Introduction
Marketing is the heart of any business. Without marketing, no business can survive regardless of its product, quality, cost, or service. It is the medium through which potential customers get informed about the very existence of your brand and its benefits. Marketing is how you reach your future customers and educate them on the importance of the brand. As a result, marketing gets the lion's share of a company's budget. For many high-profile companies, marketing has become a tool to crush their competition and turn the entire customer base to their advantage.
Many MNC companies and e-commerce giants are on a mission to create a single authority where no competition will exist for them in the future. The dreams of small and medium businesses have been intermingled with the notorious aspirations of these giant companies, with all the money in the world to spend on marketing. However, these world-conquering Alexanders of the economic world have also created several ways for small businesses to adapt and survive, especially through cost-effective marketing.
In this article, we will discuss some of these methods that have the potential to change your small and medium business marketing campaigns.
Mindset
Often, small business owners are of the mindset that marketing expenses are just one among many unimportant expenses, instead of seeing them as an investment. Improving your product or adding features must be a higher priority than advertising to customers. A change in this mindset is required for business owners to navigate the highly competitive marketing world effectively.
The true cost of publicity
The age-old phrase that nothing comes for free stands as true as ever. There is nothing you can get for free, and often, the things that you get for free become the most expensive ones after a while. The following cost-effective marketing methods, on the other hand, minimise the expenses in terms of money but at the expense of higher requirements in your time and efforts.
1. Use word of the mouth
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The most underrated but highly effective marketing strategy known to humanity is recommendations from a trusted source. It is even more powerful than paid ads and generates five times more sales than the latter (Invite Referrals)! Ecommerce giants have leveraged the power of recommendations through their review sections, where dozens to thousands of customers comment on their experience with the product. Ecommerce users trust the review section more than the company or the user testimonials themselves. Trust effectively takes years to build for new companies.
However, with this information, small business owners can give her the importance of the recommendations and market their businesses without much cost. It is easy and less time-consuming as well. Using your current customer base is a highly effective strategy for leveraging the marketing of your business. Keep your current customer base happy, loyal, and involved, and they will reward you with recommendations. Here are some things you can do to keep your customers happy; most of them you should already be doing.
2. Start with print media marketing
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Print media is not dead, as many imagine. After the pandemic, the newspaper industry has been revived in many countries ( Forbes). Even now, newspapers hold a reputation for authentic news in people's minds. If your buyer persona is someone who happens to be a reader, newspapers make a valuable marketing channel for your company. The advertisements are not as high as those of television channels but are an authentic way to introduce your brand to the world. Newspapers and magazines make the perfect platform to market your business or introduce your business for the first time.
Carefully analyse your local newspaper and note down which pages are more likely to be viewed by its readers. While some start from the front page, many readers read a newspaper from the back page to the front. Many don't follow a pattern at all. Keep in mind that a front-page ad doesn't automatically mean higher exposure. Instead, go for a popular page at the back or in the middle.
If your newspaper is published in black and white format but has provision for colour printing for the advertisements, do your homework and choose which one would be better for your business. Though colour gets attention from the readers, if you post your ad in a cluster of advertisements with colour, you may lose the contrast, in which case a black and white ad might serve you better.
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3. Use Social Media Marketing
The world's population is nearing 8 billion while social media users make up nearly half of the global population! The things you need to gain prospects from social media are value, consistency, standards, and relevance. To build a follower base on social media platforms, you must be prepared to adapt. While trial and error before the launch help, after the establishment of the business on social media, sticking to the brand identity is more important.
Choose the relevant platform first, where your buyer persona is highly likely to hang out at the time of your content posting timings or marketing campaigns. Create a content calendar and brainstorm the ideas before you go all in on that platform. That being said, instead of jumping into every other social media platform on the internet, establish yourself as an authority on one or two major platforms and then use them to bring new followers to future platforms where you want to build your brand.
Create a brand identity with consistent colour palettes, fonts, and logos. Post regularly, which is normal on the platform. For example, while Twitter considers 1–4 tweets a day as normal, YouTube creators consider at least one video a week to be normal. Keep up the standard in your posts in terms of design, words, colours, and fonts, and never deviate from the quality of photos or videos.
The value must be your aim on social media rather than your brand or marketing messages. Social media users hang out on these platforms to relax, learn, or have a good time. This is why promoting your brand is a bad idea on the platform. As there is a rule of thumb in the outer world, keep business talk out of dinners, parties, and chance meetings. The same applies to social media sites as well. Instead of promoting your brand all the time, focus on educating, entertaining, or motivating them. Add value to their lives and they will add it to your business.
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4. Work with/promote other businesses.
