During challenging times, businesses often feel the need to cut costs. Marketing budgets are often one of the first things to get reduced. However, cutting marketing spend entirely can be detrimental to a business, as it can limit the ability to reach potential customers and generate revenue.
Here are some ways to save money in marketing during uncertain times:
1. Focus on targeted marketing
Instead of spending money on broad marketing campaigns that reach a large audience, focus on targeted marketing efforts that are more likely to reach your ideal customers. This could include using social media ads, email marketing, or direct mail campaigns to reach a specific demographic or geographic region. It is critical to have a clear understanding of your ideal customers so your message is hyper targeted and resonates with their needs, wants and expectations.
▶️ If you are unsure who your core client is, let me help and share a fun branding exercise with you. Schedule a free discovery call here.
2. Prioritize your marketing channels
Instead of spreading your marketing budget across multiple channels, prioritize the channels that have the highest potential ROI. This could mean focusing on digital marketing channels like social media, email, or search engine marketing, which tend to have lower costs and higher ROI. Remember that you do not need to be everywhere. Pick one or two channels max. and be active daily by posting quality, Entertaining, Inspiring and Educational content (my E.I.E rule!).
▶️ Need help identifying those channels and creating quality content? Schedule a free discovery call here.
3. Use free or low-cost marketing tools There are many free or low-cost marketing tools available, such as social media platforms, email marketing tools, and analytics software. Utilize these tools to create and measure your marketing campaigns without breaking the bank. Here are a few you can start using now: - Sendinblue: Sendinblue’s email marketing software is free for up to 300 emails/day and an unlimited number of subscribers. Paid plans starting as low as $25 for 20,000 emails/month. No credit card required. - HelloBar: HelloBar is a really easy-to-use tool that lets you add a banner to the top of your website to capture email addresses. You can customize the bar to reflect your brand colors and add in your own message. - HotJar shows heatmaps of your site and areas visitors go to. You can access user testing videos to get feedback on your site’s usability. - Pikwizard has millions of royalty-free images. Browse many categories and avoid the costs of hiring a photographer or paying for a stock site subscription. - Unsplash provides access to millions of beautiful stock images. Their search function allows you to find images for your website in a matter of seconds. - Canva: With in-built templates, Canva’s builder lets you choose from thousands of graphics to create professional-looking images, branded social media posts, posters, flyers and everything in between. - Visme helps you create beautiful presentations, professional-looking infographics, and other visuals using your brand colors on pre-made templates. Simply drag and drop different elements into your designs using the intuitive backend dashboard. - ZohoSocial allows you to schedule social media posts ahead of time and manage multiple accounts all from one place. - IFTTT stands for “if this then that” and is a trigger tool that creates logic-based actions. Should you want to save time sharing content on your social channels, you can set up a rule that sends out a social post to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn every time you share a post on Instagram.
4. Use Artificial Intelligence tools to do part of the work for you.
Here are a few that I use: - Beethoven.ai: Royalty-free music
- Podcastle.ai: Seamless podcast recording and editing
- Cleanvoice: AI tool for automatically editing podcast episodes
- Murf.ai: Transforms text into human voices
- Stocking.ai: Image generation tool
- Vidyo.ai: AI tool for making short-form videos from long-form content
- Maverick: AI tool for generating personalized videos at scale
- https://Cleanup.pictures: Remove objects, defects, people, or text from pictures
▶️ Need help creating brand guidelines to make sure your brand’s look and feel is consistent across the board, thereby solidifying it? Let’s talk! Schedule a free discovery call here.
5. Partner with other businesses
Partnering with other businesses can help you save money on marketing costs while expanding your reach. Look for businesses that have a similar target audience and consider collaborating on marketing campaigns or co-hosting events.
▶️ Need introductions? Let’s talk! I have more than 16,000 followers on LinkedIn. Schedule a free discovery call here.
6. Start a podcast
Starting a podcast is inexpensive. All you need is to create an account with Buzzsprout.com, buy a good quality microphone and create topics that will be of interest to your target audiences. Then record it yourself of have Murf.ai create the audio for you. It’s free! You will have to market your podcast to draw people in, but that is the easy part!
▶️ Need help setting up your podcast? Let’s talk!
I do this every day. Schedule a free discovery call here.
7. Leverage LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the best platform if you are in the B2B field. Make sure your profile photo is top notch and professional (no bathing suit shot on a beach please!). Rewrite your bio and company descriptive to include keywords and phrases that will improve your Search Engine Optimization, and create attractive CTAs (Calls to Action). Sign up to Sales Navigator and invite 25 people per day to become your first level connections to grow your network daily! ▶️ Need help becoming a star on LinkedIn and growing your network and your sales? Let’s talk. I’ve done it for more than 10 years and have more than 16,000 followers. Schedule a free discovery call here.
8. Use Youtube shorts
Shorts are growing in popularity with over 15 billion daily views as of January 2022. They are short-form video features launched by YouTube in September 2020 to compete with TikTok. Shorts must be 60 seconds or less and have some entertaining factor. ▶️ Need help setting up a Youtube channel, creating topics and generating powerful Youtube shorts? Schedule a free discovery call here.
9. Engage on social media daily
I share posts and comments on posts on social media every day when I get up for about 15 minutes. That does three things: A. Expose my brand and my name on a regular basis, which creates recognition and credibility B. Expand my network
C. Create trust with my network as the more they see me, the more they trust me.
▶️ Need help optimizing your social media presence? Schedule a free discovery call here.
10. Be creative
Think outside the box! Instead of traditional advertising, consider hosting a webinar or virtual event, interview people in your space (everyone loves to be asked to speak and share their opinions) or offer free trials or discounts to attract new customers.
▶️ Lacking creative people on your staff? Let me help you create templates you can use. Schedule a free discovery call here.
By implementing these strategies, you can continue to market your products or services effectively during uncertain times while keeping your costs under control. You can also grow market shares while your competitors stay idle.
With more than 25 years of marketing and branding experience worldwide, I can guide you in the right direction, and save you time and money. I’ve helped hundreds of brands strengthen their brand, improve their communication, and grow their sales, even in tough times. My Unique Selling Proposition? I charge 50% less than most agencies while delivering the same or better quality content and consulting. That is my mission and purpose! ▶️ Schedule a free discovery call here.
For more information, visit Sliicexr.com. To see clients' testimonials, visit my LinkedIn page.
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