3 budget marketing hacks for startups
As you are probably well aware by now, starting a business is by no means a cheap affair.
At first, the beermat calculations can sometimes get the better of you – and you forecast costs being a lot lower than they really are. This, when combined with the perils of cash flow, can spell disastrous results for a lot of young firms.
As time progresses, costs start to leak from your ears. It means that some areas start to lose out, with marketing tending to fall into this category.
Considering the importance of marketing in the life of a young business, this is bordering on the inexcusable. This is the reason we have penned today’s article, and we will now take a look at some of the low-cost ways to get your marketing off the ground as a young organization.
Do the SEO basics
It’s a long-term game, but in truth so should everything else in your business. Like it or not, SEO is still a fundamental element of a lot of marketing plans and depending on how competitive your niche is, the results can take varied amounts of time to come through.
For the time being, make sure you invest in the basics. Sometimes, this might be with help of something like Market Jar, but just ensuring that you have good content, relevant title and heading tags as well as the other standard SEO advice should give you a good platform to build on for the future.
The power of GMB
Also known as Google My Business, this can sometimes be one of the quicker wins – although it again depends on the competition levels in your industry.
GMB is something that manages the local listings that appear when you perform a search for a local product or service in your area. They are free to achieve, and by signing up to GMB you are giving yourself a fighting chance of being included in these listings.
The more information you can provide to Google the better. It means that you should look to provide opening hours, photos and anything else that shows the world you mean business.
Traditional marketing isn’t dead
It’s at this point that you may have been expecting us to dive into Facebook and PPC advertising, both of which are the new kids on the block and provide huge returns for visitors. At the same time, they are expensive – and these costs are just going one way.
It means that a business on a budget has to think outside the box. This is where traditional marketing comes into play, whether it’s leaflets, posters or even arranging local events.
Nowadays, the printing costs are dwindling, and this means that you can get more for your money. Not only that, but the offline and direct benefits that these forms of marketing drive can also impact your online efforts. After all, they will cause more people to search for your brand, find your website and the rest, as they say, is history.