Here's some help for a local-direct business that will help your client gain more confidence in your abilities and willingness to be an asset to them. Jay LeNoble, Ph.D.

10 Inexpensive Marketing Ideas for Small Business Owners to Take Flight

Chandal Nolasco Da Silva

Since every small business owner is on a budget, marketing can be an ongoing challenge. That said we have some seriously good news to share: There are more inexpensive marketing ideas available to small businesses than ever!

Marketing doesn’t have to mean hiring an expensive advertising agency. In fact, most inexpensive marketing ideas are as effective, if not more effective than expensive traditional marketing tactics like print ad campaigns or TV commercials. The best part is that you can usually take care of them yourself (or with a team), with the right coaching. Read on and we’ll walk you through a ten low-cost marketing methods so you can amplify your small business without breaking the bank. You’ll learn both digital and traditional marketing techniques so you can choose which ones will work best for marketing your small business. 

Inexpensive digital marketing ideas for small businesses

1.   Optimize your website for search enginesSearch engine optimization (SEO) doesn't have to cost you anything except time, but it can be a slow and steady process that needs guidance. However, once it’s done it is one of the most effective and long-term marketing techniques any business can do.

Optimize your website for search engines by researching which keywords customers use when they're looking for products or services like yours online. There are many different keyword research tools that can help you understand which words people use to describe your business products or services most. For example if you’re in small engine repair, you may discover that people actually search more for “lawn mower repair nearby” or “inexpensive engine parts replacement” when looking for businesses like yours.

Once you determine which words are most used to describe your business you can use these on your website. Ideally you would create one page on your website for each unique, high-volume keyword. In the case of small engine repair, you could have a page for ATV vehicle repair, one for lawn mowers and maintenance tools and even a general one for small engine repair - in fact if the volume was high enough for this generic term it may be more suitable to use on the home page.  Use your selected keywords for each page in the website copy, especially in headlines, title tags, alt tags on images and meta descriptions. Make sure you use proper HTML formatting on your articles so search engines can read them better.

SEO can also get very technical behind the scenes of your website. But if you’re a small business with a basic website of a couple pages, your SEO shouldn’t be too far gone, which can happen quickly with large, complex websites. One thing you can do easily though is test how the site performs on mobile, since this is a factor in search optimization (for all those mobile searchers!). To make sure that your website is as effective as it can possibly be, it's got to be mobile-optimized and quick to load on any device, which can be evaluated with Google’s mobile page speed tester.

This tester will evaluate your site’s mobile-friendliness for free and give you a score at the end after analyzing your network speed, compressed components of your website and so much more! Don’t forget to request a free mobile report to your email from Google at the end of the process so you can look back and use their recommendations to improve if needed.

To learn more, read our detailed guide on how to choose and use keywords. 

2.   Create useful contentSome say “if you build it they will come,” and that is the case for SEO-friendly websites. So if you’re getting website visitors and traffic, you better be sure you have good content for them when they get there.

Content can come in the form of videos, blog posts, social media posts, white papers and much more. Using a variety of content types and messages around your products and services is best, but remember useful content is about helping your customers not selling.

The key to creating useful content is to make sure it’s something that they actually want to read! Whether it’s a helpful instructions manual or a thought-leadership piece, whether it’s delivered in a 2 minute video or in an easy-to-read blog format, just make sure you’re creating content that is useful! Golden rule: don’t just create content for content’s sake!

Return to your keywords to see if any ideas come to mind. Even a quick Google search can help spark ideas:

You can also use your customer service queries that you’ve received in the past as a way to get some content topic ideas. Like let’s say you’re a small engine repair person and you know that at least one customer asks you per week how often they should change the oil on their lawnmower. This is the perfect example of a great topic that you can write about on the blog of your website!

You can also get creative with content creation and experiment with what works with your audience and what doesn’t. Suppose you own an e-commerce website that sells juniors' clothing. You could:

• Do a short video of yourself or an employee talking about the latest fashion trends and showing off items you sell.
• Post it on your website, YouTube, Instagram and anywhere else your target customers spend time.
• Make a quick list of the top 10 fashion trends (based on the video) to post on your site or social media, with links to products you sell.
• Share one trend a day on social media to keep customers coming back for more.

