Four No Cost Marketing Strategies for Building Business
2018/05/18
I was talking with a prospective client around some ways he can grow his marketing presence and do it “on the cheap.” Seems like a common theme amongst many small business owners, which got me thinking, I know many that wrestle with the same dilemma when thinking about marketing:
• What should I do?
• How much is this going to cost?
• Should I just continue relying on Word of Mouth?
As entrepreneurs we are inclined to search for ways to do things on our own, its in our nature. Its one of the reasons that Word of Mouth reigns supreme with many businesses as the primary way for marketing and generating new business. Lets face it, its highly effective and works well, and its nice to get your clients helping you sell. However, this is not the best way to drive growth. With Word of Mouth, you are solely relying on others to build your pipeline. While Word of Mouth is a necessary component it should not be the only one.
If your primary objection to marketing is cost, there is great news, there is plenty of marketing that can be done for little to no cost! We are highlighting four marketing activities everyone should do to improve their positioning as they continue building their respective businesses. These actions can be done RIGHT NOW, for improving your business image with clients for little to no cost, other than the time you invest.
1. Research: Few truly do it, but those that do truly reap the rewards. Understand your ideal target client/buyer targets. This will enable you to focus marketing efforts to building more of those ideal accounts. This practice will allow you to fine tune communications to this group, enabling more effective communications with them. Know your clients. Additionally time should also be invested to know your market competitors. The more you know about them, the stronger you will become.
2. Email: Leverage the power of Email to extend reach to your targets. Email works and it is an ideal way to reach new clients, plus its a tool that we all have already, so use it. Email can be done at your pace and also at no cost, when you are focused and targeting. Be certain you develop and implement an email signature for your business. Your signature should be concise and provide a means for contacting you back. While it may seem obvious, having a professional signature on your emails helps to elevate your company in the mind of the buyer and provides your contact convenience, it is always a great practice to implement.
3. Network and Social Marketing: Your existing ideal clients are a great source of referrals for you. Be sure to ask them directly for referrals. If you are not doing it, START today. As it pertains to a social profile, understand where you can find your targets and set up those accounts for your business and use them. At a minimum consider registering accounts with Linkedin, Facebook, Youtube, and possibly Instagram. While there are many other networks out there and I am in no way endorsing these, by far these provide access to the largest networks. Build your networks and connect with your colleagues and clients. Social is free to use, easy to do and most customers are using the internet for researching and learning. Take full advantage of these accounts and use them regularly to grow your connections and build your brand. A great thing about these networks is they provide users with ways to research people with similar interests and needs, which provides great opportunity for new discussions and connections.
4. Partnerships: As you build your network and business, look for opportunities to partner with others to expand and grow your opportunities. Ideally target connections with businesses that have overlap with the same target prospects. Sharing connections and referring clients to others helps in many ways, it increases the value you provide to others by sharing resources enabling you to strengthen connections and grow business. Expanding your network is a great way to extend your reach and really strengthen your team for future growth and success.
Implementing these four no cost growth orientated marketing strategies may not open the floodgates, but will be a great way to kickstart marketing activities while simultaneously building a social presence for your organization. Furthermore, the content that you create through the social profiles becomes additional content you can use to help support growing your web presence while providing you with options for sharing your accomplishments with clients and prospects