How to Market your Small Business on a Shoestring Budget

In a world dominated by corporate giants, it can be tough for small businesses to compete. Especially if the infrastructure in your country is weak.

However, this should not deter aspiring entrepreneurs or anyone with a dream or a hobby from turning it into a business.

There are many advantages and disadvantages to running your business. If you can get your management and marketing strategy right, your business will be successful.

According to this article, good marketing always contains one key element that entrepreneurs tend to have in abundance and many big brands wish they had more of i.e. creativity. (inc.com)

Even if you’re operating on a tiny budget, with the right amount of creativity, you can create a successful marketing campaign that gets your marketing message in front of the right audience.

But first, you may wonder:

What is a Shoestring Budget?

According to this, the idiom or slang term shoestring often describes a small amount of money, which may be an inadequate amount to fund the intended purpose of its use in full.

What Makes Up a Shoestring Budget?

Where the money for setting up your business is an inadequate amount which you must stretch to achieve the bare minimum, it means you have a shoestring budget. Businesses operating on a shoestring budget means they have limited access to additional funding.

Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

Marketing sounds expensive. And for a lot of companies, it is expensive. Most small businesses don’t have lots of money for big-budget marketing campaigns.

According to this article, failing to market your business may put you at a disadvantage to your marketing-savvy competitors.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. While some companies can invest significant budgets on marketing, it is still possible for a company to do marketing on a lean budget.

And even if you’re limited to the tiny budget, you can still see excellent results. It might take longer, but still, some marketing is much better than no marketing at all. And, in time, your marketing efforts will stack up and become more clear.

As noted here, as a small business owner and entrepreneur, every money counts. Every investment has to pay off with an immediate or short-term return on your investment.

But as the above article notes, we are fortunate that in our digital age, there are many free and low-cost options for any business on a budget.

These days, you don’t have to pay a ton of money for advertising to market your business.

If your budget doesn’t have a lot of room for marketing, here are a few tips that can help you in bootstrapping your small business.

Do It Yourself

As a small company or small business owner, you’re probably just starting and don’t have the resources yet to hire. Therefore, you need to get comfortable doing things yourself.

Though your complimentary card may have a fancy title like ‘Founder’ or ‘CEO’, in the initial days, you will wear several hats, so to speak.

For instance, you may have to play the role of your receptionist, secretary, bookkeeper, graphics designer, social media manager, driver, cleaner and the security guard! Doing all these things will help you to save money.

At this stage in your business where you are operating on a shoestring budget, make Google your best friend. Go on Google and try to find answers and solutions to any questions and issues that arise.

Get Involved and Design In-house

These days there are lots of apps. Using these apps will enable you to get involved in desktop publishing. Saving you some money.

However, I often advise clients that their brand identity is not something they should take lightly. Don’t be “penny-wise” regarding the design and printing of your business logo, stationery, and other marketing materials.

If you have the resources but no skills to do these in-house, then it’s better to outsource these to professionals who can help you craft a professional brand identity.

As the saying goes, you never have a second chance to make an excellent first impression. So the best thing is to get it right the first time around.

Get Your Trademark and Copyright

Years ago, during my first business venture, I learnt the hard way the value of trademarks and copyright. You see back then I was approaching a lot of potential clients with nothing more than my ideas and intellectual property.

Only for me to discover that one of the potential clients I approached ended up taking my tagline and used it to advertise one of their products. To add salt to injury, they planted a billboard near my street!

Getting your trademark and copyright issues sorted might entail you using the services of a lawyer. This will be more than your shoestring budget. Therefore, look for a lawyer willing to work pro bono.

However, based on my experience, I feel this is not an area you need to overlook when starting your small business.

Know Your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)

Owning a small business in most cases means working from home. Working from home allows you to save on costs by eliminating the overhead of separate premises.

It will enable you to have more flexibility in your working hours and greater control over your working environment.

Create your niche market by being able to offer a tailored service or a unique product that exactly meets your customers' needs. Click To Tweet

You must identify the strengths and weaknesses of your business so you can look for opportunities to build on and also overcome any potential threats.

Doing so will help you market the business by targeting the right audience and conveying the right messages about you, your products, and your services.

Such a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis might help you start marketing on a lean budget.

For example, identify your Unique Selling Point (USP) and make it the main point, differentiating your offering from that of your competitors.

