The economy is coming back and marketing strategies are more affordable than ever! “You don’t need a huge budget to be a great marketer, but you do need great ideas,” says Jacqui Trotta, owner of MuseumWayPearls.com. To get you started on the fast track of prosperity here are 10 brilliant marketing ideas you can set in motion today.1. Use helpareporter.com (HARO) to find media opportunities for free. It’s like having a PR firm without having to pay for one.
2. Hire interns to promote your business in different regions or countries. “We recommend to our clients that they pay interns $200 - $250 per month plus the schools offer students up to 6 credits per semester,” says David Mezzapelle, director of Marketing at GoliathJobs.com. “Employers are not required to pay interns anything. However, for only $250/month an employer gets the best students and recent grads across all aspects of their business.”
3. Geotarget your paid search results. By geotargeting (localization) your Pay Per Click (PPC) ads to specific regions you can buy key words at a cheaper cost yet rank above the big companies in search results for that area. For example, instead of buying the keyword “restaurant” buy “Chinese Restaurant Boston.” Plus, you’ll be better positioned to win big in mobile phone searches too!
4. Retarget. “Retargeting allows us to use remnant inventory and, for example - be a featured ad on the New York Times for really cheap,” says Sheel Mohnot, business development manager at FeeFighters.com. Mohnot says his company puts a cookie on all visitors to the company’s website so a banner ad that invites the visitor to return to the site and complete the transaction will show as the visitor continues to surf the web. Consider it a high-tech way to gently encourage the sale to a customer who has already shown interest in the company or product.
5. Use More Video. “With free software like Windows Movie Maker, SMBs can take video footage created with a FLIP or other small camera and create roughly edited videos, which rate higher on YouTube than even more professional videos,” says Hilary Hamblin, Advertising and Marketing Consultant at Momentum Consulting.
6. Issue Branded Gift Cards on the Cheap. “Most SMBs will offer gift certificates but many do not realize that their credit card processing company can help them set up and sell branded gift cards for their business,” says Hamblin.
7. Form a Marketing Cooperative. Team with other small businesses to cross-market goods and services over the combined customer base. You can also swap email lists to expand direct email campaigns at no extra cost.
8. Use Google Boost to Get Cheaper Costs Per Click. Google Boost was recently launched to help SMBs play in a local market at a reasonable cost. This can be a big advantage for small businesses operating in a limited number of physical locations. The mobile component helps bring customers right to your door.
9. Hold Regular Social Media Events. Connect personally with fans and customers by holding interesting events related to your company’s products and services but that are not sales pitches. A restaurant can have its own “cooking show” or a dress shop can have “weekly fashion tips” on Facebook or in Google+ hangouts, for example.
10. Solicit referrals. Ask happy customers to write a review for you on Yelp, and or on other social media such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google +. Happy customers sell more product and services than any salesperson ever could!
