Low Cost Digital Marketing Ideas: Innovative and Effective Tips

In this blog post, we discuss some of the best low cost digital marketing ideas for business. We also provide tips on how to implement these strategies innovatively and effectively.

So whether you are just starting out or you have been in business for a while, read on for valuable advice!

Know your audience and market to them specifically

If you go to a grocery shop, you don’t expect to buy a car.

If you go to Starbucks, you don’t expect to buy toothpaste.

If you try to sell your product to a crowd that isn’t looking for it, you’re not going to sell it!

You need to know who your target audience is and market to them specifically.

If you don’t know who your target audience is, take some time to figure it out.

Know your audience and market to them specifically! If you try to sell your product to a crowd that isn’t looking for it, you’re not going to sell it! Click To Tweet

Do your research and answer the questions people have

When it comes to low cost digital marketing ideas, never underestimate the value of lurking on public discussion boards and social media groups!

You may run into someone who needs assistance (you can help), or hear about a local event that you might use to market your business.

To gain most benefit from this tactic, research forums related to your product/service, develop a great solution, and market it to the individuals who’ll most likely benefit from your solution.

By doing it this way you will get ahead of the competition and solve your customers’ problems in one fell swoop.

Harness social media creatively for marketing purposes 

Over 4.55+ billion people are active on social media across the globe.

If people spend a lot of time on social media, then being engaged on here can be an effective means to reach a wide audience.

Through social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Reddit you can locate your ideal customer avatar and cultivate a community.

Setting up an account/page on these platforms is free, but the time it takes to nurture and generate leads may be significant. Here is a list of some smart actions you can take on social media to build results.

Harness social media creatively for marketing purposes. Setting up an account on social media platforms is free, but the time it takes to nurture and generate leads may be significant. Take inspiration from this list of smart actions! Click To Tweet

• Post interesting and engaging content that will get people talking about your business.
• Hold contests and giveaways. This will increase brand awareness and attract new leads.
• Offer a free eBook, webinar, or coupon to attract new followers.
• Use social media to drive traffic to your website or blog. Once they arrive on site use tools to engage and drive towards your conversion points.
• Build strong relationships with your customers. Respond to comments and questions in a timely manner.
• Use hashtags to reach a wider audience. Hashtags help label your posts and create a niche. They allow for your content to be easily discoverable on pages. As hashtags are focused on a specific theme or interest, they can attract a more targeted and engaged audience.
• Collaborate with other businesses in your industry. This will help you reach new audiences.
• Tag companies that cater to a similar target market as yours, have similar goals, and are big players in a similar field of business. This can organically broaden the reach of your business to your desired target market.
• Encourage your current customers or followers to tag your company in their posts. This helps you reach new, potential audiences.
• Speak at events and conferences. This is a great way to gain exposure for your business and build your credibility.
• Host webinars. This is a great way to build relationships with potential and current customers.
• Be human! Produce an explainer video that shows your product in a humorous light. Poo-Pourri created a promotional video that went viral, resulting in the product developing huge brand recognition and significant market share on launch.

If you want to be successful on social media, make sure you are consistent, work with others in your community, and stay committed. Spend time on building out your profiles, and always, always think of the audience you’re targeting.

For useful social media marketing tips, check out the social media marketing articles in our blog section.

SEO for startups: How to get your page on top!

One of the digital marketing strategies that startups can use to get their pages ranking higher on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) is Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

By starting early with SEO, you can make sure that your website captures those who are searching for services like yours organically.

New to the world of SEO? Here’s a quick overview of how to drive more traffic to your content using SEO:

New to the world of search engine optimisation? Here's a quick overview of how to drive more traffic to your content using SEO: Click To Tweet

• To increase the number of visitors to your website, look for keyword variations that have a high volume of traffic with little competition using online tools like Moz Keyword Explorer. Modify your site to include those keywords.
• You may also need to make structural changes to your website, produce consistently high-quality content and attract backlinks to your domain.
• In order to increase backlinks to your site, post your company’s profile and URL on free business listings and answer questions related to your industry on sites such as Reddit and Quora.
• Don’t ignore local SEO. The best part about Google’s algorithm is that it is designed to serve up the most accurate, high-quality, and relevant content for any given search query. This levels the playing field and enables small businesses to compete with large competitors for page one presence.