Being able to help potential customers to appreciate the unique qualities of your brand will go a long way in converting them into customers and brand advocates.

Ask yourself whether your offer is in a growth sector, whether future demand will increase, remain stable or decrease and about the competition. What do your competitors supply?

Think in terms of the specialist skills, knowledge and capability that you have, or what you could do to challenge the existing market leaders. Can you offer superior services or products for the same or slightly more money?

It is now relatively cost-effective to develop a website to promote your company. A site can be an effective way of raising your profile and publicising your services.

Developing a website doesn’t have to be a complicated or expensive process. But since we now generate much business via the Internet, it is a channel that you should not ignore.

The strategic use of your site and social networks together can help to bring about a massive growth for your business.

Where appropriate, always ask your potential customers to leave testimonials and reviews about your brand online on websites like Yelp.

Have lots of positive reviews online about your brand will go a long way in boosting your marketing efforts.

Find Strategic Partnerships

If you find yourself getting burned out, then consider spending your startup time selecting and hiring a freelancer to help you – if you can afford one.

It might also be helpful to strike up a partnership with more significant business, perhaps enabling you to use a desk in their offices once a week.

By creating a symbiotic relationship with another company, you may then have access to more resources while they may enjoy your expertise.

They can also provide the targeted expertise that you may need in your business.

Organise a Local Meetup Group

If possible, try talking to others working in your field to find out how they make the most of the infrastructure available.

By asking about their marketing strategies, you may learn novel ways of implementing yours.

Find out as much as you can about your customers as this will put you in a stronger position to respond to their needs and compete.

There are several ways to network. You can send someone an email, make a phone call, engage with them on social media, WhatsApp, etc.

Before you attempt to connect and network with people, make sure you have an elevator pitch on hand. So you are not at a loss for what to say when people ask you what you do.

Try to get public speaking gigs even if you have to do these for free in the initial stage. Public speaking gigs will help you get your name out there and establish you as an authority in your niche.

Connect, Communicate, and Network

If possible, try talking to others working in your field to find out how they make the most of the infrastructure available in your country. Find out as much as you can about your customers as possible, as this will put you in a stronger position to respond to their needs and compete.

Before you attempt to connect and network with people, make sure you have an elevator pitch on hand. So you are not at a loss for what to say when people ask you what you do.

Try to get public speaking gigs even if you have to do these for free in the initial stage. Public speaking gigs will help you get your name out there and establish you as an authority in your niche.

Get Social

Digital marketing and social media marketing are here to stay. Therefore, you need to take advantage of these to help you market your business.

At the very minimum, have a Facebook and Twitter account. Post content, especially video content regularly. It will help you to build a strong rapport with your audience on social media.

Quit automating your social media activities and start engaging with your followers instead. Get chatty on Twitter and Facebook.

Have an account on LinkedIn and post often. Join relevant LinkedIn groups that focus on your niche. It is critical to use LinkedIn as a platform to establish yourself as a thought leader in your niche.

Don’t forget to build your brand on Instagram by giving your followers a glimpse behind the scenes where appropriate.

If you have a dedicated Facebook business page (it’s different from your regular Facebook profile), then don’t be afraid to ‘pay-to-play’ on Facebook.

While you’re at it, consider getting on the podcasting bandwagon if you can.

Have you launched a new product or service offering? Write a press release on press release sites. A press release will help to create a buzz around your brand.

Some credible press release sites will even publish your press release for free, helping you get some free publicity.

Building and nurturing professional relationships with journalists in your locality will go a long way in helping you build your reputation as a local expert in your niche.

These journalists will turn to you as the local expert when they need information and statistics about your niche to write their article.

Prioritise Local Search

According to this article, search engine rankings are more important than ever, especially if you have a physical location.

Think about it: What’s the first thing you do when you need to buy something? You look online.

Whether you plan to buy it online or visit a store, you’re likely going to start with a web search to do your research or track down the closest store.

For local businesses with a physical location, claiming your business on Google My Business is a critical and free first step that you should include in your marketing mix.

Claiming your business online with Google lets you adjust how your business appears in search rankings and on maps, including your hours, location, photos, and customer reviews.

According to the article cited above, one reason this step is crucial is that 50% of consumers who conduct a local search on their smartphone end up visiting a store within 24 hours, and 34% who search on their computer or tablet do the same.

