Marketing requires money right? You may feel that because your budget is limited, so is your ability to promote your company, product or service.
While advertising on a limited budget is challenging, it is not impossible. And in fact, when you have to get creative, sometimes the out-of-the-box thinking and tactics required, can yield some big results. You may not have the budget of the big guys, but you do have the brains! You just need some scrappy marketing strategies.
What does it really mean to be a scrappy marketer? Basically, it means doing more with less.
Getting creative and finding efficient and affordable marketing techniques.
It is possible to make an impact without a huge budget. Try these 5 scrappy marketing strategies to promote your business when you don’t have a budget!
- Research
Research does not cost any money, just your time. But it is a crucial, and often overlooked marketing tactic. Even the big guys who do have a lot of money, often miss this first step and suffer because they do.
The internet is chock full of resources. With one google search, you can locate stories, webinars and case studies on marketing tactics and success stories.
Look at what other companies are doing. Research low-budget marketing tactics for new ideas. Look at your competitors’ tactics and try to understand what is and isn’t working. Just taking the time to learn may result in you stumbling across an affordable idea for your marketing mix.
Research your customer as well. Understand who they are, what drives them to purchase, and what they value. Knowing your customer can help you tailor your marketing efforts to uniquely work for them and deliver the best results.
Research will not only help provide marketing ideas, but will also help you improve the ROI on your marketing investment.
And, there is a reason why research is my number one strategy. All your marketing tactics and strategies should start here. Take the time to educate yourself before diving into any activities.
- Build up your social media
The beauty of social media is that it is free. Leverage all the appropriate channels for your company like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Consistent sharing will boost your engagement and reach, so create a schedule and stick to it.
Platforms like Hootsuite and Loomly can help you easily create and maintain a social media editorial schedule. With automatic posting, you can pre-write your posts a month at a time.
But don’t just post anything! Spend time crafting quality content and images. If you lack the budget for a graphic designer, you can use a tool like Canva yourself to easily create professional images.
Emotional content can also help boost engagement and encourage re-sharing. Join Facebook groups relevant to your topic and interact with your customers there.
Sharing your content through these groups can amplify reach. Just make sure you abide by the group rules, especially with link sharing which is sometimes only allowed at certain times.
Don’t get stuck in the mindset of only sharing to your company social media pages. Try tactics within each platform to improve your reach. Research the best hashtags to use, build relationships with influencers in the social media world and get your content out there! This is an unlimited marketing tactic that is 100% free!
While building up your social media marketing doesn’t require funds, if you do have some budget, consider ads. You can limit your spend to only what you can afford. With daily budget maximums and focused targeting available, it is an ideal and scrappy resource for the advertising funds you do have.
- Leverage a digital intern
Take advantage of the digital age! While finding an intern in your town may be challenging, you can actually find a virtual one anywhere in the world now.
Contact local universities and colleges about offering an internship to students who need to bulk up their resume.
Acadium offers digital marketing internships that benefit both the student and the business. For just $150, you can hire your own digital intern who will work up to 10 hours per week for 3 months.
Best of all, you can hire more than one and you can hire based on the tactics you most need assistance with. I am currently getting SEO assistance from my very own Acadium intern and am happy to have the super low-budget help.
- Use these free-to-cheap resources
Sometimes some of the basics you need for marketing such as a graphic designer can take up the bulk of your budget. If you can find ways to minimize these costs, then it frees up funds for tactics such as advertising that will show the ROI you need.
Free resources like Canva and PicMonkey can help you create attractive images and graphics even if you do not have the budget for a graphic designer.
Tools like these can help amp up your social media presence and content with polished and shareable images even with no budget.
Another low-cost graphic design resource can be found with companies like Design Pickle and Pebbled that offer unlimited graphic design for a low monthly fee. I use this resource in my full-time marketing job and have found we save a ton. Best of all, they are fast and efficient with the work.
- Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization can help get your website and your business more visibility. And many of the tactics around this are free.
Work on the SEO of your website with relevant keywords and copy. Finding backlink opportunities on other sites will not only boost your SEO and ranking, but could bring important traffic your way.
Sign up to receive emails from HARO. HARO stands for “Help a Reporter Out.” It is free and just requires a few minutes of your day to respond to journalists’ requests for soundbites and expertise. In return you will get a link to your website, not only giving you more exposure and traffic, but also improving your SEO.
Another free marketing tactic that also helps build SEO is guest posting. You can write blog posts and articles for other sites that are relevant to your niche. You can build your exposure, site traffic, and google search ranking.
Even when you have no advertising or marketing budget, you can still build your brand and your business. Just think creatively and stay scrappy with your marketing tactics. Exercising brains over budget can help your business growth!
After looking at a handful of the blog articles on your web page, I honestly like your way of writing a blog. I added it to my bookmark webpage list and will be checking back soon. Please visit my web site as well and let me know what you think.
An impressive share! I have just forwarded this onto a co-worker who has been doing a little research on this. And he actually ordered me dinner due to the fact that I discovered it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending the time to talk about this matter here on your blog.
This is a topic that is near to my heart… Take care! Exactly where are your contact details though?
I used to be able to find good advice from your blog articles.
Having read this I thought it was rather enlightening. I appreciate you finding the time and energy to put this information together. I once again find myself personally spending a significant amount of time both reading and posting comments. But so what, it was still worth it!
Howdy! This article couldn’t be written much better! Going through this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He continually kept preaching about this. I’ll send this article to him. Fairly certain he’s going to have a good read. Thanks for sharing!
This is a topic that is close to my heart… Thank you! Where are your contact details though?
I was able to find good advice from your articles.
Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you penning this post and also the rest of the website is also really good.
Everything is very open with a clear clarification of the issues. It was truly informative. Your website is useful. Thank you for sharing!
I enjoy reading through a post that can make men and women think. Also, thank you for permitting me to comment!
This is a good tip especially to those new to the blogosphere. Brief but very accurate information… Appreciate your sharing this one. A must read article!
I was excited to find this page. I need to to thank you for ones time just for this fantastic read!! I definitely loved every part of it and I have you bookmarked to see new things in your site.
Aw, this was a very good post. Finding the time and actual effort to create a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate a whole lot and never seem to get nearly anything done.
Great blog you have got here.. It’s hard to find high-quality writing like yours these days. I honestly appreciate people like you! Take care!!
Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve visited your blog before but after looking at many of the articles I realized it’s new to me. Regardless, I’m certainly happy I discovered it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back frequently!
Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you penning this post plus the rest of the site is also very good.
amoxicillin and alcohol amoxicillin vs penicillin amoxicillinaugmentin tarkov is amoxicillin penicillin is amoxicillin penicillin
Good post. I learn something new and challenging on blogs I stumbleupon on a daily basis. It’s always useful to read articles from other authors and practice a little something from their web sites.
I really like it whenever people get together and share ideas. Great website, keep it up!
I was able to find good information from your blog articles.
This is a topic that’s close to my heart… Many thanks! Where are your contact details though?
An interesting discussion is worth comment. I do believe that you should write more about this topic, it may not be a taboo subject but generally folks don’t discuss such issues. To the next! Many thanks!!
It’s hard to come by well-informed people for this topic, however, you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
Hello! I simply would like to offer you a huge thumbs up for your great information you’ve got right here on this post. I will be returning to your blog for more soon.