Marketing Tips for the Frugal at Heart
Wouldn’t we all love to indulge in the latest in saturation marketing, ignoring the costs and employing every agency, ad buy, and other strategy to put our businesses in a top position? Experience says the majority of ecommerce merchants face a more stark reality, carefully eyeing a shoestring budget and wandering in oblivion to find ways that make it work to their advantage.
Right out of the gate, it’s important to embrace and use the free marketing opportunities that come your way. Yes, we said free. With the ethereal rise of internet channels and a mind-blowing number of users (many from demographic categories you’d never expect to see), there is an impressive array of platforms that will work for promoting your business.
Social media should be your first consideration, with Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and other players lined up to connect consumers with products and services they desire. But investing rather than using free services carries a red flag. Pay heed to this important tip: not all opportunities are created equally. Pouring money into the coffers of entities who promise to drive “likes” to your Facebook page is a non-starter. Facebook users barely revisit pages of companies (or even individuals) that haven’t yet captured their interest. Add to that the increasingly vast expanse of pages, and you’ll discover that Facebook as a free marketing tool has prohibitive limits.
That said, Facebook ads can be a lucrative and inexpensive vehicle for attracting prospective customers. With the ability to both carve out an appropriate demographic and also customize your budget, you might see an impressive return.
The digital divide
Speaking of social media, are you tweeting yet? Twitter, one of the most prolific platforms of all, might not pan out for you if you’re using it to peddle goods. But its advanced search feature returns hits of tweets from customers looking for your specific product. Win-win, spending very little time.
A growing trend among ecommerce vendors turns to Instagram for help. Once the venue for sharing personal pics, an increasing number of entities are using carefully placed photo messages to attract clientele. As with other platforms, be very selective about what you post; be sure to make your photo enticing and easy to read, and to link viewers directly to your site.
E-mail marketing has been around for two decades, but if you’re hoping to tap its best potential, make sure you pay careful attention to your message. The art of using e-mail as a selling tool is a fine art, and should be treated as such. Digitaldefynd offers a promising list of online courses and tutorials aimed to sharpen your e-mail target marketing skills.
Once you learn to think like a customer – and that shouldn’t be hard, since you are one – you’re halfway to making those hard-earned pennies count. Approach marketing the way you proceed when you set out to acquire goods and services. Remember what caused you to engage with a certain site, and which e-mail outreaches were well-timed, well-written, and convincing. Replicate those strategies in a way that tailors to your business, and you will find an affordable method of marketing that will tide you over until you make it really big.