7 Money Saver Advertising Methods for Your Business

For many small businesses, the word advertising sounds like a hefty expense as spending on Billboards, TV Commercials, radio ads, and a lot of other commercial advert mediums. In 2019, however, small business advertising plans does not have to involve a huge budget. Online advertising reaches your target audience right in their computer, or cell phones. Whether they are at home, office, or in a café while having a cup of coffee.

According to a recent survey, 11 new people join an online community every second. It merely means that if your business isn’t using the avenues available, you’re missing out on a golden opportunity.
It is believed that limited funds give small business owners an excuse to flex their creative muscles. You have an excellent opportunity to share your vision with the world. It is true, many small enterprises struggle when it comes to marketing and advertising. But here are some ways you can market your business online on a limited budget:

1. Social Media Marketing:

Socialize on social media. This can be regarded as one of the most effective means of marketing regardless of the size of your company. It is predicted that businesses who don’t have an online presence may experience a downturn in 2019. The Pew Research Centre reports that the usage of social media between 2005 and 2015, increased nearly ten folds.
There are several online social media platforms in which you can showcase your product or service to the world. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. All these platforms are great; however, it is best to master a few and build an audience. The bigger your audience, the more traffic you can bring into your site. The great thing about using these online platforms is that most of them offer an advertising service at a minimal charge which you can tailor to your target audience.

2. Content Marketing:

Content marketing means creating valuable content for your audience. This could be accomplished by writing blog posts, vlogging, hosting podcasts/webinars, etc. Furthermore, designing infographics or submitting articles to online authority sites can create active customer engagement. This single act helps you not only to gain authority as an expert, but you also get free traffic to your website and web content. You can also offer to be a guest blogger for another website or be interviewed on a podcast or Radio show events.
You can also answer questions on sites like quora.com, LinkedIn groups, and yahoo answers. The mentioned above would help boost your customer loyalty and showcase your expertise in a particular field in which you want your business to thrive. While doing these always make sure you monitor conversations so you can find opportunities to promote yourself.

3. Email Campaigns:

Newsletters and email campaigns are absolutely a must for your digital marketing strategy. I wrote a previous post on email marketing here. On your website, you simply add an opt-in form for your potential customers. While visiting your site, they can sign up. Many website builders and email service providers offer plugins that make integrating sign-ups easy to use.
If your business does not have a webpage, you can undoubtedly create a Facebook page. You can also add an email newsletter sign-up form on Facebook. In fact, with a Facebook page and an email list, you can start marketing your small business without a website.
Once you have an email list, you should engage with them regularly. Follow best practices for email campaigns to get better results. I covered this topic with more details here.

4. Pay-Per-Click Advertising:

Pay-per-click ads are one of the oldest tools or mediums when you talk of digital marketing. The challenge one might experience with pay-per-click advertising is to reach the target audience. The key to making pay-per-click successful is to use “long-tail keywords.” Meaning, a more specific collection of keywords. If you run a cleaning company that focuses on cleaning offices after hours, using long-tail keywords is perfect. Instead of using “cleaning business,” you might get better results with “after-hours cleaning.”
It should be noted that pay-per-click is the most expensive when it’s done through the top search engines like Google. You can often find smaller pay-per-click venues like Bing that aren’t used as much. They don’t have as broad a reach, but they are cheaper.

5. Online Banners and Displays:

It depends strongly on the product or service. You may be able to find some advertising spaces in a small niche website or blog that speaks directly to your target audience. Most small businesses ignore this opportunity, but there is a great potential to drive some traffic to your business with a bargain.

6. Collaboration:

As a small business, it is always essential to have some partnerships with similar companies. My janitorial company had a cooperation with a carpet cleaning company. As we cleaned houses and officers, when carpet cleaning was requested, we sold their services. On the other hand, when someone asked for a cleaning job, the carpet guys sold them our services. Finding the right partnership can help your business to flourish. Non-competitive is preferred, but you can benefit from competitive also. For some time, we had partnered with another janitorial company. If for some reason we could not make the schedule, we had someone to call on. In most cases, by collaborating with each other, you can expand your customer base because you’ll be reaching new people.

7. Traditional Adverts:

This entails the use of previously known advert mediums. These mediums include making use of coupons, handbills, and fliers, billboards, yellow pages, and magazine advertising. While traditional means of advertising still working for specific types of business, it is a slowly dying industry.

Advertising is critical for a business to thrive. Familiarizing yourself with the diverse forms of marketing could turn out to be a valuable asset. Another significant factor is to maintain notes of your promotions. Over time, you can compare which worked better for your type of business.