Marketing with a small budget is not easy. The blessing of having a small marketing budget is, in my opinion, that it makes you a much better marketer. When you have very little money to spend on marketing you are forced to:
*Track the results of everything you do
*Think out of the box to stretch your marketing dollars
*Stay on the cutting edge of marketing so you have the opportunity to
take advantage of anything new coming down the pike
*Stay focused on your niche
Most of us have very little or virtually nothing in our marketing budgets simply due to the economy. It’s during times like these that we all feel like “we’re at the end of our rope.” BUT, it’s times like these that help us become better marketers and we should be excited about the opportunities we have right now.
Three things we can do now to make our marketing efforts stronger:
1. Enhance and improve our social media presence. For instance, I have not yet ventured into the world of video, but will be doing that in the next couple of months. What can you do to further develop your social marketing campaign?
2. Work to gain new partners. Who do you currently work with that could be a potential partner? A supplier, a customer, the business down the street? Are there events in your community that you can partner with to help increase your visibility? Is there a cause you can partner with? This is an area where you need to think out of the box – you’ll be surprised with what you come up with.
3. Look for volunteers to help you. Yes, I said volunteers, not paid staff. When my assistant’s position was eliminated in 2009 I had a big “just when you think you’re at the end of your rope” moment. Thinking out of the box I was able to obtain a college marketing student as an intern and I found someone who has her own home business that was looking for something else to do outside of her home who wanted to volunteer to work with me. Who can you ask to give you a little help? How can you put the word out that you would like a little help?
When you’re thinking that you’re at the end of your rope, take a step back, take a deep breath and look around you. There is no shortage of ways to market your business if you open up your eyes and your mind and take advantage of what is available to you!
For extra ideas and tips, I hope you will become a fan of Just a Small Town Girl on Facebook as I post a few interesting articles, tips and ideas there that I find each week.
What are you doing with your small marketing budget to make your marketing a success?