Here’s an example of a real-estate business that decided to make video content on YouTube for their customers about home repair and improvement:

By sharing useful information that’s relevant to your customers you’ll earn their trust and when it comes time to purchase they’ll be much more likely to buy from you. Invesp reports that 59% of consumers are more likely to buy a new product from a brand they’re familiar with and 64% would open an emails for the sole reason that it is from a brand they trust. And by creating useful content for your audience you’ll be earning their trust every step of the way. 

3.   Promote your website at every opportunityDid you notice that in the screenshot of the previous section, that the real estate company included their website in the description of their content video? I hope so, because that is good marketing that didn’t cost anything aside from the video production. 33 000+ people saw that video and have therefore also seen this website. Talk about free advertising!

Are you including a link to your business website at the end of your email signature? How about on your social media profile pages or your social media posts? Of course, don't forget to print your website URL on your business cards, as well as on brochures, flyers, sale sheets or any other print marketing materials you create. Ok let’s just come out and say it, here’s a new rule: any type of advertising you do should include your business URL.

Here’s an example of my signature with links to our company’s website and social media channels:

4.   Tap into social media

Social media hubs are high-traffic platforms for amplifying your content, building a network and even advertising your product directly - but let’s start with what we already know. So first your business pages on networks like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter etc., should all include a link to your website. Second you should be using these channels to share the useful content you’re creating for people on your website. Don’t be that business who is just trying to sell to people on social media. Use it as a place to make genuine connections with your customers and listen to them.

Social listening can come in many forms. You can simply research topics related to your business on social media channels and join in on the conversation. You can build followers on your business pages and ask your community (even poll them!) on topics they would like to learn more about from your team. But you can also use social media to really measure how people engage with your content. Looking at social engagement metrics like shares, comments, retweets etc., you can also get a pretty good sense of what content of yours is helping your social media and which isn’t. Adjust towards what’s working - always be adjusting!

If you’re having a hard time getting noticed on social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram, try investing a little bit in social media advertising. No, it's not free, but it can be very inexpensive if you target your ads properly, which you can do! Here’s a guide on how to create the cheapest Facebook ads possible without sacrificing quality. If you sell to other businesses, check out LinkedIn advertising.

5.   Get listed in local search directories

If you’re having trouble getting noticed at all, you could always start with some local search directories, which are typically free or at least low cost. Yext for example will list you on tons of business directories for a small fee.

You can also create business pages in search engines like Google and Bing! Start by claiming your business listing in local search directories, such as Google My Business, Yelp and Bing Places for Business.  For a detailed guide to doing this, read What Are Local Business Listings and Why Do They Matter?

Also pay attention to local community publications and websites that feature business listings. For instance, if you’re hosting an event at your store, see if the local newspaper will add it to their online event listings for the week (maybe they’ll even share it on social media too!). 

6. Get listed on ratings and review websitesSince more than eight in 10 American adults say they read reviews at least some of the time before making a purchase, having a presence on these sites can significantly elevate your brand. Start by making sure your business is listed on important review sites for your niche and that your profile on these sites is complete and detailed.

Next, take steps to manage your online reviews. You can sometimes get alerts when new reviews are posted so you can respond immediately, which is especially important to do if someone posts a negative review.

Encourage your customers to review your business by including links to your review sites on your website, in your social media and in your email newsletters. You can even give customers an incentive to review your business in-store. Here’s a helpful guide on how to ask customers for reviews. You can also more about how to get, use and improve your reviews here.

 

Inexpensive traditional marketing ideas for small businesses

7.   Get involved in your communitySupporting local community organizations, charities or other local groups can help raise your profile and serve as a great marketing tool. To get the best results, look for a cause or organization that aligns with your business’s mission and goals. For example, if you own a home services business, why not adopt Habitat for Humanity or a local community cleanup event as your charity of choice?

When you get involved with your community you build trust in a different way. Rather than relying on your content as a means of building trust with consumers, you’re on the front-lines making face-to-face connections. If you’re up to it, giving back to the community in the form of volunteer work, participation and even sponsorship will feel good for you and do wonders for your business. Small communities tend to share referrals and pass around the good word for products and services. 

