The internet is a place of limitless possibilities when it comes to marketing your business. The problem is there are so many options, it’s hard to decide what your best course of action is when you are dealing with a tight marketing budget. Today we are going to help you start making your marketing plan by sharing with you the essential tips for a successful marketing campaign on a tight budget.
Take the Time to Know Your Market
This is one step that many business owners forget. They truly believe their services can benefit everyone, so they market to everyone. The truth is that not everyone is going to want your service, regardless of whether they can benefit from it or not. You need to take a hard look at what your current customer demographics are.
You want to place your hard-earned money on marketing to people that fit the most common ‘build’ of your average customer. For example, if you notice that about eighty percent of your clients are men, you should be spending money on marketing that is geared toward men. Although you do have female customers and you want more of them, it’s best to spend your marketing budget on the demographic that is a sure thing.
Some other key indicators to look for when identifying your target market are age, financial situation, and similar interests. By taking the time to figure out the perfect customer profile for your business, you can ensure your marketing budget will go a long way towards expanding your client base.
Set Some Goals
Before you even think of spending any money on online marketing, you first need to set some goals. What is it that you are looking to do? Is your goal to increase revenue, get more customers, or boost your brand awareness?
You need to know what you are putting your efforts towards so you can work on getting there. Make sure you sit down and clearly define where you are at. If your goal is to increase your customer base, write down how many customers you currently have. You need to know where you are starting at so you can judge your success.
Once you know where you are, it’s time to set your goal. Do you want to get 20, 30, 100, or 1,000 new customers? Have a clearly defined goal so that you can determine your progress towards it. When you just settle for the goal of getting more customers, you will never clearly know when you have reached it. Be specific about what you want.
Take Advantage of Free Social Media Accounts
Social media sites, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and MySpace, are completely free to join. While you can market via sidebar advertisements to consumers through the social media sites, you don’t have to pay a dime to set up your business page.
There are plenty of marketing agencies out there which will set up these accounts for you. However, if you are on a tight budget, you can learn how to set these social media accounts up by watching a couple YouTube videos on the subject. It’s going to probably take you longer to set these profiles up as compared to marketing agencies, but it will save you a ton of money.
Once you have your accounts established, it’s time to talk to your customers. Make sure you are sending out posts, tweets, snaps, and everything else once a day. This will greatly increase your chance of customers sharing your content with their friends and family for free. This means freer exposure for your business.