Well maybe a penny. But not much more…
When we think of the word marketing, we often think of expensive advertising, like TV ads, print ads, or radio ads. It feels that to market right, you have to spend a ton of money.
But there some often overlooked marketing strategies that don’t have to cost much. Here are 14 ideas, from prominent marketers, about how to successful market your product without spending a penny…
Don’t sell, instead help
Don’t sell, instead help — As a small business owner, when you have to focus on generating revenue to keep the company alive, there can be a hard focus on selling to your customer. Instead, shift your orientation and focus on how you can help them, that will unlock more customers. — Heather Kernahan
Always ensure that the customer is satisfied
Always ensure that the customer is satisfied. At the end of the service, ask and confirm that the customer is satisfied and keep going back until the customer is satisfied. A happy customer is a referring customer and referrals are the backbone of a growing, young small business. They are also nearly free marketing for your business, which can be critical, especially in the early stages. — Patti Newcomer
Customers are better at marketing than you (part 1)
Customers are better at marketing than you: Ironically, the biggest marketing opportunity ahead of you doesn’t sit in your marketing department at all. Over the last five years, two key trends have emerged that should change the way most small businesses think about growth. The first is data which shows that the average Cost of Customer Acquisition (CAC) has risen by 50% over the last five years. The second is the fact that customer word of mouth and referrals are now the single largest influence on purchase behavior. All of which means, that your customers are more powerful than any marketing or sales team ever could be. So, your most efficient and effective new marketing strategy? Invest in customers. In practice that means have your team nurture customers just as you would nurture leads, invest in customer education and content in just as you would invest in prospect-facing content, and use data to spot and score your happiest customers, incentivizing them to spread the word, just as you would spot and score high value leads. It may not be as obvious, but existing customers have become today’s strongest marketing channel; and the businesses that empower them best will realize today’s biggest arbitrage opportunity. — Meghan Keaney Anderson
When in doubt, talk to your customers (part 2)
When in doubt, talk to your customers. Struggling with messaging, positioning or copywriting? Talk to your customers about the problems they’re facing, and how they see your product. Your customers are your best copywriters. — Alex Turnbull
Send a personalized “thank you” note
Send a personalized “thank you” note after meeting with a business prospect. This may sound like a common-sense idea, but it is actually quite unexpected in today’s digital era. Receiving a personalized hand-written note on a nice “thank you” paper really makes you stand out and makes the recipient feel special. We regularly conduct this practice and can’t tell you how many times our client prospects have commented about how thoughtful our gesture and note was. In your note, be sure to mention something personal from your conversation, but also to take a moment to underscore your business’ unique value proposition. — Jacques Hart
Leverage Controversy
Leverage Controversy : Weave your brand message into posts & articles on popular media. Hot issues may not be directly relevant but they catch user’s attention and then you can take that opportunity to redirect the user to your brand message. Marketing is all about strategically influencing the consumer’s attention. — Lexi Montgomery
Focusing
One of the most popular marketing strategies is focusing. If you are a small company or product, you’ll have more success by not offering a huge range of options and services, but focusing on one thing that you do best. It will also help you to define your audience / potential customer segment and get 100 % of the whole niche rather than 0.1% of the total pie. For example, there are many kinds of toothpaste on the market, but you decide that you will make “the best toothpaste for children” — thus you narrow down your niche and focus only on this segment. — Andrei Terekhin
Locality matters more than you think
Locality matters more than you think. When most businesses start, they immediately think their solution can help people worldwide. And for the most part, they may be right. However, should that be your business’ focus? It takes a ton of discipline to tell yourself and your team to NOT expand your company to the world right away. I’d encourage more businesses to stay local first. Do as much as you can to capture your local region. Grow as much as you possibly can within your 30+ mile radius. Then, whatever processes you create from this, do the same for other cities you plan to launch your product/service to. — Johnathan Grzybowski
The more you give the more you get
The more you give the more you get. I believe it is a responsibility to give back and help your community thrive. I do my part by volunteering my time, donating money and sharing my expertise where it makes the most sense. I have given talks to local groups and schools about marketing and entrepreneurship and I have served on several boards including a local non profit that started an anti-bullying initiative that 65,000 middle schools aged kids have gone through for example. My parents and grandparents did the same things in their towns where they lived when they were alive. Everyone has skills and talents they can share and is able to help out whether it is at a soup kitchen, food bank, homeless shelter, etc. Non profits need volunteers and board members to help them achieve their mission. What might seem like a small gesture can have big impact. You meet great people and those contacts tend to lead to referrals and new business opportunities from like-minded organizations so it really is a win-win. In my experience, successful people are kind, they listen, take risks, they are humble and generous. When you hang out with good people who do work they care about, good things tend to happen. — Paige Arnof-Fenn
Writing
Try to land a guest contributor spot. Want to write for any publication or blog out there? Build a relationship with another contributor at that publication, they’ll help you figure out how to apply to become a contributor yourself with time. Use a personalized conversation starter method to start a conversation with another contributor. — Dmitry Dragilev
Hire an outsider
Hire an outsider to tell you what’s going on that’s wrong because you are too close to it. And be open to critique and opportunities for improvement. — Alicia Williams
Share Trade Secrets
Share Trade Secrets. The web has made sharing insider tactics much more common. To become an authority in an industry, sharing these tactics is a great strategy and a way to provide more value than your competitors. This will attract potential customers who could decide to use your product or service as a result. If they decide to replicate your product or service in-house instead, then they would have done this anyways. — Kean Graham
Focus on existing clients
Focus on existing clients, not just new ones. Business owners are always focusing on getting more sales, increasing revenue, bringing in the next big client. But, what if we focused on serving our existing and previous clients more? Marketing to and serving those who already trust you is much easier than constantly chasing new clients. For example, as a web designer, I offer website maintenance to past clients, which helps them, and brings in recurring income to my business. — Jessica Freeman
Storytelling
Storytelling — the power of sharing empowering personal stories cannot be underestimated. Think about mass media success stories down through the decades — they were all “Based on a True Story.” — Marie O’Riordan