8.   Work your networkYou may already have a network of friends, family and customers who would refer your business, but there’s never enough networking you can do. Yes social media can help, but depending on the region your small business serves you may want to get a little more local.

Networking in person with other small business owners in your community, such as at Chamber of Commerce meetings or local business associations, offers plenty of networking opportunities. This in itself is again an inexpensive and effective marketing technique.

By being an active member of an organization, you'll raise your brand awareness among other members. You’d be surprised how much a little schmoozing can lead to! If you and a local realtor connect through a networking group, the realtor might think of your house painting business the next time a client needs a home readied for sale. Why? Because we all want to work with people we like and if we make a business connection in a more casual setting, we’re reducing the perceived friction in a new business relationship.

You can also do a little personal PR in your local area. For a local business, start by making contact with members of the local newspapers, magazines, radio stations or even local cable channels. Send them an email or even if you bump into them around town tell them what's interesting about your business and see if there’s a story there they could cover. From a donation your business made to a charity or volunteer work or even a big sale you’re doing, you’d be surprised how many local newsworthy stories you could generate. 

9. Promote your expertiseGetting known as an expert is a no-cost way to market your business. Professional services providers, like accountants or consultants, do this a lot, but it can actually work for just about any kind of business.

Find a local organization your target customers belong to, or a publication or website they turn to for information. Offer to speak at the organization's next meeting or contribute to its newsletter. See if you can write a guest blog or article for the publication, or share some information with them that reflects your expertise.

For example, an attorney could speak in front of residents at a senior living community about how to write a will or why you need to assign power of attorney. If you own a children's toy store, you could offer to speak at the local PTA about the best educational toys for kids. The point is to get your name out there and prove that you’re the best source of information in your industry in any way that you can! 

10. Co-market with complementary small businessesAre there other businesses in your area that target the same clientele, but sell different products or services that don’t directly compete with yours? Consider co-marketing with them.

For instance, if you own a flooring business, you could team with a house painter to market your services together. Offer a discount if clients get both house painting and flooring done at the same time.

You can also co-market with your neighbouring businesses. Many businesses in local shopping districts, for instance, hold regular sidewalk sales, “First Friday” events, street fairs and festivals plus other promotional events to attract customers to the area. 

Inexpensive marketing ideas for small business: Bringing it all together

Now that you've got a dozen inexpensive marketing ideas for small business to try, the challenge is bringing them all together. You can avoid feeling overwhelmed by just taking it one idea at a time. Each idea is as good as the other, but some will work better for your business than others… and that’s simply due to the nature of your business and market. See which ideas work best for your business and stick to them. The best part though is that trying any of them won’t cost you much so you really have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

 

Image Credits

Feature Image: Unsplash/Ian Dooley
Image 1: via Google’s mobile page speed tester
Image 2: via Google
Image 3: via YouTube
Image 4: via author’s personal email
Image 5: via Yext

 

Author information

Chandal Nolasco Da Silva

With nearly a decade of digital marketing experience, Chandal has created content strategies for both the biggest and sometimes the most unexpected markets, while developing strategic relationships with editors and publishers. Chandal contributes to some of the highest authority industry publications, has been featured in industry events and is thrilled to be Acquisio’s Content Director.

COMMENTARY

How TV News Advertisers Cope With Controversial Topics, Hosts

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, August 20, 2019

Decades ago, TV advertisers used to have what was called “hit lists” -- TV shows they weren’t going to buy because of controversial, violent, inappropriate or sexually-themed content.

In the late 1980se/early '90s, daytime syndication talk shows -- full of racy content -- as well as network shows such as Fox’s “Married with Children,” NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” and NBC’s “Miami Vice” were on certain marketers’ lists.

Now, with the fractionalization of traditional TV everywhere, picking and choosing TV shows has taken on a new process -- trying to find any meaningful size audience for marketers. Lists are still around. But the focus has lessened.

