If you want a “cheap” way to drum up new business, you need an effective strategy. That may not equate to bargain basement prices, but it will equate to getting the best return on the investment you make. What you don’t want is a low-cost venture that causes you to lose potential revenue because it can’t get the job done. You need the right message, in the right place, at the right time, for the right price. Here are some tips on how to spend as little as possible to achieve that goal.
How You Get More Customers the “Cheap” Way
Use Everything You’ve Got
Often, a business has a plethora of valuable content and resources that are not being fully utilized. It could be a blog that isn’t incorporated into your website, contacts that are not being reached out to via a newsletter, business cards that don’t list the company URL, new forms that haven’t been uploaded onto your site yet, or fresh ideas in someone’s head that could be used on your website so visitors know that you’re alive!
Research the Competition
Business is competitive by nature, so it’s important to know what kind of running shoes the other racers are wearing. You can’t expect your business to remain strong just because it has “always done well”. There are new players out there (with new shoes and protein bars), and not keeping pace with them is too costly.
Be Where the Customers Are
A big part of business success is showing up to the party. You have to remind people of who you are and how you can help them get what they desire. Go to the networking events, host workshops, and be active on social media. And, if you want to reach out further than that while conserving your valuable time, hire someone to put your business on the first page of Google. What better way is there to get customers, than to be there to answer the cyber door when they knock? Nothing is cheaper than paying for targeted ads only seen by those who want what you’re selling!
Define Your Target
In the past, we have talked about how much money is wasted in print and other expensive marketing arenas by ineffective targeting. It’s not that they can’t bring in customers. It’s the fact that you pay for every ad that is printed or aired, regardless of how many (or how few) interested people may see or hear it. In a real-life worst case scenario, a local tree service recently paid for a large mailing where over 2,000 premium postcards went to a single apartment complex. And, there were many other apartment complexes in their targeted area where, obviously, no one needed a tree service! If you want cheap, you simply can’t afford to waste ink, paper, or airtime. Even with better targeted demographics, there’s a price for shaking glitter over a neighborhood to see how much will stick.
Invest a Little Online
It really doesn’t matter whether you are an internet-driven business or not, people will use your website to gauge the quality of your business. That is true even if they heard about you by word-of-mouth. If you build a free drag-and-drop website, fill it with photos you took on your phone, let all calls go to voicemail and cross your fingers, you are writing a chapter of a book that won’t finish well. Inexpensive solutions are often the ones that end up costing you the most in the end. Nothing costs more than lost revenue, so make sure you don’t skimp on the things that really matter, like a professional and purposeful online presence. You don’t have to break the bank. Just be sure that the quality of your website and marketing is on par with the quality of your product or services. If it took you years to build your castle, a $5 road sign won’t do it justice. This is how cheap becomes expensive, because no one will know how awesome your business is if you don’t “prove” yourself with a professional online image.
There are plenty of ways to take the “cost” out of marketing, but ultimately, it comes down to making calculated decisions about how to get a return on your investment. That’s our specialty; and, we’d be happy to walk you through the “cheapest” marketing options for your particular business!
