The marketing industry is full of big brands and massive budgets. For many entrepreneurs, a hundred bucks might be all they can spend and those investments need to pay off. But what can a hundred dollars really do for a small business’ marketing strategy? We have come up with a few suggestions to market your small business on the tightest budget.
- Research Your Market Well
The more time you invest in identifying your target markets and who your customers are, the better. Even simple web research will help you focus your efforts in the right direction, as well as hone your marketing message to attract buyers looking for you. An all star marketing team will stay on top of what competitors are doing so that they can look for opportunities to best them. Going head to head with a competitor where they are strong or well established might not be the best strategy but, time spent analyzing the competitive field for weaknesses or gaps in the marketplace is sure to pay off.
- Send a Heavy-Hitting Email
Email marketing is a staple among small business marketing strategies. Regardless of the industry or the size of the company, marketers across the board will say email marketing yields high returns on the marketing dollar. According to ExactTarget, in 2014, marketers received an average return on investment of $44.25 for every $1 spent on email marketing. This is not only an effective marketing strategy; consumers cite email as a preferred channel for communication with one-third of the world claiming it as the only means of electronic communication they use.
- Optimize Your Crowd Reach
Although many small businesses claim word of mouth is their primary marketing strategy, it should not be. For larger purchases, 81% of consumers prefer to do their own research online before hitting the brick-and-mortar store. They will even pay the original asking price if given the chance to gathering information on the product for two to three months first. For day-to-day purchases, mobile phones serve as the first point of search. According to Mobile Search Moments, more than 55% of mobile searches result in a conversion – a purchase – within one hour. The small business who researches their keywords with this in mind and optimizes their website accordingly will be rewarded by search engines. Best SEO practices will mean even a small business’ website will appear in the organic search results as well, directly in the path of prospective buyers.