Some of this has to do with TV advertising avoidance — fast-forwarding, time-shifting and advertising-free TV content. TV marketers now have other problems besides picking and choosing which content they consider appropriate for their brands.

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal says marketers such as Fidelity Investments and others are insisting their ads do not appear near articles or videos that contain any of a long list of words, such as “bombs,” “immigration,” “racism” and “Trump.”

TV kind of still works the same way — but more on an analog/manual basis. And after the fact. Think about some TV news network shows: Fox News Channel gets hit by advertisers after some controversial stuff said by Fox hosts Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham.

While many advertisers depart these shows, it's always a temporary thing. Those marketers just move over to another news programs on the network. No big deal, since other Fox network shows have similarly large viewerships.

The bigger issue for a TV news network, a social-media platform or a digital version of a newspaper, is when those marketers leave for a long period of time.

Digital marketers can now key on specifics words — in a headline perhaps — they don't want to be near. This is something a good algorithm can handle, especially in near real-time when it comes to growing programmatic ad-technology platforms.

In the future, one would believe linear TV networks could work the same way — with a programmatic, near real-time platform. Say a newscaster/guest/pundit goes way off script and says something crazy. Then, in the following commercial break, a TV commercial, under the control of a TV network/marketer algorithm, can tell the system to skip that commercial.

Though perhaps not a perfect system, this will encourage what marketers truly are seeking: media brand safety on a wide-scale basis. But maybe not so soon.

National programmatic TV ad systems are still years away from becoming the dominant linear TV ad platform. Until then, media spillage over brand-safety concerns will continue. On many platforms.

COMMENTARY

Treat Marketing As An Asset To Extract Its Value

• by Jose Villa , Columnist, August 16, 2019

Marketing is the one of the most fundamental functions within an organization. When done correctly, it has the ability to rally people around a cause, move people toward a product or service, or change perceptions about an organization. But the uninitiated often misunderstand it. 

Too often, marketing is generalized as an expense and is usually one of the first line items cut by companies when they are facing difficulties and tightening budgets. 

This common view of marketing as an expense permeates the business world, from the board room to the sales team. This is rooted in accounting principles, GAAP rules, and the tax code which categorizes all marketing activity as expenses.

Marketing is also often oversimplified as advertising and affiliated tactics. It is much broader, and strategic to business than mere tactics like advertising, pubic relations, and digital experiences. It is also more than the classic marketing frameworks of company, customers, competitors, collaborators or climate or place, product, promotion and price.

Marketing is much more holistic than any one tactic, and limiting the view to an expense diminishes its relevance. Clarification comes from proper definition. I am partial to two:

“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” — American Marketing Association

“Marketing is the creation of customer-led demand, which is the only sustainable form of business.” — The Marketing Society (UK

This last definition really captures the two critical dimensions of marketing, and its significance to business success. 

The first is that marketing is about the creation of demand. As such, categorizing marketing as a financial asset could be more appropriate. Much like a piece of equipment that can generate a valuable output, marketing generates customer demand, i.e. revenue. 

Every dollar invested in marketing generates some future output of revenue. Also, much like a capital asset, marketing assets depreciate over time. For example, a brand is an asset that depreciates over time if not continually maintained, but it generates value in the ability to charge higher prices (i.e., higher margins). Concepts such as customer lifetime value capture this effectively.

The second is that marketing is at the core of business success. Marketing decisions and investments are usually relegated to tacticians (e.g. advertising, branding or PR professionals). Marketing is rarely represented in boardrooms. When marketing is part of the C-suite — a chief marketing officer (CMO) — it’s usually only for consumer-facing goods companies. 

There have been some promising signs of the growing importance placed on marketing, such as the recent trend of replacing CMO roles with the new chief growth officer (CGO). However, marketing is still broadly misunderstood, and most companies need to elevate its importance.

