A Small Business Marketing Consultant Can Help You Advertise on a Budget
So you’re in business and you need to market your products and services. Trouble is, you don’t have an advertising budget. In fact, you have little marketing budget at all, and certainly can’t afford an advertising agency. Well, there are ways to advertise even on a budget, says small business marketing consultant Greg Fawcett. Fawcett is president and CEO of Precision Marketing Partners, one of the leading small business marketing companies in Raleigh, NC, and a veteran of several marketing firms.
Online Marketing
Online marketing is the most cost-effective method of promoting your business. Start with a good corporate web design that focuses on the benefits to customers of using your products and services. Sign up for Google’s Adwords advertising, which gives you the option to create an ad and pay only when prospects actually click on it. Most small business consultants recommend adding a blog, where you can publish fresh content regularly using the commonly searched keywords for your business. Create social media profiles and promote your blog posts to your followers.
Free Advertising
There are a number of ways to get free advertising, particularly if you operate in the business-to-consumer space. These include:
- Making posters and putting them up on free community notice boards
- Getting into local directories – both online and print
- Branding your business vehicle with your company name and details
- Give training presentations at your local chamber of commerce and other organizations
- Ask local stores if you can put business cards or flyers on their counters, and offer a small finder’s fee for any business you get from doing so.
- Get your small business marketing consultant to design a signboard advertising your company for your home or premises.
Radio on a Budget
Radio advertising is still a viable way of reaching potential customers, especially if you operate in a real niche market. The smaller stations don’t charge a fortune for advertising either, and usually have a range of options including short duration ads, run of station commercials, or sponsored news or traffic reports. If your target market segment consists of older people who are less likely to be online much, radio advertising during drive time, for example, can provide a way of reaching everyone who sits in traffic. If you don’t know where to start, find yourself a small business marketing consultant to advise you.
Free Publicity
The best type of publicity is the free variety, which you get by having newspaper reporters write about your company. Marketing firms usually make this happen by sending out press releases, which highlight a newsworthy aspect of your products or services. For small businesses, your best bet for getting free publicity is to build relationships with local newspaper reporters and editors, or to make use of a small business marketing consultant who already has good contacts in the industry. Team up with a local non-profit organization to support a good cause, and make sure you let the press know about it.
These are just some of the ways you can advertise your products and services without spending a fortune. To schedule a free, 60-minute consultation with a small business marketing consultant, click on the banner below.
