Skip to content

You likely have heard the phrase, “you need to spend money to make money.” I’m not here to argue that from either side but digital marketing has allowed businesses with very small budgets to make big impressions. While it hasn’t exactly leveled the playing field, it certainly has helped businesses gain a larger audience with very little investment. 

A picture containing building, table, front, sitting Description automatically generated

4 Areas to Work on to Gain a Larger Audience Through Minimal Investment  

Before we get into the strategies for better marketing on a small budget, it’s important to lay out the assumptions. We are assuming you have a website and social media profiles on the platforms your target market visits most frequently.

If you don’t, those are the first things you need to secure.  

Also included at the end of each tip is advice on “things to do later.” These items require a little more investment but should be on your To-Do List when you have additional money or are drawing up your next budget.  

Now back to that list. 

Keywords  

What do people use to search for you? What phrases and questions might they ask to find a business like yours? Incorporate these into your web copy. The top keywords and phrases you want to place for should be used in prominent spots on your website such as headers and titles.  

But don’t stop there.  

Make sure that these words as well as the cities and areas you serve are used throughout your web copy. Write articles around these phrases as well. 

If you have a website, you can make this change now in a few minutes. Next, brainstorm ways you’ll create content around those words, phrases, and questions. 

Thing to do later: redesign your website with a professional writer or SEO expert. They can help you make the most of your web copy to bring in more interested potential customers and increase your organic rankings. 

Call to Action   

This is probably one of the most commonly overlooked ways to improve your sales. When people are reading your posts or content and they’ve gotten to the end, they have spent time with you. To make it that far shows interest. Capitalize on that by asking something of them. This is referred to as a “call to action.”

Your call to action should fit the stage of the sales cycle they are in. For instance, if someone is checking out your about page they generally are just finding out about you and want to know more. Ending your about page with a “buy now” button is probably a little premature. On the other hand, ending a demo video with a “buy now” call to action is not. 

Thing to do later: Track and test your calls to action. Words, fonts, colors, sizes, buttons, and locations all feed into a person’s likelihood to follow the call to action. Test these things by creating multiple ways to format the same call to action. Analyze your data to see which are most effective.   

Blog 

A blog is a great way to invite your audience to get to know you on a more personal level. It’s also the perfect way to tell your business story and allow it to evolve over time. It promotes your personality and encourages people to do business with you.  

Keep in mind blog posts should have calls to action as well.  

Thing to do later: create an in-depth written (or video) solution to your customer’s biggest problem. Use it as a lead magnet to increase sales. 

Explanation and Framing 

While you are reworking website copy, make sure you use some copyrighting skills. One of the many “tricks of the trade” is explaining why your company is the best. Then, use that reason to shape the best buying practices. For instance, if you provide a “pet-friendly” solution in your business, create content around how other solutions can be detrimental to a pet’s health.

By following this course of action, you have positioned yourself as the pet-friendly provider and the only solid choice for responsible pet owners without directly saying it. The customer reads your pet-friendly solution and makes the decision for themselves, which makes it more believable and seems less like heavy-handed advertising copy.

Another Inexpensive Marketing Idea

While the strategies mentioned here are free, don’t forget about another affordable option–social media/online advertising. If you create a very targeted audience campaign, you can spend less money and achieve the strongest return on investment. You can drive traffic to your content or website for pennies.

Marketing your business doesn’t have to be expensive. Now is the ideal time to use some of these inexpensive practices to grow your audience and establish know, like, and trust to improve sales. 

If you want to learn more about marketing for your business, attend our webinar on Web Marketing Ideas While Sheltering in Place on July 29th, at 11:00 a.m..