Small businesses often struggle to generate interest from customers. Many business owners don’t realize that their marketing budget would go further if they focused on social media or email marketing rather than advertising.

Small businesses rely heavily on word-of-mouth advertising, often struggling to get their name out there. Small businesses spend thousands of dollars on ads and marketing campaigns. But most don’t receive enough returns.

Here are some inexpensive small business marketing ideas to create a successful marketing strategy campaign for your business.

29 Inexpensive Small Business Marketing Ideas That Work

Many inexpensive small business marketing ideas are available, but you must carefully choose them to ensure that they work best for your company. Most marketing budgets fall under $1,000 or less each month. This can make it difficult to justify spending money on ineffective promotions. Here are some suggestions for low-cost marketing options you may want to consider.

Tap into Email Marketing

Email marketing is an effective tactic to engage and reach old and new leads. It is an inexpensive way to keep in touch with your customers and build strong relationships. Email marketing strategy is very cost-effective. It’s also very effective because it gives you a high return on investment. Therefore, you should consider using this tactic.

Be strategic about how many emails are sent out and what the content of each email is. Don’t bombard your email list with too much information. Also, don’t forget about your brand. Include links to blog posts, etc., within the email messages.

How to Create an Email Drip Campaign

This is a series of emails triggered at specified intervals or after completing a specific action. It can be simple product information about your product or service. You can also create a multi-deal email series after customers sign up for the email list.

After the first email newsletter, offer instant value. It could be a free video. A slide deck is usually reserved for premium members. Next, send a few emails containing premium content, so the subscribers can taste what to experience. Finally, after ten days and six emails later, sends the call to action signup for premium membership. By now, you’ve gotten so much value from her. That means you’re ready to sign up.

Offer an extra discount to those who already buy from you often. Make sure to offer this deal to people who had bought from you before or purchased a large number of products. This is a great opportunity to reward them for being loyal to you.

So think about what you want to accomplish with your email campaign. Then plan out an email sequence to bring those goals to life. Don’t forget to give value first—don’t just ask them to sign up.

Send out a Customer Survey

Customer surveys are a great means to get feedback and learn more about your customers. They’re also a great way to promote yourself and make people want to come back to your store/business.

Get Listed on Local Directories

With over 100 million users and counting, Google is the most popular search engine to use. Other users prefer Yahoo! and Bing because they provide more results than Google. People also use Yelp to find nearby places to eat and TripAdvisor to find things to do. These services are free, though, unlike Google. Some people use legal services provided by attorneys listed on Avvo.com.

Your goal is to promote your business by appearing in relevant directories. You can do this by searching for “Near Me. “Then, you should be able to find online directories in the search results.

Setup Your Google Business Profile Account

Local businesses should use Google Business Profile accounts to get more customers. A verified Google Business Profile shows higher on Google Maps and local search results. To verify ownership, you must have a Google Business Profile account.

A business profile is a free tool from Google that allows you to create and manage your company’s online presence. Doing this improves your rankings in local search engine results and Google Maps. Setting it up takes less than 30 minutes. Add location-specific keywords to content, including title, heading, copy, and meta description. Encourage reviews by customers. Get listed in local directories.

Tap into Social Media Platforms to Advertise and Encourage Engagement

Social media marketing is important for any business. First, ensure you are using the appropriate platform for your business. It should be used as an extension of your brand. You must know who you’re targeting when they’re online and what kind of content appeals to them. Your competition needs to be researched, and you need to determine how to reach out to them.

You also need to set up your social media accounts properly, then audit them regularly to see if any changes could help improve your results. Social media marketing should be done well, but it shouldn’t be too expensive. Your plans should be flexible to adapt as satisfied customers’ needs change.

Feel Free to Use Hashtags

Hashtags are used by people to categorize information about topics. When you use them correctly, they can help you gain more followers. You can also use them to make sure people know what you want to talk about. Using them correctly can help you gain more attention.

Hashtags can help you reach a wider target audience, but they shouldn’t be used as the only thing you do. Some hashtags may work better than others, depending on what kind of content you post. For example, you can use location-based hashtags to target people nearby. Custom hashtags let you target people based on interests or topics.

Show Your Social Proof

Social proof is great for capturing the attention of a larger audience. It’s also useful when selling products or services. Small businesses should use ratings – every time they receive a five-star review, they should share it everywhere.

Tag Influencers and Brands

Tag your loyal customers, brand ambassadors, or even neighboring businesses and vendors on social media posts and channels. Encourage your followers to tag your business or social media profiles in their posts. Also, tag happy customers in your posts, exposing them to your business.

Instead of marketing your business yourself (which is what most people do), work with affiliates and resell. They’ll generate leads on behalf of you for a commission on sales (if you’re doing well). Of course, you should also consider the cost of these fees and commissions when setting up your pricing structure.

Tap into Influencer Marketing

Influencer Marketing is becoming more popular because people trust those who share information about products and services. However, you don’t be too concerned about the number of followers an influencer has. Instead, it would help if you focused on the quality of engagement. Quality over quantity.

Companies can send gifts to influencers and ask them to share their content. Of course, influencers should always be paid for their work, but this doesn’t mean you need to spend thousands of dollars to get them to promote your business. Instead, you can use tools like Twitter’s Promoted Tweets feature to help you reach more people who may be interested in your offer.

Never Overlook LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great social networking website often used to connect with colleagues. It’s also an excellent place to start building a professional network.

There are different ways to communicate with people by using this website. For example, you can create groups or private networks. Participating in various groups will get important information about industry trends and news and make valuable business contacts.

You can join for free, and you can access the site any time you want. Use the features to expand your business. Share valuable information about yourself and other businesses.

