From my experience, one of the first cuts a business makes when times are hard is their marketing budget. It’s not what I would recommend but it’s often deemed as something that’s more flexible as opposed to things like production, maintaining services, and sales.
But the reality is that you don’t want to stop marketing your business during difficult times, you actually need to be in front of customers and prospects even more.
And if you are working on a shoestring budget for your marketing, that doesn’t mean your marketing can’t be effective. You simply have to know how to make the most of your limited funds, and the ways you can generate business for free. This often means less spend but more of your time working on your business and marketing it.
In this article, I’ll look at how you can make marketing on a shoestring budget work for you, so you can keep your business pushing forward.
1. Leverage “Free” Marketing Like Social Media and Email Marketing
The beauty of digital marketing is that many tools are free to use, and the cost is your time and effort. This holds particularly true for social media, email marketing and making the most of your Google My Business Profile.
Social Media Marketing
Just think of all the social media platforms you can register business accounts on for free – LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (now X) and TikTok for example. These are all potential marketing outlets and have a virtually unlimited scope and reach.
The beauty of social media marketing is, is if you are willing to put in the time, the rewards can be great. Knowing which platforms your customers and prospects are using is important as then you can concentrate your efforts on two or three channels. And, unless you do things like spend on social media advertising campaigns, there is no other cost except your time.
If your business is working on a shoestring budget for marketing, social media is one of the first areas I advise looking at. And if you’re unsure how to best use the channels there is plenty of free training out there – in fact we have some training on Social Media Marketing that’s free and available 24/7 here: https://www.keyprinciples.co.uk/legal/webinar-resources/ as well as here: https://www.keyprinciples.co.uk/webinar-resources/.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is another strategy that is ‘essentially’ free providing you do the work yourself. The only expenditure is time and perhaps a small fee from some email marketing software providers. It’s quite possible for you to create email newsletters, simple business emails, or even make use of free email marketing templates on websites like HubSpot.
It’s only when you move into the world of email marketing platforms and more complex email campaigns including customer databases, etc., that the cost starts to increase. Even then, there are free email marketing platforms like Mailchimp, MailerLite, and Campaign Monitor that can help with automation and reaching the right customers.
Google My Business Profile
Google My Business or a Google Business Profile is one of the simplest and most effective things you can do with a tight marketing budget.
It’s free to complete and the potential benefits can be immense. To create the profile, you must fill out various business info such as photos, products, locational info, and opening times. Once set up customers can add reviews for you.
The information on your profile then appears on different Google outlets such as search engine results and Google Maps. It boosts exposure and makes your business stand out from the competition especially if you have lots of 5-star reviews.
The features like reviews and opening times also help potential customers make quicker purchasing decisions. Creating your Google My Business Profile is likely one of the things we suggest during an initial strategy session together with other potential marketing avenues.
2. Let Your Customers do the Marketing for You
This might sound incredibly cheeky but it’s a tried and tested marketing method and great if you have a reduced market budget.
You’re essentially taking the “word of mouth” concept one step further and using it digitally. The premise is simple – you use the positive experiences customers have with your business as a form of marketing to make your products and/or services seem more appealing to potential customers.
Three simple ways you can do this is social proof, referral schemes, and communication with existing customers.
Social Proof – Reviews & Testimonials
Social proof should be a cornerstone of your marketing strategies as it’s one of the best ways improve your reputation and encourage new customers to come onboard with you. It is essentially reviews and testimonials provided by existing customers and can include:
- Reviews and star ratings on product pages.
- Testimonials on your website.
- Reviews on social media pages.
- Reviews on third-party apps and sites like Google My Business and Trustpilot.
The only thing social proof costs is time. Time to add a reviews module to your website. Time to set up a Google My Business Profile. Time to register a Trustpilot account. Or time to create a testimonials page on your website, for example. The other expenses such as website hosting are already budgeted for.
You then need to encourage customers to help you by leaving plenty of reviews. I’ve written a blog about this already at called 20 Ways to Get More Reviews for Your Business.
Customer Referral Schemes
Many businesses run referral schemes and they can be a great way to attract new customers with only a small expense.
Typically, a referral scheme involves offering the referee and referrer a small discount which is the marketing cost. For example, perhaps you’re a boutique fashion store and you have a referral scheme offering a 5% discount for existing customers and the person they refer, if the person makes a minimum purchase.