Invest in Content Marketing

The same article cited above notes that content marketing can be a free and effective way to position yourself as an expert in your field.

Content marketing allows people to find you through search engine rankings and social media websites.

It involves creating and distributing helpful material that’s audience-focused and serves the purpose of boosting customer acquisition.

One of the most common forms of content marketing is blogging. You need to publish a blog post either on your own website or guest post on other companies’ blog and vice versa.

The former helps grow your own audience, but the latter extends your reach to other relevant audiences.

Don’t underestimate the importance of guest blogging. If you’re just starting out, guesting blogging or article marketing can work wonders in getting your business name out there.

Create evergreen content that is timeless and will stay useful and relevant for years to come.

Focus on informing instead of selling to position your company as a trustworthy brand worth doing business with;

Publishing evergreen content consistently on a set schedule will help to boost your search rankings. It will also help you build and keep a loyal readership and establish your business as a useful resource.

Content marketing is not as expensive and complicated as you think. But note that one primary goal of content marketing is SEO.

And you will not get the SEO benefit or return on investment to your website if you create content on all other platforms while forgetting your own website.

Copy What Works

There is a high possibility that you know some competitors that are doing marvellous work with their marketing.

There’s no shame in copying whatever marketing strategy that’s working for them. Since whatever’s working for them may likely work for you too, even if on a smaller scale because of your tight budget. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Guerilla Marketing

If you’re a business owner in a competitive industry, then you should look to using guerrilla marketing. Use it to drive potential customers to your website and drive conversions on your site.

According to this, guerrilla marketing can involve major indoor and outdoor promotions, user experiences that create brand awareness, or even stealth campaigns that indirectly lead people to think about your company and its products.

Other than the time needed in preparation and execution, guerilla marketing often requires nothing more than a little theatrical creativity.

So if you are looking to raise awareness and attract new customers, consider this marketing technique.

But a note of caution. Guerrilla marketing is a little risky. But the risk should only be in the success or failure of your marketing campaign and not in your running afoul of the law. So do nothing illegal that will land you in prison or worse.

Your Existing Customers

The money you spend attempting to gain new customers will far exceed the money you spend to keep these same customers. So make sure you look after your existing customers.

The simple act of giving gifts and souvenirs itself is more meaningful to your existing customers than its value. This is especially so if you add a personal touch to the gift or souvenir.

If you impress your existing customers with your performance, it will not take much to persuade them to help you in promoting your business.

Take the time to build and nurture business relationships with your existing customers. This will help to establish strong bonds with them and give them a reason to be loyal to your company. Great customer service is important.

Next Steps

Marketing your small business doesn’t have to cost a fortune. There are many strategies and marketing tactics you can take advantage of to help spread the word, and most of them are affordable (or even free).

All it takes is a little determination, creativity, and a carefully planned marketing strategy.

A small business will always have bigger competitors, but this doesn’t mean you can’t compete successfully.

Create your niche market by being able to offer a tailored service or unique product that exactly meets your customers’ needs.

Make special offers to your customer base to attract them to your brand. Your being small and having a shoestring budget means that you ensure that you get as many returns as possible for your marketing efforts.

Get on Google to research what questions people are asking about your brand, product, or service or industry. Try to provide answers to these questions on your blog or social media.

You can even use these questions as a basis for forming your elevator pitch, so you are never at a loss for what to say when you meet a potential customer.

Encourage your customers to leave reviews and testimonials online about your brand on online review sites like Yelp, etc. Reviews will help to establish your brand on search engines like Google.

Your size potentially gives you much more flexibility to respond to your customers. You can build strong, personal relationships and spend more time working with them.

Base your marketing tactics and marketing decisions on accurate information about your costs. Keep a careful eye on your product mix and stick to your business plan.

This way, you stand a good chance of success. Try not to fall into the trap of attempting to compete on price alone and remember that, while profit requires sales, sales don’t mean profit.

Conclusion

Did I omit any important marketing tips? Let me know in the comment section below.

And as a final thought, remember that it’s not a bad idea to get a consultation from an experienced marketing professional. Doing so will prevent you from wasting your precious marketing budget on expensive campaigns or shiny marketing tools.
So if you need help, let me know. I’ll be glad to help.

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