On average, people need to hear a message at least seven times until it influences their buying behaviour. Whilst this may seem a tad difficult, affordability need only play a small part in this challenge.
More than anyone else you need to spend more time to set your priorities and to create a good marketing strategy. This is particularly pertinent for smaller companies whose marketing budgets simply don’t match up to bigger, more established ones.
As such, we’ve put together five low-budget, high-impact marketing tips to help your finances stretch further.
1. Drill down on your targeting
Before you start a campaign you have to be clear about your audience. Dependent on your model and services, it’s often better to pursue niche leads rather than targeting the mass market.
Once you’re clear on your demographics ask yourself who will gain value in your product. What are the unique selling points and can your customers find a something similar elsewhere? Does it solve their problems?
Finding the right audience might need a bit more of your attention but you’ll find your time and money gets used more wisely.
2. Bolster your social media presence
Social media is a crucial cog in your marketing machine – which isn’t a bad thing when you consider that it’s free! That’s why it’s worth investing time in your social media strategy and channels. Just think of how many you might not be taking advantage of.
The benefits of social media are endless. Above all, it’s a brilliant place to connect with, and grow, your current audience. Why not choose a niche where you can be an expert, or share high quality content with a blog helping increasing brand awareness online?
3. Get out what you put in with PPC
PPC, or pay per click, is the sponsored advertising you can see at the top of your Google search, or when you’re scrolling through your Facebook feed. With this form of marketing you set all the precedents. This includes your spend.
PPC channels will only charge you money when your advert has generated a click. This way, no spend is wasted. Budgets can be scaled up and down easily, making it easy to maintain alongside the ebb and flow of current business attainment.
4. Work in synergy with your satisfied customers
We’ve all heard the idiom that it’s cheaper to retain customers than acquire new ones. But accomplishing new business should by no means be avoided and, rather ironically, it could be your current customers helping you win it.
Customer reviews are a fantastic lever for encouraging new business. In fact, research suggests that people trust reviews on online pages nearly as much as recommendations from a friend or family member.
So, make sure to push out reviews from satisfied clients where you can, be it on your website, through case studies or via social media. They’re the clearest indications of your business for future buyers and they don’t cost a penny.
5. If something works, keep at it
Marketers tend to keep their eyes peeled for the next big innovation in advertising, and this is great! But make sure you don’t create new campaigns just because you’re bored with your last ones.
As long as a campaign has selling power, there’s no need to throw it out. If you do see a noticeable downturn on a current campaign, it’s worth investigating why this might be and making changes. There are still plenty of opportunities to be creative with existing channels.
Above all remember – expensive doesn’t always mean better and grandeur advertising doesn’t necessarily correlate with increased sales.