Marketing can be expensive, especially for startups. All the talk of PPC Budgets and PR agencies can push you into a cycle of wanting to grow, and believing that the only way to grow is through big spending. You are not alone in this thought process; it is a common misconception. What most business owners don’t realise is that marketing strategies can be extremely affordable depending on what you choose to do and which channels you focus on. It’s important to choose the right methods, not only for your industry but also for your specific business model.

1. Online Video
These videos can be posted on Youtube and Vimeo, as well as other video hosting websites to maximise your chances of ranking on video searches. Optimise your titles and descriptions as well as the content of your videos in order to rank for the relevant desired searches.

These videos can also be used on Facebook as the basis of cheap Video View campaigns that cost next to nothing for views. Cheap and effective? That’s a win-win!

The benefit of this is that the videos can be segmented and targeted at different groups you believe to be the right personas. You can then create your own custom video view audiences based on those who have watched your videos for a timespan you select. 10 Seconds is a good benchmark as that is quite a long time in many cases and does show some level of interest.

This audience of video viewers can then be targeted with traditional ads which will be cheaper as you’re aiming them at your own custom audience who should already be primed for converting.
Can be used on FB for cheap viewing campaigns

2. Case Studies
These don’t cost much to achieve, recording equipment can be purchased at very affordable rates online and modern smartphones generally have a good enough resolution to record on.

There’s often a misconception that case studies are only for the non-profit sector but they can be a great marketing tool for your business as well. They are a great way of demonstrating expertise in a similar way to a customer testimonial.
You can do this with video interviews that you carry out, or if this would be difficult, the customer can be asked to record themselves. The end goal of these case studies is to showcase how your product or service has helped others achieve their desired results.

3. Search and engage in online forums
This can be time consuming, but when resources are limited, a choice has to be made, strategies are either time consuming, or costly. The benefit of this is that it builds your brand and business, as well as yourself as a knowledgeable source in the industry.

Quora is a good lead generation source. Answering users questions on relevant Quora questions is a good way to show up on prospective customers’ radars. This is also a good way to take advantage of the domain authority of Quora, thus being more likely to show up in the top 3 results on searches.
If done well, and readers who have purchase intent will come through in search of your services. Building up a Quora presence in order to attract attention in your field is also a good way of getting some free PR.

Reddit is often overlooked but you should not underestimate its power. The audiences on Reddit tend to be early adopters. These are the kinds of people willing to take a chance on a small business. Building up a persona on Reddit can help to convert a whole community. The vital part is to engage with the community and not to be overly self promotional.

4. Retargeting and Remarketing
Retargeting (also described a remarketing) is usually cheap because these are people who have already interacted with you by previously visiting your website. Essentially through the use of pixel code (short pieces of javascript), you’re able to track those who have visited your site and target ads directly at them.

You can specify which pages you want to track or use these pixels sitewide so you can match what you consider to be purchase intent. In most if not all cases retargeting is much cheaper than regular advertising activity, most platforms will set your bids and costs lower as the audience is deemed to be your own.
Services like Facebook, Google Adwords, and Bing all offer this function. It’s a good way to minimise the loss of leads and ensure all potentials are being considered.

5. Using HARO for PR
HARO, or ‘Help a Reporter Out’ is a popular sourcing service in the English-speaking world, it connects journalists and bloggers with relevant expert sources. Your role would be that of an expert. The service is free and not very time consuming as the requests generally come three times a day and do not take long to respond to.

All you are required to do is respond to requests that are relevant to you, with no restriction on the number of responses you choose to provide.

It’s an easy way to get some links and PR opportunities as some requests are from big news sites who could offer you a great amount of publicity and of course help to boost both yours and your business’s persona.

The trick is to not only focus on your key business services but to identify the expertise of all members of the team, this maximises the number of requests you can respond to and the amount of traction you get.

It’s also vital to act quickly and be responsive in order to boost the chances of your response being chosen. There are hundreds if not thousands of other responses competing.

6. Asking for Referrals
This should be made a fundamental part of your everyday activities and a regular step in your sales model. It helps to grow your customer base using your existing customer base, solely based on their customer experience. It doesn’t require any additional spending. At the most, it will only require you to offer future discounts, which in turn would acquire repeat customers. This strategy is essentially a win-win since your business benefits from all outcomes.

Even receiving a rejection can help you to identify the problems within your business that may be causing a bad customer experience, which can then be fixed and improved.
It’s a good idea to use your current customers to your advantage; it could help you achieve exponential growth at no additional cost.

7. Send out promotions with your invoices
These can be promotions for either new customers or the existing one that has just converted, in order to offer them other products at a discount.

Once a sale is complete, it’s more likely that a new customer will choose your business for another service or product they need. Offering a promotion during this stage is a method of up-selling them, and increasing their overall customer value. Happy customers equal repeat customers.

Offering promotions is another method of requesting a referral and has an added benefit. The benefits are the same as those listed in the section above.

8. Build up your email list
You can build up your email database using pop-ups on your site or by offering free downloadable ebooks. This can be very effective in growing your email database, especially if the call to action and reasoning is optimised effectively.

Free ebooks should be based on subjects related to your business, product or service, that address topics and issues many will have. Guides and explainers do well in this format and should be presented in a way that showcases the benefits of them. It’s important, especially in light of GDPR, to get informed consent here, and to ensure people opt-in to their email address being used for whichever purposes you intend.

While your email database grows, the effectiveness of marketing to them will also. Sending out offers to your email list regularly can help to keep them as warm leads, help to inform their purchase decision and ultimately convert them.

9. Guest posting
Guest posting is a good way to have links to your business’s website on various established sites. It also helps to build awareness in your niche and become a reputable brand in your industry. Being cited on relevant websites in your niche can place you in the same category, so the benefits are twofold.

It’s also a great way to build relationships with relevant sites in your field to build on in the future. It also opens up the possibilities for networking events and joint ventures.

As a startup, it’s understandable that affordability will be one of the key factors in determining whether or not a strategy is achievable or feasible. By using any of these strategies or a combination of them, you will be able to grow your business long term without having to worry about the short-term costs.

As always, Happy Small Business Marketing!