Effective Digital Marketing Strategies on a Budget
We’ll just come right out and say it – small businesses should never skimp on digital marketing.
We know that all small businesses work on a very limited budget, but failing to advertise your business can be a death knell.
Think of it this way: why would you set up shop and then not let anyone know you exist?
You probably agree that that doesn’t make any sense.
So if you need to do digital marketing, what is the most effective strategy for the budget you are constrained to?
Don’t worry, there are plenty of ways that small businesses can effectively reach people for little to no money. However, you have to be willing to put in an investment of time or you won’t see any good results.
Effective marketing on a budget means you have to invest your time and energy, but it’s well worth embracing digital marketing as it is a great way to reach your target audience.
Now let’s take a look at some effective digital marketing strategies for small businesses working on a budget.
1 | The Top Line
You can’t just jump into marketing head first without a little research and strategizing. Here are some things to think about before you get started sharing content or creating ads:
- Who is my target audience and what are their needs?
- What problems does my audience need solving and how can I help?
- Where is my target audience online? (Which platforms do they use?)
- Consider a holistic, integrated approach that combines marketing, sales, and other aspects of your business. Think of marketing as one piece of the puzzle. You’ll need to zoom out and look at the big picture to see how marketing fits in and connects with other aspects of your company.
Asking yourself these questions and developing a holistic strategy will allow you to target the right people in the right places while providing them something of value. This is the most cost-effective and successful type of strategy for digital marketing.
2 | Content Rich Marketing
Let’s delve a bit more into the “something of value.” Providing something of value to your target audience is known as content rich marketing. This type of content is highly engaging and helps solve a problem for your customers, such as how to use a product, or can provide information, such as why your services are important.
Content rich marketing is generally organic content. Blog articles and organic social posts are two of the biggest types of organic content. Blog articles allow you to inform your audience, position yourself as a thought leader, and can also include a call to action that encourages readers to buy your product or service.
Social posts are a great way to meet customers where they are. Create profiles for your company on various social media platforms (make sure they are the right ones for your company) and share! Again, don’t be overly salesy here. You want to engage users so provide information by sharing blog articles or ask them a question that gets them talking.
Also try leveraging UGC (user-generated content), which is when users share posts of them using or talking about your product or services. Word of mouth can be extremely effective not just for brand awareness, but also for your ROI. You can’t just expect users to start their own UGC campaign. You’ll have to plan and deploy a campaign and encourage users to use a specific hashtag and to tag your business in their posts for a chance to be featured on your own channels.
Lastly, don’t forget to optimize all of your content for SEO (search engine optimization). This will help you get found more easily in organic searches on social platforms and in search engines. Check out our best practices for SEO to help you really boost your marketing signal.
3 | Social Media can be Personalized
Advertising on social media platforms is relatively inexpensive, though it does vary from one platform to the next. (Be sure to check out our article on how to choose the right social media platform for your business goals.) Every platform offers several different types of ads to choose from, along with the ability to target and segment users. By really drilling down, not only are you creating a more personalized experience for your audience, but you are saving money on your ad purchase as well.
4 | Email Marketing Isn’t Dead
Sending out routine newsletters is another great way to reach your target audience. Email marketing can be a very powerful tool, however, it needs to be done in the right way. You’ll want to create segmented audiences and use tags to personalize your emails, along with using eye-catching visuals and motivating calls to action.
5 | Work with the Pros
If you are working on a tight budget, this might sound counterintuitive, but it’s important to remember that you only see a real return on investment when you do digital marketing correctly. That means working with the pros who know how to help you develop a strategy that is truly effective.
We understand that you are invested in your business. So is Attuned! We are an invested partner, committed to your success. We are different from other marketing firms and take a holistic and integrated approach to marketing that can help your business break through the noise online. Contact us today to learn more.