Budget-friendly marketing ideas you all ignore
High-impact marketing doesn’t have to be high-budget. Inflation is unfortunately having a huge impact on how much we are all able to spend at the moment, so this is the perfect time to make sure that the basics are doing their job. Conscientious business owners will be trying to save money wherever possible, and rightly so in such uncertain times. But being money conscious doesn’t have to come at a cost to your marketing strategy. Here we discuss some of the foundational elements of marketing your business effectively, and how you can make the most out of the cheap or free tools available to you. Read on for our money-saving marketing ideas.
1. Google Business Profile
The lowdown
Formerly known as ‘Google my Business’, Google Business Profile is a fantastic and FREE tool to increase the visibility and accessibility of your business via the world’s biggest search engine. The information you enter and update as part of your profile can appear in Google’s Maps, Search and Shopping functions, making it an essential element of your marketing strategy. So many people use Google as an easy and quick one-stop-shop for their needs, so it makes perfect sense to position yourself as a business where you know your target audience will already be looking.
Why we love it
This service features a ‘Create Post’ function, allowing you to easily add information about offers, new updates, events and products which will be visible on your profile for a week. We recommend that you take full advantage of this by posting something new every week in order to maximise the visibility of your profile. An effective strategy is to ensure you are rotating the aspects of your service that you advertise each week to give an accurate picture of the breadth of your business.
Now you know
Start by reviewing your profile and ensuring all of the information available is up to date. At a time, convenient for you, slot 10 minutes each week into your diary to complete a new post for your profile and this will increase your visibility to avoid your voice getting drowned out among your competitors’.
2. Email marketing lists
The lowdown
Social’s may be king in this day and age, but don’t underestimate the power of your own email marketing list. Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok can be fabulous platforms to connect with your customers through, however they don’t belong to you and as such it is wise not to be totally reliant on them. Every day there is another story about a business owner or influencer’s account being taken down or hacked. If these social platforms stopped existing or performing in the same way, do you have other established routes of reaching and communicating with your audience?
Why we love it
Email lists are a great way to transport your content directly to the inbox of your audience. You can drip feed content in a variety of formats to keep things interesting and creating a regular email which goes out on a weekly or monthly basis will keep your audience looking forward to hearing from you. Email lists are an opportunity to tell the story of your business, you can combine sales, humour, personal updates and relevant news to engage with people on a deeper level and in a longer form than social media allows.
Now you know
You can use your online followers as a basis for building your email marketing list, think about how you can maximise your conversion from online engagement into your email marketing channels. Think creatively about how you can encourage people to sign up, but under no circumstances can you add people to your lists automatically. It is crucial to abide by GDPR law and maintain a positive public image. Offers of discounts or exclusive content can be effective methods of enticement.
3. Your own website
The lowdown
How many times do you leave a website without even bothering to look around, because the layout is off-putting or inaccessible, or the content is out of date? Your website reflects on your brand, so it is important to keep it refreshed and up to date.
Why we love it
Refreshing, maintaining and updating your website doesn’t need to be a mammoth task. Websites are split into pages, and just like the layout of your website, it is easy to make this a manageable task by tackling one page per week. Your website can effectively communicate the style, feel and values you want to leave your customers with, so putting the time into getting those correct is worth the potential impact.
Now you know
The first things we would recommend that you review on your website are:
- Page content
- SEO performance
- Refresh your images
- Do you have enough ‘calls to action’?
- Are you linking through to your email marketing?
- Blog posts
- Do your internal links work?
4. Social media
The lowdown
More than half of the world now uses social media in some capacity, making it a massive resource pool for your business to take advantage of. Social media is wide ranging, with different platforms offering different benefits and audiences. Your business might not mesh well with every platform, but there will definitely be at least one which suits your business and its needs. Platforms now also offer analytics, allowing you to easily monitor how effective your usage of your chosen social media channel is.
Why we love it
Social media channels are a cheap, wide-reaching marketing tool, allowing you to grow your audience through consistent and effective use. You can use your channels as funnels to filter your audience through to other areas such as your website, blog posts, YouTube videos or to sign up to your newsletter. Social media will be accessed by your customers in short bursts each day – meaning that the best way to communicate to them is in short, easy to digest chunks. This will keep your brand relevant and at the forefront of your audience’s mind. The nature of this method of communication means that it does not need to take a long time to produce and share effective content.
Now you know
Invest a bit of time in reviewing your social media and coming up with a refreshed strategy. Questions you should be asking yourself include:
- Is our messaging/voice as we want to be heard?
- Are we using the right platform(s)?
- Can we improve our bio/business information?
- Do our graphics look the way we want to present ourselves?
- Is what we are already doing working (analytics)?
All of these ideas can be executed quite simply without the need for an expensive marketing team. However, if you are looking for a more in-depth review of your marketing strategy, support with content creation or any other aspect of marketing your business help is only a phone call away. Call us on 01158376260 and we can find the right package for you and your budget.
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