10 Low-Cost Marketing Ideas Your Small Business Should Try

It’s a given that small businesses have small or even nonexistent marketing budgets. Thankfully, the business landscape is now full of low-cost or even free marketing tools that can quickly expand your brand’s presence and reach. Which of the ideas below have you tried?

Silicone wristbands 

Once associated with cycling, custom silicone wristbands are now used for promoting all kinds of causes and organizations. They only cost a few cents each, are attractive, and can be highly customizable. If you’re not sure how to make wristbands, you can always order them customized to your specs at still very affordable rates.

Related: 5 Advantages of Using Wristbands to Promote Your Cause

Google My Business

if you have a brick and mortar location and want it to be easily found on Google Search and Google Maps, you’ll need a Google My Business profile. Fortunately, setting up a profile is both easy— and free!

Video content

These days, everyone has a smartphone with a camera that can shoot in high-definition video. This makes it easy for virtually any small business owner to start shooting and uploading decent quality video content that could attract a wider customer base.

Instagram and Pinterest

Your smartphone camera is also capable of shooting interesting, high-quality product photos. Use it to your advantage by sharing product updates and other things related to your business on popular photo-sharing apps and sites.

But what if good content never get heard? To get heard, always use proper and popular Instagram hashtags by using hashtag generator tool to generate really good hashtags for your really good content to reach more and more users.

Related: This Is How You Can Make Money on Pinterest

Tag satisfied customers and influencers on social media

Tagging is a powerful tool for letting more people know about your brand. Something as simple as a thank you for a positive response or a good review can go a long way into getting your brand wider recognition.

Blogging and content marketing

Use your blog or website to share insights that might be useful for people who might be interested in your brand. This not only helps you to cultivate a wider following within your target market, but it also helps your business get found on search engines when people look for topics you have written about.

Make sure your employees believe in your business

Your employees have the potential to be your most powerful brand ambassadors. If you don’t treat them well, any attempt at positive branding you have will ring hollow. Making sure they believe in your business shouldn’t cost much at all — but it may be the most important thing you can do for your brand.

Participate in industry events and conventions

Doing this isn’t always the most affordable or most practical thing to do. However, there are likely to be at least a few events and conventions that are completely free to join. These gatherings can be excellent opportunities for meeting new suppliers and buyers and can help you keep abreast of what your competitors might be doing. You can also hand out your silicone wristbands, stickers, or other convention giveaways to spread the word about your brand even further.

Stickers 

Everyone loves a well-designed sticker. A branded sticker in the right place can potentially create hundreds of brand impressions a month. Best of all, they don’t cost very much to make. Give them away to customers and suppliers as gifts and stick them anywhere you can.

Host a class

If you’re confident enough to start and run a business, you must know at least a few things worth teaching. By sharing your knowledge, you can help your brand go further and greatly help increase the reach of your professional network.

There is no shortage of low-cost ideas that can help your small business match bigger competitors. While they may be “free” or “low-cost” they are nevertheless legitimate and effective ways of pushing your marketing into unexplored and potentially lucrative territory. The key is to find the ones that make the most sense in your present context and to invest the time to do them right.

What other low-cost methods can you suggest? We’d love to hear from you!