Strong marketing plays a crucial role in the success of virtually any business or product. However, you also have to consider your budget when planning marketing campaigns. You can’t spend so much on marketing that you don’t have funds for other essential business needs.
That’s why it’s a good idea to focus on ways to get free marketing. Although some of your marketing campaigns and tactics will require a financial investment, applying the following free marketing tips will help you minimize how much of your budget to need to set aside:
Free Marketing Tips to Optimize Your Budget
Get Customers to Create Content
A social media presence is essential for most businesses. If you’re not active on social media, you’re missing the opportunity to reach a potentially large audience.
Additionally, social media also gives you the chance to get free marketing in the form of user or customer generated content.
For instance, maybe you’re marketing an apparel line. On Instagram, you might run a contest in which your followers can post pictures of themselves wearing your shirts and mentioning your brand (perhaps along with a hashtag for the composition in their posts). The user who posts the strongest photo can earn a free product in return.
True, that means this marketing tactic won’t be completely free, but if many of your followers participate in the contest, their followers will learn about your brand. This could result in additional sales that essentially offset the cost of the free product you offer to the winner.
Submit Press Releases to Relevant Publications
Many people make the mistake of assuming they need to struggle to convince others to help them market their products. That’s not always the case. For instance, you should keep in mind that many journalists are eager for stories. Their job requires finding topics to cover.
That means there’s a good chance some reporters would be happy to write about your business if it’s relevant to their publication and readers. For example, if you’re marketing a restaurant, a reporter for a local paper or news site in the area may want to cover it.
Consider what types of publications may feature stories about your business. Once you have a list of options, find the contact info for their editors and submit press releases. There’s a chance some will want to share information about your business in a story.
Prioritize Content Marketing
Just as you need a social media presence, you also need a website if you want people to learn about your business in this day and age. It’s a good idea to feature a blog on your site offering information that your customers would find valuable.
An example would be someone who owns a graphic design business writing blog posts sharing graphic design tips for the types of clients they plan to work with. While this does involve investing some time into writing the blogs, it doesn’t necessarily require a financial investment if you handle the writing yourself.
The main point to keep in mind is that marketing a business doesn’t always need to require spending a huge portion of your budget. Free marketing tips like these clearly prove you can often reach many potential customers without spending a dime.
