11 Low Cost Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses
It is four months into the year 2018 and your business may need a marketing boost which does not require a lot of time or money. Below are 10 Cost Effective Small Business Marketing Ideas that you can try right away.
1) Perfect your Elevator Speech – There are many opportunities throughout your day for you to speak about your business to potential customers. Ensure that you have perfected your elevator speech which is a 30 seconds to one minute spiel about your business. The elevator speech tells the listener what you do and piques their interest so they wish to learn more. Ensure the first eight seconds are interesting. Start practicing!
2) Give a speech or write an article – Volunteer or submit writings for free so you can establish yourself as an expert in your field.
3) Request an Online Review – Online reviews matter as most current and future customers will do a search for your business or product/service before buying. Ask your best customers to leave a review on Google or your social media pages. Offer a chance to win a prize to further incentivise customers.
4) Network – Get out there and meet people. The stronger your network, the more exposure for your business. Networking does require a time commitment but the returns are worth it.
5) Ask for referrals – You lose nothing when you ask, so ask for referrals. Referrals are perhaps the best cost effective strategy to boost customer engagement and sales. Below are do’s and don’ts of referral marketing.
• Do only ask happy, satisfied customers for referrals.
• Do provide an incentive to both the referral and to the person referring if their lead converts.
• Do make it a regular habit to ask for referrals.
• Don’t continually badger the same clients for referrals. They may feel that’s all they mean to you.
• Don’t let hot leads get cold. Follow up on all referrals immediately.
• Don’t ask yes-or-no questions to get a referral (ex. Do you know someone who might be interested in this service?). Keep questions
open-ended.
6) Create Sticky Customers – All studies show that it is best to keep a current customer than to recruit a new one. Invest in your current customers. Reward them. Get them interested in multiple aspects of what you offer so they do not want to jump ship. Create ‘sticky’ customers.
7) Use Social Media – Choose one or two platforms where your customers are and ensure you remain consistent with your presence. Use paid ads to further get in front of your customers.
8) Collaborate – Collaborate with non-competitive businesses in your area. Use the opportunity to cross-promote or offer bundled packages. All businesses will benefit as they will reach new customers.
9) Use Video – Video converts better than any type of content on social media. Consumers are 85% more likely to buy a product after watching a video. You can produce and make your own high quality videos at low cost and with inexpensive equipment, or go ahead and use YouTube, Instagram or Facebook Live to air a broadcast. There are no excuses for not incorporating more video into your marketing efforts.
10) Leverage your community – What’s happening in your community? Where does your ideal customer hang out physically and virtually? Figure this out and then do what it takes to get in front of them. Sponsor a charity event. Ask for permission to leave bookmarks at a business office. Get in front of your customers with your marketing message.
11) Join your local Chamber of Commerce – The Anguilla Chamber of Commerce offers awesome low cost and effective ways to get your message in front of the right audience. Contact them today.
Forbes.com, ondeck.com, blogs.constantcontact.com, wordstream.com, thebalance.com
By Shellecia B Johnson