Here are some local SEO must-dos:

• Add location-based keywords (think: “Dublin bakery”) to the titles, headings, and body content of your website pages.
• Get listed in online directories.
• Publish pages or blog posts specific to the neighborhoods you serve.
• Create a free Google My Business account. This must-have marketing real estate allows your business to show up on Google Maps and the local section of Google Search.

The upfront work is substantial when it comes to SEO. However, if you’re willing to invest the time now, the reward down the road will be well worth it.

Get more high quality leads with high quality content marketing

Content marketing is an effective way to build trust and relationships with consumers. It can help businesses attract and generate leads, expand their customer base and increase online sales.

Not only does it serve to demonstrate your expertise and genuine desire to benefit your audience. In addition, Google also prioritises high-quality content that best answers the questions its users are asking!

Here are some content marketing must-use tips:

• Set up a blog for your business where you add new and interesting content every few days that informs/entertains your readers in unique and practical ways.
• Infographics, videos, pictures and podcasts all belong to the content-marketing category. These are great for effective marketing when they are uniquely and interestingly used to grab the attention of the customer.
• Produce informative content outlining how to get more value from your products/services. This may include tutorials, guides, or FAQs. The content will create greater trust with your audience by addressing specific concerns or questions.
• Encourage social engagement. By asking engaging questions and encouraging dialog this all leads to engagements which are beneficial for a business.

Top tip 1: Publish great content!

If you’re not a writer, don’t lose hope. Effective content enables your audience to understand information more easily. There is no need for complex lingo, keep it simple using the phrases your ideal prospect uses to get answers to questions about your goods or services.

Don’t try to be fancy, just share your knowledge and expertise!

Create content that is valuable, interesting and shareable. Don’t try to be fancy, just share your knowledge and expertise! Click To Tweet

Top tip 2: Recycle/repurpose your old content.

Make the most of the work you’ve already done.

If you have a content hit, repurpose it across other channels!

Turn a successful webinar into a video tutorial. Transform a group of related blog posts or other content from your site into an ebook that you can promote through site popups or your email marketing program.

Never be afraid to mix and repost your old content. There’s a good chance the vast majority of people never saw it the first time.

By planning and executing high-quality pieces of content, you can reach your audience across multiple channels. Don’t wait, start creating!

For useful content marketing tips, check out the content marketing articles in our blog section.

Email Marketing might just be your most effective form of marketing!

Wish to engage with your customers regularly? Email marketing is up there as one of our favourite low cost digital marketing ideas.

Email marketing is a very inexpensive way of reaching people because it’s based on permission i.e. your audience has chosen to sign up for your newsletters.

Some sources claim a return on investment (ROI) of 400 percent or more on email marketing.

As long as you have a good list (carefully curated, rather than bought), and a steady stream of outgoing email communication. You will see a significant return on any time or money invested into email marketing.

Top tips to getting it right include:

• Develop an email marketing plan. Email marketing is a great way to get new visitors engaged with your business, as well as maintain relationships with your existing customers. Treat it strategically.
• Design an email workflow. Email marketing is free, however it takes time to build your list. Having an opt-in on forms and a “subscribe” button on your email signatures or on your blog can increase your audience. By sending content regularly to those who have agreed to receive it, you can turn potential customers into sales.
• Use tools to innovate. The data you keep on your customers can help you further target specific segments with content that is tailored to them. This increases your chance of engagement. Leveraging email marketing tools, like Convert Kit and Active Campaign can help you to keep track of your customers’ different qualities and create lists accordingly.

Further top tips for effective email sends include:

• Put thought and imagination into your subject lines.
• Always include an offer in your emails that will motivate your readers to take further action.
• Run A/B tests to figure out what copy and offers are working for your list.
• Offer a bonus content piece or coupon/discount for subscribing, you can get new website visitors to sign up for your newsletter.

