5 Simple and Economical steps to Make an Impact without Breaking the Bank

For many small businesses, it may seem futile to try and compete against heavy-hitting corporations with seemingly bottomless marketing budgets. So how do you resonate with your target market without shelling out big bucks? Guerrilla marketers know that instead of money, we can invest time, energy and creativity and beat out the big boys and their budgets.

Here is a 5-step easy, economical way to get the word out that won’t break your small business marketing budget:

•    Go grassroots. Hitting the pavement and making personal connections can go a long way toward establishing a name for yourself and getting word-of-mouth flowing. The key here is to identify who you will be spending your time on. Who is an influencer of what you sell? Who recommends or nixes its purchase? A wedding cake business better be spending its time on brides-to-be because they are usually the key decision-maker of this purchase. An innovative baby-carrier should be speaking straight to new moms.

•    Go where your market is, front and center. If you’re trying to drum up clients for your wedding cake business, visit the shops of the local bridal district, distributing fliers to sellers of formal wear, stationery, flowers, and more. Heralding the benefits of an innovative new baby carrier? Approach moms at the mall who appear frazzled by the squirming infant in their arms.

•    Fine-tune your message. For effective marketing collateral, content is key. Take the time to craft an attention-getting, value-adding message that will resonate with your target audience. A tepid or passive message is uninspiring and won’t be remembered and your results will reflect this. Create a marketing piece that delivers all the right messages and get it into the hands of the right people.

•    Let them experience it. If you’ve got something good, giving it away can lead to a huge boon for your business. When a wedding cake business took out a table at the mall on Saturday, it brought in its biggest, most beautiful cake with a big clock that said the cake will be cut and served at precisely 1:30pm. Hordes of people stuck around or came back to eat some cake and take away a brochure (which naturally included the picture of the cake). The baby carrier company let women try their product for an hour while shopping. Many cam back after an hour to buy it. Both companies earned back their investment that day. A strategic giveaway can often cost less than an expensive marketing campaign and yield just as positive results.

•    Follow-up. People don’t necessary act on their own. You have to remind them you exist. The tables surrounding the cake had lots of “return slips” and pencils. To get a marketing kit, you had to fill out a paper. If you did, you are probably more interested that just getting a free piece of cake. The company assiduously followed up on these prospects and found them to be very qualified and closed a lot of business.

What is your best tip for competing with the big boys? Let me know below!