Why Live Sports Is Television's MVP Corey Petruccelli Publish date August 14, 2019 Pundits say TV is on the verge of collapse. People are cutting the cord. Advertisers are abandoning traditional TV for digital alternatives. TV as we know it won't exist in the next 10 years. Right? Wrong. To say those opinions are misguided is an understatement. Sure, video consumption and viewing habits are changing, but live linear TV is still a huge part of the American media diet. And one of the reasons that's true is that TV harnesses the most powerful programming in television; the genre that consistently beats the odds, resists the trends, and delivers for advertisers small and large: sports. According to the latest Nielsen Total Audience Report, American adults watch nearly four hours of linear TV every day overall; in the New York market alone, sports networks reach 56 percent of adults every day. I would even argue that if TV actually was on the verge of collapse, live sports alone could save it. Here's why sports will always be television's most valuable programming: Sports Is INCLUSIVE It goes beyond race, gender, age, politics, or economic status. With sports, the only identifying characteristic that matters is which team you're rooting for. All kinds of audiences appreciate sports. And sports creates camaraderie; it brings people together. One of the pleasures of sports is bonding over the common goal of victory with other people — family, friends, coworkers, or even the guy sitting next to you at the bar. Sports Is UNIVERSAL There's a sport for everyone. If football isn't your jam, there's baseball, hockey, basketball, soccer, cheerleading, professional bull-fighting, golf — even televised e-sports. Sports Is EMOTIONAL People are invested in sports. Think about the run-up to the Super Bowl, the national medal count during the Olympics, and following your bracket during March Madness. Sports has drama, stars, and suspense that rivals any buzz about drama or film. Sports Is PERSONAL Action on the court, field, and ice have given rise to a whole new breed of sports: fantasy. For some sports viewers like me, every game has a personal impact because we're invested in the players, regardless of the team they play for. Every basket, hit, or goal adds value to our fantasy leagues, making televised sports an even more significant part of our lives. Sports Is BETTER ON TV The television experience is arguably an even better experience than watching a game in person. Think of instant replay, or the box on the screen that tells you what the score is and what bases are occupied, or about that virtual first down line. And think of high definition so good you can see the expression on the catcher's face and hear the ball as it hits his glove, all while sitting in your favorite recliner, enjoying homemade guac. Sports Is LIVE Here in the New York market, over 97 percent of total TV sports viewing happens live. In fact, in 2018, sports-related programming accounted for 61 out of the top 100 live-viewed TV programs in New York, according to Nielsen. We call sports "appointment TV" because audiences make appointments to watch. Spoiler alert: If you miss it live, you risk learning the outcome of the game before you watch it. And for advertisers, live TV is an incredible asset because it means that viewers won't be fast-forwarding through commercials. They will all be watching the ads around the same time — making it an incredibly impactful tool for creating an immediate response. Sports Is POWERFUL ADVERTISING Audiences are so engaged in the game, and the experience, that the level of attention for advertising is high. It's the most sought-after inventory we have available in the linear space — and for good reason. The ability for an advertiser to align their brand with a local sports team not only provides reach, but also offers a sense of rapport with potential customers. My clients would be quick to choose less-expensive inventory if the results weren't there with sports. Sports on live, linear television is one of the most powerful — and efficient — ways to reach people today. Sports Is CRITICAL TO THE BUSINESS OF TV The truth is that people gladly pay to see games now, and they'll pay to see them in the future. Today, when consumers pay their cable and satellite bills, a lot of what they're investing in is going toward subscriber fees for networks that carry sports. It's all because sports rights are expensive — and worth it. Right now, platforms such as Twitter are trying to get consumers to change their viewing patterns by subsidizing viewers – making it free or relatively inexpensive to stream big events, particularly while the online experience is glitchy and difficult to navigate. My guess is that the advent of 5G, and continued investment by TV companies like the ones behind NYI, will make it easier than ever for viewers to enjoy sports on television. More and more, I watch live sports on TV with a tablet in hand so I can check player statistics, and it's not just me. According to Nielsen, more than 80 percent of smartphone and tablet users use their device while watching TV. That means advertisers can use sports programming on traditional linear television as the foundation of campaigns that also incorporate digital advertising. Television isn't going away; it's just getting better — to a large degree thanks to the power and performance of sports for advertisers and viewers. In the opinion of this media expert, for the foreseeable future, sports will continue to be television's Most Valuable Programming. Click the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleagues. The opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author and/or subject(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage.com/MyersBizNet, Inc. management or associated writers.