5 Ways To Market Your Business on A Smaller Budget

Many smaller businesses have a low budget when it comes to advertising their products, and that can often seem quite limiting. It’s not impossible to create a good marketing campaign,  but it takes a lot more thought as to where and how you spend that budget for maximum benefit and exposure. Before everything went online, advertisements in the phone book or the local newspaper were the most standard way of getting your new product out there, as well as traditional printed methods such as flyers and posters. Nowadays, small businesses generally know about the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) and how it is essential to rank highly on Google, but they also need to understand how to market their products on a more human level. In this article, we look at a few ways in which you can do this.

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Exhibitions

If you are marketing your product to a particular industry – maybe a health and beauty product, for example, look to see whether there are any trade shows or open exhibitions that you can go along to and set up a stall. It’s an excellent way of really focusing in on your target audience, and you will have a chance to speak to them face to face and demonstrate your product. You can also hand out small advertising freebies – pens and mugs always go down a treat!

Banners and Flags

The whole point of advertising is to raise awareness of your product and let people know you are there. One of the best ways of doing this, particularly if you are working on a local scale, is through banners and flags. Some areas allow you to attach them to railings, or you could ask a local organization if you can put them up on their premises for a small fee. If you own a physical shop, make sure everyone knows where it is!

Social Media

Putting adverts on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter means you can reach a vast number of people very quickly and for next to no cost. In fact, you can even advertise for free by having your own page or group, and posting on local groups, although the algorithms of such sites mean your visibility is often limited.

The Local Community

Getting involved in your community and meeting the people who live and shop there is an excellent way of getting your name out there. You may want to consider sponsoring a local children’s soccer team or donating money to the local churches roof fund or a school gardening project. In return, most charitable or non-profit organizations will give you free advertising space such as a mention in newsletters or local magazine, boards at events or even your name on the soccer shirts.

Print advertising

This has fallen out of favor in recent years due to the rise in popularity of digital media, but don’t discount it! Local newspapers usually offer a range of advertising formats, from box adverts and inserts to small business features. The former can be particularly helpful,  as they allow you to go into a lot more detail about the service or the goods that you are offering, and gives your customers a chance to get to know you a little better.