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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