That discount or benefit from the referral scheme, plus the time to implement it into your online store or website are the only costs. The benefits are increased customers, but also guaranteed sales that are generated from the T&Cs of the referral scheme.
Here at Key Principles, we run a referral scheme and you can check it out at https://www.keyprinciples.co.uk/client-referral/.
Maintaining Contact with Existing Customers
Don’t overlook the importance of your existing customers and maintaining friendly, open communication with them.
Staying in touch with your clients, whether it’s an email, phone call, or SMS message costs next to nothing. However, by maintaining that communication, you can potentially secure repeat business from them, more sales or work, and they may help you find new customers via their network of contacts.
The more you stick in their minds, the more likely they are to share their positive experiences with your company with others. Always be sincere in your communication and place their interests first.
3. Consider Alternative Marketing Methods like Video and Influencers
If you are working on a shoestring budget perhaps it’s time to think outside the box and look at alternative marketing strategies?
As the internet and consumer habits evolve, new marketing methods start to shine and the great thing is, is that many of them are free. Two potential low-cost options include video marketing and influencer marketing.
Video Marketing
Did you know that some sources show that 91% of businesses used video marketing as part of their strategy?[1] It’s becoming that important, and contrary to popular belief, you don’t need expense camera equipment and a studio to create compelling marketing material
Instead, all you need is a smartphone with a decent camera! Video marketing is incredibly cost-effective because of this, and you can host the videos either on your website or free video platforms like YouTube.
Examples of video marketing includes:
- Product reviews
- Product demonstrations
- Q&A sessions
- Live giveaways
- Behind the scenes footage
There’s also a variety of free video editing software too like DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Express, and Filmora if you want to create more professional content.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is seeing an upsurge and I expect this type of marketing to expand in the near future. Currently, it’s more common in specific industries such as beauty and wellness, but as it gains popularity it’s sure to make inroads into other areas.
The idea is simple – you form a contract with an influencer. You then either pay them a set fee or give them free products to sample. In return, they promote your products/services via their social media platforms. Influencers typically excel at building a large social media following and thus you benefit from the exposure they provide.
With either contract method, there is an expense. However, the beauty of influencer relationships is that you can raise or lower that expense to suit your shoestring budget. For example, if you spend less, the influencer might create fewer social media posts featuring your product.
4. Don’t Overlook the Importance of SEO and Content Marketing
You can spend money on SEO and ultimately hiring a business like Key Principles will drive your growth and ensure your SEO is working well for you and improving your search engine rankings and visibility.
However, SEO doesn’t have to be an immediate thing and there are some simple things you can do to set the ball rolling without spending too much money.
For example, if you have control over your website, you can do the following:
- Check for duplicate content and duplicate pages.
- Make sure all your images have Alt tags (alternative text tags with a proper description).
- Give each web page a unique META title and description that uses primary keywords.
- Make sure there are no broken links or redirects on your site.
- Check the mobile optimisation of your website.
These are simple things anyone can do within their web development platforms, and they can improve the basic on-page and technical SEO without spending a penny.
You could also do something simple like writing a weekly or monthly business blog. Start monthly and see how you get on. Use the blog to answer questions you commonly get asked by customers and prospective customers. Use keyword research tools and Answer the Public to identify useful topics. A great book on Content Marketing that I would certainly recommend is They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan.
5. Networking in the Really World
Yes, really… networking can be a great way to literally grow your network of contacts as well as engage with potential customers. Choose networks that are likely to frequented by individuals that are part of your target customer group. Visit exhibitions and events that are sector specific and mingle and make new connections. Just like online give value, be interested in others and make real connections.
Back in the virtual world, there are also networking opportunities with some networking groups now run via Teams and Zoom, and of course there are groups on both LinkedIn and Facebook for example that can be worth joining.
For me the key is not to join too many, to be focused, to offer value and to be present on a regular basis. Put the time in and you’ll reap rewards.
Refine Your Marketing Strategies and Remain Effective with a Reduced Budget
As you can see, marketing doesn’t have to cost money to be effective. It’s perfectly possible to work on a shoestring budget but still bring in new customers. The key is to understand the different free tools and platforms available, and the most cost-effective marketing methods.
I hope you found this article useful. Here’s to your success marketing your business on a shoestring budget.
[1] – Wyzowl – Video Marketing Statistics
