As a business owner, you already know how important it is to get the word out about your company and hope that people engage with it. However, it’s not always as easy it sounds. In fact, on most occasions it can be anything but easy. If you don’t have a budget to match the really big companies who throw really big money on their marketing, how then do you stay competitive? By employing cost-effective marketing ideas. Here are 7 ways you can make your dollar stretch as far as possible.

Source: Pexels.com

Your Own Website

When it comes to getting people interested in what you’re doing, it’ll be your website that is your biggest resource. Besides making everything about it top quality, you should also be looking at having your own blog. Websites who blog multiple times a month receive as many four times as many visitors as those websites that don’t. You shouldn’t be making each blog about your company – talk about the themes that are important to you and share relevant news and content. A 300 word blog post posted three or four times a month can make a big difference – try it and see!

Social Media

When it comes to marketing, you want your message to reach as large a group of people as possible. And where are all the people when it comes to the online world? On social media, of course. If you run a social media advertisement, you’ll be able to tailor to your specific demographic, your target audience. This type of marketing doesn’t only get your company noticed by the right people, it also allows you to engage with them in a much deeper and more personal way, and for that reason it is a great way to spend a portion of your marketing budget.

Playing up to Google

If people aren’t able to find you, then your company may as well be dead in the water. Some 97% of customers will look up a company online, so it pays to be at the top of the Google ranking. This isn’t so easy, but with a bit of work and effort you can get yourself up there. It’s all about delivering what Google wants – and that is, high quality content that is properly research and referenced and with plenty of images and videos.

Source: Pexels.com

Looking Offline

It’s not just online that you should be looking. Some of the most cost effective ways to market your business take place offline, in the “real world”. For example, if you already have a database of customers, including their home address, then sending a personalized flyer to their home would be the best way to make the most of the information you have. This allows you to be creative and send tailored promotions to the customers who you are pretty sure would be interested in spending money with you.

All in the Video

Making a video is more expensive than taking a photograph, but it brings much greater rewards. Why? Because video is the king of the online world at the moment, and most likely will be for some time to come. In the coming years, some 75% of online traffic will be video traffic. If you’re looking for cost effective marketing, then video gets to the heart of what you should be aiming to do: giving the people your key details through a medium they want to receive it. And remember: cost effective doesn’t mean cheap! If a video cost $1000 to make, but brought in $3000 worth of business, that is incredibly cost effective.

Into the Inbox

Email marketing might seem a little dated, and indeed it did get a bit of a bad reputation for a while, but if you do it right then it can be a great way to market your business. The key is to send the emails to people who you know already have an interest in your company, which is why you should be collecting email addresses. Don’t be too spammy, and keep them short.

In Your City

It’s possible have a cost effective marketing campaign and have fun. How? By hosting an event in your city. You can do this in two ways. Either by handing out information on the streets populated by people in your target demographic, or by hosting a pop up stand and giving away free samples of your product. This is a great way to get the word out and have people form positive feelings towards what you’re trying to do!