Marketing your small business on a budget
Would you believe us if we told you that you do not need tens of thousands to successfully market your small business? It is more than possible to do marketing on a small budget. Continue reading and we'll give you the inside scoop on how to help you really get your brand out there.
Use Facebook Ads Manager correctly
It is important to set aside a budget every month that is dedicated to marketing your business online. This does not have to be a large chunk of money (in fact it's better to start with a small amount of money first). Before you publish an ad, always ask yourself: What's the objective of this ad? Is it brand awareness? Website clicks? Sending people to download your app? On Facebook Ads Manager, you can choose what you pay for, so make sure you get the best value for your money. If your ad is not performing well, ask yourself why this is so, and make adaptions. Is there too much text on your ad, did you accurately target the location of your audience? Facebook Ads Manger makes it easier to be specific. You can even target specific roads in specific areas. You can target people with a certain set of likes or dislikes. If, for example, you are a business selling wedding dresses, it will be helpful to target people who recently got engaged.
Facebook Ads manager makes it possible to target the right people in order to really optimize your ads and, therefore, your budget.
If you keep your audience on Facebook too open-ended and unspecific, you might not reach the right people.
Collaborate with other brands
Social media has become a growing community of creatives, locals, influencers, 'normal' people, professionals and small businesses. If you own a small business, making connections on social media is another way to market your business.
Scouting out other like-minded brands who are also looking to grow their following is one way to market your business.
You can collaborate with them by hosting a giveaway together. This way you can tap into the organic following of each brand involved in the giveaway and further your reach. It is also a great way to empower a sense of unity amongst local brands. Building community over stirring up competition seems to be the trend on Instagram right now, and we are all for it!
Gift your products to influencers
One way to market your small business is to gift your products to social media influencers in the same niche as you. There is no guarantee that they will post and talk about it on their social media channels, but there is a strong chance that they will if they really like your product. Make sure to choose an influencer that has an appreciation for local businesses and one that is known for doing local business shout-outs on their social media.
When choosing an influencer to gift your products to, ensure that their audience is the right one for your specific target market.
An influencer will probably not give you a shout-out if the product you are sending them is completely unrelated to their content or will not be beneficial to their audience.
Tell your authentic brand story
Your followers are interested in you! Yes you! Who is the face behind the brand? They want to know. Customer-led content seems to be the focus of many brands in 2021. People are so over being spammed; they want to connect with the brand. Brands like M.Studio (a stationery and lifestyle brand) do this well. The face behind the brand is Mariaan. She takes her followers on her daily journey. The customers/followers feel that they know her even though they have never met her. She interacts and engages with her community in a personal way. This is what your customers want, they want to know you!
Tell them your authentic story, interact with them through polls, questions, comments, direct messaging etc.
We hope these tips have given you fresh inspiration to market your small business successfully on a budget. If you have any other thoughts or tips, leave them down below – we would love to hear from you.