Marketing is perhaps one of the greatest headaches of small business owners. With limited finances and a host of other equally important business needs to pursue, it becomes very difficult to adopt practical marketing strategies for these small businesses. However, it can be done and in this article, we shall discuss some of the best small business marketing strategies with a shoestring budget.
Craft an Elevator Pitch
An elevator pitch is a persuasive sales pitch and experts consider it to be one of the most important marketing strategies for small businesses with shoestring budget.
Be as persuasive as you can and make use of any forum you find yourself in to drive a point home. Whether you are in a convention, a boardroom meeting or simply walking on the streets, always find a way of raising awareness to your brands.
Leverage Your Community
With a small business whose main prospects are locals, it would be unrealistic to think of doing a television commercial as that may probably eat into your entire savings.
Why not leverage your community using some community-based initiatives like sponsoring a league, printing a bookmark and leaving them at the library among other small but highly useful strategies? The goal is to tap into every corner of your community and win their loyalty.
Collaborate
If you are in the business of soft drinks and you have a close associate but in the business of selling toiletries, why not collaborate and cross-promote one another?
One way to do this is promote each other through marketing them to your own prospects. When a mum downtown comes to your shop and orders a soft drink, you could use this opportunity to spread the word to her of a very good shop further down the street that offers superb toiletries.
In addition to word of mouth promotion, you could also use coupons, reciprocal website links, fliers or any other thing that could help you cross-promote one another.
Create a Buzz
This is yet another great way of promoting your small business when you are strained for cash. It involves creating a highly sensational piece on a media outlet or even by use of social media so you can draw attention to your business.
You could do this by initiating a controversial or sensational story or responding to one in such a manner. Once people begin taking an interest in you, they will also what to know what you do and this is where your small business will benefit.
Ask For Referrals
As traditional as this looks, it still never fails to deliver. Asking for referrals involves soliciting for the names and perhaps the contacts of prospective clients.
You can then take advantage of this to visit them at their homes or places of work to promote your products. You may make it easier by calling them or sending them emails intended to make them aware of whatever it is you are offering.
