Marketing is what keeps your business relevant. You need to be marketing your business, and you know that. However, sometimes you just don’t have a big budget to run expensive marketing campaigns. It can be very costly running through the trial-and-error of finding the marketing practice(s) that will work best for your business. According to Bantrr.com, business owners are wasting 80% of their marketing budget on ineffective methods. That’s a lot of money going to waste, especially when there are cheap and effective marketing strategies that you can utilize, starting today:

Email Marketing Campaigns

Cheap email marketing is a very effective method of reaching your customers, while sending the message you want to send. Did you know that on average people are checking their email upwards of 15 times each day? What better way to reach your customers, when their email is being sent directly to their phones? Your email marketing campaigns should be tailored to your target audience, and you should always include a call-to-action in your email. Make it easy for your customer to reach you: Leavea phone number and website URL.

Stay Active on Social Media

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. Social media is FREE advertising and marketing. Of course, you can purchase ad space for your posts, which is not a bad idea. However, you can also just utilize the free exposure and ability to be in touch with your customers through social media. It’s so easy to set up, free to use, and you will instantly be where everyone else is – online. Remaining active on social media is so important because all of your customers and potential customers are active on social media. Tips for making the most of social media, with active marketing strategies include:

• Keep your page updated
• Be sure your page is full of images
• Post valuable content often (about 2x/week)

Optimize for Your Audience

When you are sending out email campaigns and posting on social media, be sure you’re targeting the right audience in your active marketing strategies. You should optimize all of your content so it’s appealing to those you want to attract to your business. For example, if you’re a carpet cleaner or plumber, you likely don’t want to target the teenagers of social media, because they don’t have a home of their own and won’t be hiring you. Instead, you want to target adults, specifically homeowners. Be sure your content and messaging are appealing to them and in a way that they understand. Optimizing for your audience is a good idea in all aspects of your business.

Take advantage of these cheap, and free, marketing strategies! Your business doesn’t need a large marketing budget to succeed. You need a plan, commitment, and insight into what is working for you. If you’re not already utilizing these marketing methods, start now!

For more insights on marketing strategy that actually works for small business, connect with Jay Bean, Founder of FreshLime and Small Business Marketing Expert on LinkedIn and Twitter. If any of these tips have helped you or if you have anything to add, please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!