There’s a lot to consider when running a small business. As well as managing employees and sorting through finances, you may find yourself covering the workload of legal, sales, and operations teams all in the space of a single day. Whatever product or service you’re offering, in whichever industry, it’s a well-known fact that small biz owners have a lot of different hats to wear.
If you’re wondering where on Earth to begin when it comes to developing and implementing a small business marketing strategy for your own brand, then keep reading to discover our 10 tried-and-tested low-cost or free marketing ideas.
1. Publish consistent and engaging social media posts
Social media channels are among the most useful marketing tools at our disposal, and present an easy way for small businesses to bridge the gap between themselves and their customers. Setting up a social media account is free of charge and organic content is often the most highly appreciated among users for its authenticity and relatability.
Try creating a content calendar using an online scheduling tool, and aim for an 80:20 ratio of fun to promotional content. Remember to let your customers peek behind the curtain: who are the people behind your small business? What’s your brand’s story?
2. Make the most of email marketing
Email marketing has quickly become one of the best digital marketing services for small businesses. This is because it makes it quick and easy for brands to contact interested and already existing customers. Try offering a promotion to customers on your mailing list, or sending out a monthly newsletter with upcoming products, events or offers.
Offering discounts or special treatment to those on your mailing list gives a sense of exclusivity and urgency, inspiring repeat business from satisfied customers.
3. Set up a Google Business Profile
If you have a physical office or storefront, then creating a Google Business Profile will prove an essential part of your low-cost digital marketing strategy. A free tool available to all small businesses, Google Business Profiles allow you to control the way your brand appears on Google, both in search results and on Google Maps. This is a great opportunity to find customers in your local area and build a reputation within your community – both on- and offline.
4. Use LinkedIn to expand your network
When posting regularly, LinkedIn can become one of the best marketing ideas for small businesses. Use it to connect personally with other small business owners in your niche, establishing links that may become useful in future and observing the way they interact with their customers and colleagues.
5. Write blogs and keep on top of your SEO
The term ‘SEO’ (Search Engine Optimisation) can seem overwhelmingly technical to novice website creators. One simple way to improve your business’ position in Google search results is by regularly writing and posting blog content relating to your products or services. The best digital marketing agencies will often suggest sharing one or two 500-word blog posts per week; these prove to your customers (and to Google!) that your content is fresh and relevant.
6. Make sure your visual content is high-quality
Consistent, quality branding is one of the easiest ways to establish trust in new and existing customers – and it’s fairly simple to achieve. Try to make sure that your brand colours, fonts, and logos are consistent across your marketing and social media channels, and that you’re using original photography rather than stock imagery. Websites like Canva make graphic design and branding easy, accessible, and low-cost.
7. Collaborate with micro-influencers
It’s no secret that influencer marketing has skyrocketed over the past few years, particularly during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. And although many small businesses don’t have the budget to work with larger macro-influencers, you may be in luck: micro-influencers (with follower counts between 10,000 and 50,000) are fast becoming a more authentic and relatable option.
Collaborating with smaller influencers is an affordable way of showing potential customers that your brand is one to watch – and the generally high engagement rate of micro-influencers will certainly get people talking about your small business, too.
8. Partner up with other small businesses
Partnering up with other brands is a fool-proof marketing idea for small businesses – especially those which are just starting out. Not only does it allow both businesses to benefit from each other’s existing clientele, but it can quickly expand your network within your niche or industry.
If yours is a product-based offer, try collaborating with another similar small business to give free samples away in each other’s orders; alternatively, you could run a joint giveaway on social media offering a bundle with multiple products from other brands. After all, you know what they (sort of) say: keep your friends close, but your competitors closer!
9. Ask existing customers for reviews and UGC
Reach out to previous customers and ask them to write a short review of their experience with your small business for your website or social media channels – if they can include a few photos of your product in-use, even better! Reviews from existing customers is a sure-fire way to instil trust in new or potential customers.
Why not also reach out to anyone who has shared a photo or video of your product/service on social media and ask their permission to reshare? User-generated content is a known digital marketing strategy for small businesses, and ensures that your posts are authentic and varied.
We have plenty more small business marketing hacks on our blog too!
10. Turn to Roku Digital Marketing Agency in London for help in online marketing!
At Roku Agency, we specialise in digital marketing services for small businesses on a budget. We’ve perfected our packages to make sure your brand receives a straightforward, efficient marketing plan with proven results. Our budget-friendly digital marketing company in London is on-hand to tailor any package to best suit your brand’s needs – visit our website now to browse our range of digital marketing services guaranteed to help your marketing efforts pay off.
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