changes within the industry on a thread.
6. Giveaways and competitions
People love competitions and getting something for nothing, so if you have a decent following on Facebook (this technique does work on Twitter and Instagram but not as well) let your followers know you are giving away a product or a service and that they must like and share the post to be entered. Not only does it spread the word about your brand on their feeds, it puts you in a positive light.
7. Customer referral programme
Set up a programme where customers receive discounts or gifts for referring their friends and family – you’ll soon see the sales and leads roll in!
8. Guerrilla marketing
Dropping business cards and flyers off at local businesses is a great way of getting your brand seen by potential customers. The fish and chip shop counter, the post office pin board, on park benches – anywhere you can leave your business cards or leaflets drop them off, just ensure they are eye catching and send a clear message! Or, how about utilising Helloprint booklet printing, and putting them in local pubs?
9. Email marketing
Considered the devil of the marketing world these days – as people on average receive 121 emails a day and business emails account for 108.7 billion of those sent around the world – but email marketing does still work. Simply ensure those you are sending emails to have signed up for the service and that your title hooks them straight away (it’s best to leave email marketing for when you’re having a sale or a special offer.)
10. Donations and prizes at local events
Is there a local charity event going down nearby? Offer to donate a product or service as a prize. You could pick up a new customer and with that referral programme it could lead to even more.
