If you have just started a business, you will no doubt be eager to expand your client base and spread the word about what you do and how you do it. However, it can be hard to do this without having any funds to spend on a marketing campaign. Conversely, it can almost be financially riskier for a business not to market themselves. The good news is that there are literally hundreds of cost-effective ideas you can use to increase your revenue.
Below are five high-impact marketing suggestions that detail how to market your business at a fraction of the cost, and that will work for virtually every business.
Talking to Your Clients
It is interesting how much money businesses spend to gather marketing information to attract new clients when they have a wealth of information and opportunity within their grasp that exists in the form of their current client base. One of the most effective ways to increase revenue is to talk to your existing customers. Ideally, this should be done by someone who exists outside your company so clients are willing to be open and honest.
When you are assessing perceptions, you won’t need to talk to hundreds of individuals; simply choose 5-10 clients and contact them to see if they would like to participate in an interview. The important thing to remember here is to use what you have learnt. If you never make changes to your business, then you’ve wasted everyone’s time. One company implemented this strategy recently and was able to triple its business in one year. The owners learned what people wanted, how their solution made a difference, how to present it, how to price it, and then made the changes to improve these areas based on what they found out.
It’s important to remember that the conversation with your customer is exactly that, a conversation. Don’t make it a simple Q & A session; instead, have the interviewer engage in a conversation with them with a view to gathering as much valuable information as you can. You need to keep in mind that it isn’t about how satisfied they are – it’s about how much they value your products or services.
Package your Marketing Campaigns Creatively
A postcard or flyer is one way to market your business. But how about putting a small pack together including a variety of promotional items such as pens, balloons, cups, post-its etc. or whatever is relevant to your business. Start to think out the box, and your marketing strategies and campaigns will have more impact.
Furthermore, have a look at what other people in other industries are doing and adapt it to your own business. Think about all those particular details that will get you the most attention. The key to success here is to set clear objectives for your marketing efforts, and determine how you will measure its success. Then follow up on your campaign to measure the results and adjust the program if necessary.
Leverage Existing Relationships
On average, most people will know at least a couple of hundred people. Simple math says if you know 200 people and each of them know 200 people, that is 40,000 potential contacts you have available to you. Spending the necessary time developing relationships with the people you already know – clients, colleagues, family, people you’ve met through professional networks – can go a long way to helping you reach significantly more people.
Begin by making a list of every person you know. From there, prioritise your list into As, Bs and Cs. The As are the people who are your advocates; the people who feel strongly about you. They are your “cheerleaders” who would more than likely refer business to you right at this moment. The Bs might become advocates if they were to know more about you, so you need to spend time with these people to educate them. Finally, your Cs are the people who you don’t communicate with often enough. You might keep them in the loop, but they will need more time and nurturing before they’d refer any business to you. If there happen to be any names that remain, get rid of them from your list.
These are just some of the more popular cost effective ways to market your business when you don’t have a lot of money to spend. Try and implement at least one of them and see what sort of results you achieve.