Email was never intended to be a space for ads and mass sales. Instead, focus on building relationships with your subscribers by giving them information that they’ll find useful i.e. something that might even help solve one of their problems.

In return, people will begin to appreciate your efforts more, and actually look forward to opening up emails from you.

Referral marketing: the future of your business?

Referral marketing is a type of word-of-mouth marketing in which customers promote a company’s products or services to others.

We often place blind faith in our family and loved ones. We may even decide to trust a stranger’s suggestions over ads from a new, unknown brand.

At the end of the day, we are heavily influenced by recommendations made by others.

Tips for referral marketing include:

• Introducing a referral program to help increase product promotion. Letting your first loyal customers promote your business could be a fantastic way to launch a referral program. You may give customers a free item or a discount on future transactions for each qualifying referral.
• Turning your employees into brand ambassadors. For many small businesses, word of mouth is one of the best marketing strategies to boost sales. By encouraging your employees to become brand ambassadors, you can tap into the incredible potential of their networks. Your employees already have some buy-in to your business– why not use their influence and pre-existing social media followings?
• Hosting an exclusive sale with special discounts, like a “friends and family” promotion. Use Facebook to create an event, invite employees, and then ask your employees to share it with their personal contacts as well as any relevant professional connections. Encourage all to share the status update and tag people in order to increase the reach of your event.
• Using influencer marketing to gain huge exposure. Collaborate with a group of people who have a lot of influence over potential customers to get your product or service in front of them. For example, if you’re a company that sells jeans, partner with someone who frequently posts pictures of themselves in denim on Instagram and has a lot of engaged followers.
• Connect with another brand. If your business isn’t large enough to attract an audience on its own, partnering with a larger business could be the answer to gaining a number of devoted followers.

When companies co-operate and share resources, they gain a larger audience. This in turn can pave the way for more expeditious growth.

Become a pro at marketing yourself

Just as corporate branding exists, personal branding is when you market yourself instead of a company.

By sharing your story and promoting your skills on social media you can attract new followers who are interested in what you have to say.

The value here is that people tend to trust other individuals more than businesses, so eventually, you’ll have a separate, powerful outlet you can use to syndicate your content or attract new leads — all without paying a cent.

LinkedIn is a major social media site that is often under-utilized. Don’t just add networking connections and sign out; engage with them, publish your blog articles and deals, join and contribute to discussion boards, and share high-quality material.

By educating your potential customers, you can build your brand and earn trust in your industry. Also, encourage your employees to get active building their personal brands online!

The perfect low cost digital marketing ideas – get visible offline

Most businesses, in addition to using internet marketing efforts, continue to use traditional offline marketing methods to acquire new consumers and maintain contact with existing ones.

Some ideas to up your business visibility offline include:

• Connecting with influencers at conferences and trade shows will help you create a large following by meeting people where they are at.
• Having a physical presence at an event will make it more likely for people to remember who you are because they’ll be able to pick up flyers or business cards with your name on them.
• For a collaborative project, work with a company outside your industry (but not an immediate rival) on something together. This can be done locally and offline through some kind of special event. Teaming up with another business means that you’ll get twice the exposure to a new audience related to your niche. Before signing this project off, ensure that you have clarified expectations.

These are only a few of the many low cost digital marketing ideas for startup and scaling companies

It’s important to be creative and innovative when you don’t have a lot of money to spend. Try out different tactics and see which ones work best for your business.

Keep in mind who your target audience is, what their pains are, and how you can harness social media creatively to reach them.

If you produce high-quality content, people will find you online even if you don’t have a strong search engine presence yet.

And finally, make sure you get referral marketing from your satisfied customers.

All of these low cost digital marketing ideas put together will help build a powerful online presence that will drive sales and growth for your startup company.

If you’re looking for more personalised advice or would like to discuss strategy, book a call today.

August 29, 2022