Marketing on a Shoestring Budget
admin | Thursday, October 6th, 2011 | 1 Comment »A smart online business operator, or any small business person whether you are operating online or not, is remiss these days if you don’t use the social media networks such as Facebook, Google +, Twitter or plain old email to market what you are offering.
This type of marketing, as well as being easy on your credit card, is currently one of the best ways to communicate with your clients and future prospects. It allows you to produce regular newsletters and put out important updates with minimum to no cost. You can tweet till your heart’s content and it need not cost you a cent.
By using social media you can keep your business in front of your online friends continuously. You can solicit replies that you can use to your advantage by knowing what your customers want.
Because of its structure social media is immediate, you can even use your network of friends to re-post what you have to say to their friends, therefore widening your market scope considerably.
One of the best features of modern day online marketing is that you can create as good a landing page on your website as any multi-national company could. Your social media landing page is, after all, the front window of your ‘shop.’ From there you can guide your visitors through your various departments or counters.
You will of course make it all credit card friendly so your customers can buy right away and you have to be minimally involved, and once again all this can be obtained at very little cost.
You will, of course, need to update your website on a regular basis to keep high rankings on the various search engines so that anybody browsing can find you without having to search for you. It also makes it more interesting for potential clients who keep returning to your site to see what your latest addition is all about.
An online marketing consultant can be very valuable for you in this regard, as he or she studies the market on a continuous basis and is aware in advance of any changes that the search engines may be planning to introduce in the future.
Concentrate on Marketing that is Working
In order to discover which marketing activity you have going for you is working the best, it is wise to ask, ‘How did you find out about us?’ every time a new enquiry is made.
This will allow you to put more time and effort into making that specific marketing idea even better, you could even drop the ones that are producing no traffic. In this way you will be able to maximise the value of any marketing expenditure.
Public Relations is effective
When considering what your approach to marketing will be, it is always wise to ensure maximum efficiency. Running a small business means that you must make sure you always earn more than you spend, and this includes your marketing costs.
At the same time you should also realise that without effective marketing nobody will know what you are doing. You can overcome this by using public relations.
This approach is still marketing but it is hidden in local newspapers, radio or TV, even in the blogs of others online. In effect, it means you creating a newsworthy event.
Sponsor book reading at a local school, organise a tree planting day along a river bank, advertise for volunteers to clean up alongside a roadway. Anything you can think of as long as you can use it to promote your business and get it before the public eye.
You can start your public relations by sending a press release and a photo to your local media outlet and the media organisation will take it from there. At no cost to you. And dont forget online media too!!! not just the newspapers.
You can also incorporate these events with the celebration of some notable event taking place within your business such as a new product launch or company milestone being reached.
Claim Expert Status
Don’t be afraid of claiming to be an expert in your particular field. People will get to know you as an expert and tell others about you. You can also introduce yourself to organisers at a coming trade show and offer to give a talk.
You could do the same at community service clubs and even organise your own seminar as your confidence grows. It won’t be long before organisers will be seeking your services.
This article was written by Timothy Ng. You can read more of his work at http://www.creditcardfinder.com.au/ where he has a number of comprehensive guides to all types of credit cards.
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