You need to tell customers why they should choose you and it all starts with picking the right marketing methods. And you don’t need a fat budget.
Here are 3 low-cost marketing strategies you can start using right now.
1. Creatively Ask For Referrals
Think about all the things you’ve bought because a friend told you to. I’m sure you wouldn’t have if the CEOs of those companies came to your doorstep telling you why you should make an order.
You can apply the referral strategy to your business, and here are some ideas.
• Send A Thank You Card
You can do this before or after the order. Make sure your logo is quite conspicuous on the card because people are going to ask questions when they see it.
Your clients would find it easier explaining to prospects that your company sent it over after you delivered a project.
• Be Sure Your Current Clients Know About Everything You Do
Maybe you sell iPhone cases and screen protectors, do all clients know you also sell power banks and car chargers? It doesn’t mean they’d buy, but they’ll have you in mind when they know someone who wants to.
• Let Them Introduce You
If you’re about reaching out to a prospect, you can check for clients who already have a relationship with the lead and ask for an introduction. It completely ups your chances.
• Set Up A Referral Page
On your website (and no, don’t say you don’t have one), put up a page where you can send satisfied clients so they’d show their friends through email or social media.
• Provide Value
The best way to be known is to be the best at what you do. No one wants to refer a bad product. So when your client has a project, make sure you knock their socks off so they’d have no choice but let others in on their joy.
2. Create A Blog
There are some must have sections of a website. An about section and a blog are some of them. The former can only be updated once a year but the latter faces extinction in the cyberspace if not updated at least once a month.
And you can incorporate those blog updates into your marketing strategy, look at these ideas.
• Start A Conversation
It doesn’t happen every time but there are topics that do pop up and go viral in your industry. Maybe the government has made amendments to a law that’d affect businesses or a top firm is shutting down.
Apart from the news sites reporting the usual general info, very few sites would go in, analyzing what this new change means for the community. So you can start the conversation and even chip in a few lines on how your product or service would help people moving forward.
• Publish Linkable Content
Internet marketer Brian Dean of Backlinko calls this Skyscraper content and summarizes the technique in 3 steps, finding link-worthy content, making it better and promoting it.
Link-worthy posts are popular posts that have been linked to in the past. You can make them better by improving their design and offering new advice so it positions you as an expert and then promoting it through social media and Influencers in your niche.
• Write A Guest Post
Sure you can get a guest posting gig on a popular site without running a blog yourself, but having one increases your chances as you’d have samples that demonstrate authority to the site editor.
How does it help your business?
There’s usually an author page given to guest post authors and depending on the site, you can be allowed to include up to 3 links and that’s free advertising space for your business.
3. Create an Email Newsletter And Boost Your Subscriber Numbers
An email newsletter helps build that personal relationship with your clients. It reminds them about you, your products and services.
It’s just a good way to make sure prospects don’t forget about you and there are many ways to create one today. Some even for free.
But when you’ve created one, you need prospects to subscribe. You can’t be sending mails to web spiders. Check out some ways to boost your subscriber numbers.
• Include Social Sharing Buttons
And make them noticeable. One way to get new subscribers is by asking old ones to share. But no one will copy and paste an entire post ‘cause they want their friends to see it. So make it easier by including those buttons.
• Give Something
A webinar, a free resource, just think of something that people need so badly they wouldn’t mind giving you their emails.
And of course, it should be relevant to your service. Don’t give away editing tips when you’re a freelance programmer.
• Summarize A Post
With the average internet user having an 8-second attention span, it’s clear not everyone will read through your 5000-word post.
But you can get the key points and ask for their emails so they’d get the shorter eBook version.
• Add A Call-To-Action
You want people to do something, tell them. You want them to get on your newsletter, tell them. You should have a sign-up button on your social media pages so prospects can get on your list in one click.
• Use Popups
Don’t confuse this with slamming visitors with popups on every click. That doesn’t work, never will. If your website is engaging, people would click on one or two more pages before leaving.
So you can use what’s called an exit popup. It’s displayed when someone has interacted with your site for a few seconds but didn’t drop an email.
And don’t ask for too many details on your landing page. Just the email address is okay. You can get the rest while developing that business relationship.
So you don’t need a fat reserve to be known. Use these low budget marketing strategies and get out there.
