To ensure your marketing is planned and aimed at your target audience without going off track it is important to set goals and direction. Set SMART Marketing Goals, Create a general marketing calendar and a Social Media/ Blog content calendar.
Use integrated marketing There’s no single, failsafe approach to marketing, so vary your tactics. Your customers may tune out after a while if you only use one marketing method. So, think of different ways to communicate with potential customers – classified ads, leaflets, social media, sales letters, etc.
Build a network with online influencers in your industry
Building a strong online network should be the foundation of any free marketing strategy. Having other people share your brand simply because they want to, is an incredibly powerful thing.
Grow Your Email & Lead List
You don’t yet have a list of subscribers; you can start building one by utilising a landing page or set of opt-in forms on your website. Offer potential subscribers an incentive for signing up – contests are a great way to collect Email addresses!
Search Engine Marketing
or SEM, includes all strategies used to ensure your business is visible on search engine results pages (SERPs). With SEM, you can get your business in the number one spot when a user searches a particular keyword.
Get social
Aim to turn a one-off customer into a loyal repeat customer, by ensuring they remember you. To do this you need to give them gentle reminders of why they might need you, without bombarding them. Achieve this by using social media such as Facebook or Twitter (e.g. create a Facebook business page offering interesting content, discounts, offers, etc) and by using email marketing (e.g. ask customers to sign up to receive your e-newsletter).
Use a content calendar to schedule and track the performance of your posts across the platforms. Keep track with analytics.
Advertise to your target audience
Make use of your target audience on social media, create an eye catching ad campaign that is directed to your ideal audience. You can advertise on the platform that your main audience use the most. e.g. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok.
Video Marketing
Video can boost brand awareness, generate conversions, and close deals. Whether it's for your website, YouTube channel, email list, and/or social media following.
Publish Industry Specific Content Regularly
This goes hand in hand with networking and social media. A great way to get your name out there without having to spend any money is by publishing great content on a regular basis. The things you write should cover topics that are in your general niche, but you really can write about just about anything. You don’t need to be a master to start blogging, just make sure the content that you post is relevant to your potential customers.
Use mail-outs Get a professional-looking brochure, advert or flyer printed up and make sure you enclose it in all your outgoing mail. This way you save on postage, as you were posting something anyway, and it means potential customers will have something tangible they can refer back to in the future, even if they don’t need it right now.
Send newsletters – E-shot
Finding new customers is great, but what about keeping existing customers? Use newsletters to focus your marketing on past customers. If printed newsletters are too expensive, consider an e-mail newsletter sent to people who subscribe at your website. there are plenty of email marketing platforms that are easy to use. check out our blog Email Marketing - How to get subscribers.
Send a second offer to your customers immediately after a purchase
If your customer has just purchased an item/service from you, seize the moment and send them a note (a letter or email) thanking them for their business and informing them that they can take advantage of a special discount on their next purchase. Remember to include an expiration date so that they act sooner rather than later. Ensures customer loyalty.
Utilise free advertising
Create a well-written classified ad and use an internet ad directory, where you can post ads for free. Try Gumtree or Vivastreet.
Get blogging
A blog is a great, low-cost way of engaging with existing clients, as well as attracting new ones. Make sure you update it regularly with relevant content, to keep your subscribers.
Leverage other bigger audiences with guest posting
In addition to doing your own blogging, it’s also a good idea to reach out to fellow bloggers who are in your respective industry. Offer to write a few guest posts and be sure to include a link to your own site. Alternatively, extend the offer for fellow bloggers to write guest pieces on your blog, as well. Guest blogging gives you the chance to share your brand with someone else’s customers.
Setup Abandoned cart reminder on your e-com site
Don't miss the opportunity to remind your potential buyer that they have a product left in their basket on your website. We all have busy lives, and we can often get interrupted when purchasing. Give a gentle nudge.
Start a podcast
Be a voice of the industry. Reach out to new audiences for your business as it builds familiarity. Listeners tend to subscribe to a podcast they like so they can regularly listen. As long as you're consistent, your audience is likely to continue listening.
Collaboration Marketing
Marketing collaboration between brands where they partner up on a marketing campaign and share the results. It's a great lead generation tool that allows brands to tap into an audience they may not have reached yet. For it to work, brands must align on their goals, have products or services that complementary and have a similar target audience.
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