One thing that we all forget in this competitive world is that we are all humans who need help from time to time. Your company frequently requires assistance from other companies and vice versa. Small businesses can help each other both online and in the physical world. You can refer other small businesses to your customers and promote those businesses by displaying their brands on your business premises. On social media platforms, you can mention and refer other small businesses to your customers and give them a push. As a result, many small businesses can survive and succeed together in front of large corporations ( Reference for Business).
Building a cluster of businesses takes initiative and loyalty from all the businesses involved. However, it is indeed possible when you consider that businesses are nothing but groups of people working on a product or service. With such a group, small business owners can concentrate their marketing funds and even make marketing events like expos possible.
If you don't know where to start, look out for local chambers of commerce, or committees and clubs related to your business. There you will find professional relationships and strive to make your business successful together. Moreover, such clubs can also help you with many other things, like keeping you updated with government policies and having your back all the time.
5. Get a website and start blogging.
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The Internet has levelled the marketing world with endless possibilities for good and for bad. In these times, having a business website has become as essential as having an office and a business phone number. All the important details about your business that your customers need to know must be available on your website. These days, you can buy a domain without any large investment and build it yourself. If you are not confident, you can outsource it to your local web designers or on the internet.
If you have no money, you may list your business on Google Maps or try free websites where you can host your website or blog without any cost. However, these are unprofessional and limited in their features. For example, you cannot receive payments or add payment gateways on these free website plans, which limits the functioning of your business. Buying your own website can give you more autonomy and serve you well if you keep on improving.
Blogging is an inexpensive way to bring customers to your doorstep. You might be surprised to hear that over 409 million blogs are read every month across 20 billion blog sites (OptinMonster). You can use blogging in combination with SEO strategies to bring in more website traffic. However, the quality of content and the keywords play a decisive role in your rankings. So, if you are not good at writing or SEO optimization, outsourcing will be the better option for you.
Related Blog - The Future of Content Marketing with AI
6. Ask for feedback.
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Customer feedback is an important marketing element that gets overlooked by marketers. According to the eMarketer and Bizrates survey, 98% of buyers read online reviews before making a purchase decision. Among these, 81% provide feedback when they’ve had a bad experience, which is 1.7 times more likely than in the case of satisfactory service ( Survey Monkey Buyer Report, 2018). If you communicate well with your customers, they will give you deeper insights and fresh perspectives on your business. It will give you groundbreaking discoveries and ideas that you can implement in your business later on. Feedback will give you access to a wider range of problems your customers might have and give you further opportunities to scale up your business. It will also open your eyes to the shortcomings of your product or service.
In a way, customer feedback is a mirror that reflects your business' true face instead of your perceptions about what it is. You may engage in conversations with your customers about the value your product or service provides for them. In return, they will give you deeper insights into your products that can revolutionise the way you manage your business. Asking for feedback can also create customer loyalty because it shows that you care about your customer. It can bring them back to your business time and time again. In the meantime, happy customer is highly likely to recommend your business to their friends. All in all, it is a win-win situation for your business and your customer.
Related Blog - Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Strategies
7. Network efficiently
Man is not an island. The same can also be said for a business as well. A business needs connections from across the industry. For example, if your business uses a computer to facilitate everyday tasks, you might need a cybersecurity professional to look after the system. In this hacking-prone digital world, safeguarding your computer files can get harder as time goes by. If you don't know someone that can help you with installing antivirus software or can safely manage the issue if your system gets ransomware, as is happening all over the world, you must give priority to your network. Several professions can make it easier for you to work in this competitive business world. Only networking can save you time, effort, and headaches.
Networking can also expand your horizons. According to Apollo Technical, there is a 40% closing rate from clients obtained through business networking. Through networking, you might meet future investors, co-founders, or game-changing professionals. Moreover, you will meet people who need your product/service and thus be able to increase your profit. Hence, always be active on professional social media sites like LinkedIn and Facebook. Never miss an opportunity to network with other professionals. Building relationships will help you down the line.
Conclusion
Marketing has become easier with the advent of digitalization and the popularity of social media sites. With globalization, more marketing firms are established every day to help businesses grow and reach their true potential. Along with them, there is a multitude of marketing opportunities both on the internet and in the real world that can empower your business. However, for small business owners, the costs can be a major concern.
Businesses with limited resources can try word-of-mouth marketing entries in print media advertising. They have high loyalty and can change your marketing game. You can network with others or join a local business group like the local Chamber of Commerce and become familiar with the work you do there. A website for your business and being active on LinkedIn and Facebook can also give you an added advantage. And finally, building professional relationships can always prove to be an asset for small and medium-sized business owners.
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