Guerrilla Marketing for the Small Marketing Budget
Marketing on a shoestring budget?
No worries! Here are some tips to help you craft a successful marketing campaign.
- Stay up-to-date on marketing trends, industry news, and social media posts.
- Utilize the power of word of mouth by asking friends and family to share content you post on your account.
- Cross promote with other like minded companies so that each can benefit from the other's audience.
- Allocate a small budget for paid advertisements.
- Implement these tactics to promote your business, brand or blog:
Social Media Management:
- Utilize social media management apps such as HootSuite and Sprout Social to schedule posts on multiple accounts at the same time. This is an effective time saver!
- Create fun and unique hashtags for contests and events so that you can easily track them on analytics sites such as Google Analytics.
- When posting, be sure to include a direct link that users can follow for more information about your products or services.
- More importantly, be sure to respond to all comments, interactions and messages. Active engagement is vital for any social media campaign.
- Try posting at different times of the day to see what works best for your audience.
- Depending on the platform, you can post images or links. Here are some other helpful tips:
· Instagram users prefer photos, so use them! If you choose to use links, make sure they lead to an original piece of content - not just another website rehashing the same information as yours.
· Facebook users prefer links over photos or videos.
· Try posting a link, then a photo or video, then another link.
· Twitter users are more likely to retweet photos and videos than they are to like them.
- If you have the budget, try creating YouTube videos that showcase your products.
- Facebook Ads: Create various ads with different targeting options and watch which gets the best response rate. For example, if you're promoting an ecommerce product and want to see how effective Facebook ads are for your business for $5 per day, utilize them only on weekends since people tend to shop online more during the weekdays.
- If you don't have the budget to try Facebook ads, consider running a contest on your site. One example is a sweepstakes contest. This way, visitors will be encouraged to like your page and share it with their friends in order to increase their chances of winning the contest.
· Add a signup form on your website so that visitors can receive email updates from you.
· Join groups related to your business on LinkedIn and Facebook.
· Follow industry leaders on Twitter and Instagram, as well as other businesses within your niche.
· Consider posting other businesses' content on your page, so that they can benefit from your audience.
Social Media Strategy:
- Create goals for each social networking site you're using and determine how you can use them to further reach your target audience.
- If you're running a contest, be sure to specify the deadline for it and the requirements for entry (i.e., 'like' our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, pin our Pinterest board etc.).
- Use different engagement techniques such as calls to action: 'Click here to learn more. Click here to tweet this.'
- Try using a call to action in your social media bio, such as: 'Follow me on Twitter for updates and please retweet any of my updates that you find useful!'
- Post different types of content (text, image or video) to each account.
- Social media updates don't necessarily have to relate directly to your business; try posting quotes or information that is likely to be of interest to your audience.
- Finally, consider holding contests and events that can be promoted via your social media accounts.
E-Mail Marketing:
· If you have a large email list, blast them with several promotional emails in order to encourage repeat visits.
· If you don't have an email list, consider creating one by offering a free giveaway, product or service.
· Create compelling subject lines such as: 'Free e-book', 'Discount available' and 'Time sensitive offer'.
- Include a call to action in the email body. Example: "Click here to sign up!"
- When sending out your email, try scheduling it with an autoresponder so that it doesn't get lost in your customers' inboxes.
- Be sure to include all relevant links, details and offers in the email.
- Include the information from your social media accounts and encourage users to share your message with their networks.
- Think about the type of information you want to attract readers with and create a list of tips for users on how to share your content online.
- Send out weekly newsletters or email blasts, as well as special offers that can be shared via Twitter, Facebook or other means.
· If you want to target specific groups such as moms or students, consider creating advertisements and landing pages that are tailored to each audience.
· Make sure your site is optimized so that people who visit it don't feel like they're bombarded with ads.
· Offer free downloads and ebooks by having your readers provide their email address to download them.
· Be sure to offer something that is of value to your readers.
· Try creating interesting content such as: 'Top 10 ways to make money as a freelancer', '20 jobs you can get without a degree' etc.
· Use videos for lead generation such as: 'How to create an ebook in 10 easy steps.'
· Create a best-selling report or ebook that can be accessed via a landing page or email sequence and drive traffic from PPC ads.
Conclusion:
With the right research and dedication, you can create a successful social media strategy that is highly effective for your business.
Projects which are unique and have an authentic voice are typically better received than those which are generic and copycat.
1. Check to make sure your chosen social media platform fits with your target audience.
2. Decide whether or not you want to limit what types of information will be shared on each platform or if you will post the same content across all platforms so that individual accounts appear professional.
3. Focus on less-pressured platforms such as blogs, podcasts and videos as opposed to fast-paced sites such as Twitter and Facebook.