Build Online Presence with Forums

A great way to market your small business is by answering customer questions on forums. This connects with other people who may need what you sell. Make sure you don’t oversell yourself, though, because this could turn off potential customers.

Comment on Blogs and Posts

Commenting on industry blogs is a great way to start networking within your industry. Make sure you focus on adding value to the conversation instead of promoting yourself. You’ll be surprised how many people will follow up on your comments.

Video Marketing

Video content can also give customers creative and valuable content marketing resources to solve problems or answer frequently asked questions.

Start Doing Videos on YouTube

With YouTube growing to be the 2nd biggest search engine in the US (second to Google), making a presence on this platform is a great, cost-effective digital marketing idea for small businesses. You could create a short but sweet video explaining what your business does. Additionally, you could dive deep into a topic related to your business. Your loyal customers might be searching for How To video content that allows you to catch their attention- and with the ability to shoot videos on any smartphone. You need to make sure your video is optimized for search engines to get more views. 

Add Instructional Videos

Video can be an intimidating digital medium to dive into. !Consumers don’t expect much out of instructional videos. Clear and helpful are the requirements. Marketers do this because they want to share their expertise.

A team of experts can create a series of instructional videos featuring individuals sharing their expertise. This helps provide top-notch customer support. 

Use Live Streaming

Facebook or YouTube or anywhere in-between, live streaming is a cheap and easy creative marketing idea. You can get people right now when you’re online and looking for either distraction or information. In addition, your live streams are much more likely to appear in your followers’ newsfeeds and notifications, making them even more effective.

Don’t Forget Search Engine Optimization

Small businesses should invest in SEO because it helps them be found online. You can spend big bucks on an expensive ad campaign, but you’ll never know if people are reading your ads. On the other hand, small businesses can invest in an SEO strategy by creating useful customer content.

Your website should be optimized for SEO. Focus on having relevant keywords (and placing them correctly on your site), having high-quality content, making sure your pages load quickly, frequently posting, etc.

Google searches for the best local business in your neighborhood. It also looks for high-quality reviews and websites. SEO is the most powerful form of internet marketing plan available today.

Buyer persona research helps you understand what kind of person searches for your product or service. Next, keyword research shows you what words are often use when someone types into a search engine. Finally, on-page SEO research tells you what changes need to be made to your website to optimize it for search engines.

Check SEO Status for Each Page

Pages that don’t receive any search traffic should be identified. Then, optimization must begin. Optimization includes optimizing title tags, meta descriptions, keywords, etc. First, people need to know what the website does to rank higher on Google. We then need to make sure that people understand what our website offers. Lastly, we need to make sure that our website offers something unique.

Create a Customer Referral Program

Word of mouth marketing is powerful because most people trust their peers’ opinions more than any form of advertising. This means that if someone recommends your product, they’re likely to buy from you. A customer referral program can help boost your word-of-mouth marketing efforts. Offering rewards to the current customer base for referrals helps show them how much you appreciate their loyalty.

Content Marketing

A blog is an amazing tool for promoting your business. It is inexpensive, and you can easily create and publish relevant content without paying someone else to do it.

Repurpose Content

You’ve got some old social media content out there. If so, you can recycle it by making infographics or eBooks. Your research could also be made into YouTube video content.

Scout for Guest Posting Opportunities

Guest posting is a great way for people to get more exposure to their blog. Small businesses should use this strategy because it helps them gain more followers. Also, when you post on another website, you may include links back to your website, helping you drive more traffic. Overall, you stand to make a lot of money by doing this. Guest blogging is an excellent way to get links back to your site. You may even be able to write a few articles yourself.

Offer Your Expertise

Boost your influence by offering your expertise to the community. Don’t forget to give them your creative business card, so it’s easier for them to reach out to you.

Join Events and Competitions

A Chamber of Commerce is a superb way to promote your business. You’ll be able to connect with other businesses in your local community. As a result, your business gets more exposure, and you’ll be able to network with other businesses.

Awards help to increase your credibility and reputation among other people. It would help if you searched for award competitions and online contests in your field and considered local and regional awards. Don’t forget to include nominations in your online marketing materials and website. Even if you do not win, you can still use this information to promote yourself and your company.

Join Events and Shows

Trade events are great for small businesses. Small businesses can get a cheap booth at local trade events. Smaller companies can also share costs by partnering with other companies. Exhibiting at trade events is a great chance to network.

Get Involved in Your Community

Local support can help you gain brand recognition. Your brand reputation can be boosted by community involvement. You can learn more about your potential clients by interacting with them. Buyers are less likely to purchase from companies that they feel uncomfortable with. Community involvement adds an extra layer of trust into any interactions with consumers. A company should invest in its local community because potential customers are more likely to buy products or services from them.

Host an Event

Plan a special event to host or hold a class that will attract people to your business while educating your customers about your industry. Post flyers about the event or class at libraries, coffee shops, and other local businesses where interested students might hang around. Most local community bulletin boards won’t allow you to post ads for your business, but they’ll often be more than happy to post flyers promoting an educational event or course. You’ll love this free small business idea because it offers great value to your current and potential customers.

Collaborate with Other Local Businesses

A location-based business should consider partnering with other businesses that complement theirs. Think about what businesses could help them grow. For example, a coffee shop could partner with a bakery. Or, a gym could partner with a supplement store, etc.

Business partnering is a great way to get customers. Non-profits are always looking for help. Volunteering is a great way to give back to the community. Donating products and services is another way to make a difference.

Partnering with another business is a great way to advertise your product or service. By partnering with a brand that customers already know and love, you can build trust. In addition, this helps you reach new audiences who might be interested in your products or services.

To End

Marketing doesn’t have to be expensive for small business owners. These inexpensive small business marketing ideas can help you stay afloat while still building your influence. Are you having some issues with your digital marketing strategy? We are here to assist you. Give us a call.