Guest Article

Marketing your own business can be time consuming and costly. As a business owner you have limited time with often a tight budget. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to execute a marketing plan. Below are seven low-cost ways to market your company without forfeiting quality.

1. Social Media

The three main social platforms you can use to promote your social media for free are Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. All you need to get started is a solid social media plan, content writing skills, and/or video making skills. However, you can always use your staff or interns for this if they have a higher skillset. Just remember, quality content counts. A single post on your social media profiles can make the difference between hundreds of clicks, comments, and shares versus none.

2. Blogging

Writing blog posts or press releases that interest your customers is another great way to promote your business online. Plus, the more attention your articles get, the more traffic it can drive back to your website and advertise your company. If you’re a real estate company, you can write anything from securing home loans to finding the perfect home in your area. Remember, the more specific you make the topic of the article, the more it can market your company. You should also include a short blurb about you and your business with your article to allow potential customers to know how to find you.

3. Referral Program

Word of mouth is still the most popular marketing tools used for business, large and small. Creating your company’s own referral program is a great way to reward customers and get them talking about how professional your business is. Plus, you don’t have to spend a lot for customer rewards. You’ll be surprised how excited people get for small discounts, free t-shirts, or even movie passes.

4. Email Campaigns

Sending out weekly or monthly emails to your valued customers is a great way to market new products or simply tell your consumers how much they mean to your company. Plus, offering special deals in return for reading the email is a great way to reward your customers. However, make sure that you are providing helpful content to your readers. You don’t want to message your customer too much do that they unsubscribe from your list. The last thing they want is to feel pressured into buying a product or be bombarded with irrelevant news from your company. Make sure to keep it as light and interesting as you can.

5. Use Promotional Products

Using branded promotional products is a great way to boost brand awareness and ensure potential clients remember your business. Give them away for free to potential customers and clients or use them to draw a crowd at business conferences. Whenever they see the product, they will remember your company and what you do. You can remain in the forefront of their mind when looking for or recommending a company like yours, which will surely increase sales.

6. Cross Promote

When using cross-promotion, also known as buddy marketing, you create an agreement with another business to promote each other. For example, you may agree to post an ad for the other company in your email newsletter if they agree to do the same. This is a fantastic way to spread the reach of your business and reach an entirely new audience.

It might be in your best interest to seek out companies in the same industry, though not ones that offer the same sort of product. This way, you can run joint promotions. For example, if you teach art classes, you can cross promote with an art supply store and run a contest together. This is less expensive than running a promotion on your own and will require less effort on your part since you will be sharing responsibility and the cost.

7. Brand Your Communications

Every document you send out, both physical and digital, should be branded with your logo and pertinent company information. Yes, this is for more than just your business cards. Every document that you send out should contain your company name, logo, website, and contact information. You can even add your slogan onto your documents to be even more memorable. This info should be placed in the letterhead on digital and physical correspondences. You should also update your email signature to contain this information, too. You can even add links to your company’s social media profiles so your clients can connect with you there, too. Be sure to take every promotional opportunity given to you.

About the author:

Ryan Bridges is a contributing writer for Alamo Tees & Advertising.  In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family and running.