Advertising is always a huge part of any business, and the decisions you make on this front can make or break how the finances look come the end of the year. But what if finances are tight? How can you do things on a budget? After all, we can’t all have the advertising spend of the likes of McDonald’s or Coca-Cola.
Estimates suggest ‘that a business owner may spend anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 for initial start-up branding’, but are there ways to advertise that involve spending below this average. Perhaps more than you may realise. In fact, many methods are free, meaning you can make money without spending a penny.
Start with the basics
At the very least, your business should be visible on Google Maps via a Google Business Profile. Given that it’s free to set one up for your business, it would be crazy not to have one in this current techno-centric environment. Let the positive reviews pile up and do the advertising for your business.
As well as setting up your Google Business account, make sure it’s connected to your socials – Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, as many as you can find. Even TikTok if your audience happens to be of a younger variety. Knowing who to target and how to target them through each platform can once again bring in the pennies without costing any.
Engagement is the key, and it essentially lets your customers and clients do the work for you. Networking with similar companies and like minded individuals can help you get backlinks without asking, increasing your domain rating and allowing you to beat the competition in the SEO arena.
Social media can also be used to improve things, via polls and general engagement with customers. The personalised aspect doesn’t cost a penny more and can really go a long way. Similarly, tagging other brands and using hashtags can help you reach the feeds of countless other prospective customers.
Accelerate your business
If advertising isn’t your strong suit – especially when it comes to OOH advertising – then a Clear Start product can provide a helping hand, and you should never be afraid to ask for help when needed. You’re only one person, and you can’t be expected to handle every single aspect of your business. Take care of the aspects you can, and let someone else deal with the rest.
In doing so, you can not only improve your social media, SEO, and offline presence, but also work on your email marketing plan. It’s a fantastic way to bring in new visitors, but more often than not could end up in the spam folder. Beat the spam filters and the risk of the reader quickly deleting the email by giving it that personalised touch. Subject lines are crucial here – make your emails unignorable.
You might even want to consider applying for a business award and getting some free advertising. There are countless ways through which you can let the product or service speak for itself, and you’d be wise to take advantage of these processes.
Advertising doesn’t have to be this expensive burden through which spending more equals success. Quite the opposite if you’re creative and smart enough to take advantage of all the free bits and pieces available for businesses.
