Low-Cost Marketing Techniques that Actually Work

A massive marketing campaign into which companies sink millions of dollars are almost bound to work out great (not always, right Pepsi?). However, it should also be pointed out that not all marketing campaigns and efforts need to cost as much as sending a few people to the International Space Station. Smaller companies can still do quite a bit using some low-cost marketing techniques –a few of them tried and true and a few of them new but already proven to work.

Blogging + Content Marketing

Your company needs a website, we will not even be getting into why this is the case. Simply put, if you are not online, your business does not exist. What you need to do, however, is going a step further and start blogging.
Before you say, "But my industry is boring," it's not. There is no industry that is inherently boring and there is no industry insight that cannot be made exciting or at least interesting. One of the most spectacular cases of blogging and content marketing success was done by a guy who runs a local pool company and whose website now attracts more visitors than any other pool-related website in the world.
Your blog will provide people with a reason to visit your website and when they are there, they will be checking out your company's products or services too. Your blog is also an opportunity to become a renowned expert in your field or to educate your customers.
You will also be sharing this content on various social media outlets, building your readership and perhaps even do some writing for other people's blogs. This way you will get traffic to your website and also boost its ranking in the search engines.
The best thing about a bit of blogging, sharing and guest blogging is that it costs literally nothing but your time and not too much of it.

Slip your way into local media

Despite what some digital marketing "experts" want you to think, local media is still very much alive and people still consume it a lot. There may come a time when this might change, but we are talking more than ten or twenty years.
Local media still gets people's attention and it still gets the job done for smaller companies.
Unfortunately, for someone who is really on a tight budget, even local media can become a tad too expensive. Luckily, buying ad space and time is not the only way to get into local (might not be just local) media.
For one, you should pay attention to the local events and when something happens that has to do with your industry, give your local TV station a call. Give your local radio station or newspaper a call and offer them your expert opinion.
They will probably quote you, but they don't have to really. After one or two times you provided insight into something no one at the TV station has a clue about, they will rush to you anytime something similar happens. Before you know it, they feature you all the time, your business gets air time and, voila!

Do an event

You are probably thinking this article has completely lost its way, "Aren't events super expensive to organize?!"
Well, they are if you want them to be. If you want to have serve champagne and have Victoria's Secret supermodels hang around at your event, then yes, it is going to cost you a bit.
The event you are organizing does not have to be anything like that. It can be a local hang-out at a park where you do a quick barbeque or organize a movie evening or something like that. You can do a charity run and give out custom-made wristbands (that might also feature your logo, perhaps) or something similar.
This will not only make your company more renowned in your local community, but it will also get covered on social media or perhaps in local media. This kind of coverage and exposure that you usually have to spend thousands on.
And it really does not have to be anything major. A few of your people, a few volunteers, perhaps someone from your family, a local business or two and your event is up and running.

Closing Word

Marketing does not have to be expensive. This article gave you some ideas on which direction to go. There are other ways in which business owners can get word out about their business. All you need to do is be inventive and think long and hard about your customers.


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