Developing an innovative product or service is only half the challenge. In today’s oversaturated market, the actual task you must face is how to sell your business.
Startups that enjoy a vast backing up of venture capital have plenty of money to spend, experiment, and innovate on advertisements. But businesses in their early stages usually only have a limited budget and must therefore learn to be efficient. Since the effectiveness of your marketing plan makes or breaks the company, you can’t compromise on building the right strategies. The perfect marketing plan sets you apart from your competitors, clearly defines the company’s goals and objectives, and helps identify the right target audience.
Fortunately, even with a limited budget, it’s possible to compete with today’s corporate giants. With these simple hacks listed below, learn how to grow your business at little to no cost.
1. Have a holistic approach
First thing’s first: to understand the needs of your business, you must hold the appropriate knowledge and expertise. When you learn about different subjects such as marketing, finance, human resource, entrepreneurship, and logistics management—you cover all the critical areas of a business. Pursuing an MBA in marketing allows business owners to view their entire company from a holistic standpoint. Rather than getting caught up in the trap of one aspect, say entrepreneurship, it helps business owners carry duties of all fields simultaneously.
Equipped with the proper skill set and experience, you can design a marketing plan that best suits your business. Instead of spending time and money recruiting a marketing team, your knowledge can help identify areas that need improvement. No one knows your business better than you, so having the right approach can make all the difference towards its growth.
2. Leverage word-of-mouth
Consumers trust each other more regarding product recommendations than brands’ messages or different advertising strategies. And while it may seem that whether people choose to discuss your product or not isn’t in your hands, it very well is. The word-of-mouth marketing strategy is what this is about. It’s a process of creating conversations or “buzz” around your products or services to attract new customers.
Consumers themselves generate this hype by building content related to your business which gets shared among friends and family. Since most of the work is done by existing customers themselves, this strategy requires little to no budget. It’s a constant process that often provides organic and excellent results to engage new customers. More importantly, because of personal word-of-mouth recommendations, the traffic drawn to your business predominantly consists of individuals primed to make a purchase.
3. Build partnerships with other businesses
“Two heads are better than one.” For years, entrepreneurs have known this adage to be accurate, which is why strategic partnerships are so popular in the business world today. A partnership is a voluntary collaboration between multiple groups that work together to achieve a common goal. By sharing resources, responsibilities, risks, and benefits, business partners undertake specific tasks to reach their objectives. In a rapidly globalizing economy, partnerships are becoming the norm in the corporate sector to diversify product lines and generate increased revenue.
Small or early-stage businesses with a minuscule marketing budget can create partnerships with similar organizations to pool their budget together and make good things happen. For instance, one small business may not have the finances required to hold an event that attracts customers and increases their visibility. But when multiple small businesses share their resources, they might handle the cost of arranging such events. Everyone gets what they want, making it a win-win situation.
4. Implement lead nurturing strategy
Lead nurturing refers to developing and reinforcing relationships with potential customers at every stage of the sales funnel. By implementing this strategy, businesses can focus on listening to the needs of consumers and providing them with the necessary information that convinces them to buy their products. Lead nurturing builds trust, increases brand awareness, and most importantly, maintains a connection until a prospective consumer is ready to make a purchase.
This technique also allows you to interact with buyers to gauge their interests and monitor behavior. Your customers don’t just want you to sell to them. Instead, they want you to listen. Collecting their feedback data optimizes your future marketing campaigns without any added investment required for studying consumer behavior. Hence, executing a lead nurturing strategy is economical and effective in helping your business grow exponentially.
5. Use the power of social media
In the past decade, we have become even more connected via technology, making it crucial for businesses to create cross-channel experiences for their clients. Companies can now share content customers want to see through multiple social media forums, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Snapchat. These platforms can increase the web traffic for a product’s brand at little to no cost, boosting visibility and thus improving sales.
Social media marketing is a powerful strategy because it connects you with buyers personally, allowing you to learn about their interests and hobbies. With just the bare minimum budget, you can improve profits substantially.
Conclusion
When developing an effective marketing plan, there is no shortage of strategies you can use. For a cost-effective approach, it’s wise to pursue an advanced degree that provides you with the necessary expertise needed to grow your business. Additionally, you can rely on a word-of-mouth tactic, create partnerships, increase lead nurturing, and use social media for marketing products at minimum cost.