Whether you’re an affiliate marketer, or in business for yourself, you can benefit from low cost advertising techniques. See also unpaid advertising examples. These might include strategies such as blogging, video marketing and using some low cost paid advertising. With paid advertising, you can set a small budget you’re prepared to work with. This can be increased as your campaigns become profitable and you get better at it.
Google Ads is an example of a paid marketing platform which any business can use. Set a small daily budget and target search terms which are specific to your business. But there’s other strategies you should be using if you have a local business. The main one you want to use is Google My Business. Google My Business offers a free marketing opportunity for all locally based businesses. It takes only a small amount of time to set up and it can bring in customers for a lifetime!
Low Cost Advertising Techniques – Website, SEO & Blogging
It sounds obvious to have a website for your business, but many people still don’t have one! If you have a locally based business, you can also benefit from a keyword targeted website which is built around your main keywords and city name. See also building a niche website for a local business.
Once you have a website, you can start a blogging campaign as a cheap marketing technique. Blogs can increase your web presence dramatically over time, so it’s a technique worth pursuing over the longer term.
A simple blog strategy is to find keywords which are being searched for within the remit of your business. Use Google’s free keyword planner to find keywords related to your business. Do this by typing your main keywords into the search tool. You’ll be given a number of keywords which are already being searched for. You can even target your local area by limiting the search to your neighbourhood.
Once you find the right keywords in your area which relate to your business, you can create blog content targeting those specific keywords within your blog post. See also find long tail keywords with low SEO difficulty.
Low Cost Advertising Techniques – Facebook Groups
Another simple advertising technique any business can use is through Facebook. Set up your personal or business profile with your business offers on show. Offer something clear and concise to show to prospective visitors on your page. This could be an ebook, some discount code or simply a clear tagline which explains what you do/offer.
Here’s an example of one I set up regarding the affiliate coaching program I offer on my Facebook page:
Once set up you need to find groups where your target audience might be hanging out in. Make sure you learn about your target audience first before you do this. See how to know your target market.
Facebook has many groups where you can find people discussing all kinds of topics. The groups where you find your best customers will relate in some way to your business/service, so, look for groups which will relate to your business.
Find and join several groups which relate to your business and start interacting with people in those groups. Make sure you follow the group guidelines and rules and don’t spam the groups with your business links.
Just interact and connect with people and help them with the discussion. Over time, group members will naturally browse your profile as you become a more interactive member of the communities you join. Some will see your profile and be interested in what you have to offer. This takes some time and patience but if you keep it up and put in some work every day over a long period, it can be a good way to generate interest in your business.
YouTube & TikTok
YouTube and TikTok are both great places to showcase your videos. By tagging your videos with appropriate keywords, you can attract the right audience who are interested in your business. Although there’s plenty of competition on these platforms, if you consistently create high quality videos which relate to your business in some way, you should grow an organic stream of visitors straight from these platforms.
Again, as a cheap advertising technique this one takes some time and commitment. But you can also create a single marketing video and put a small daily marketing budget towards placing it in front of the right kind of audience.
With paid marketing you set the budget, so you can still consider this as a low cost advertising technique if you stick to a low budget.
Summary
Some of these low cost advertising techniques will take longer than others. In general, if you’re not paying for advertising it will take longer. Blogging for example can take months and years before you see any big leap in your traffic generations and sales. But ultimately it can work if you stick to a long term strategy and keep going.
Paid strategies will bring in results far quicker, so it’s worth doing these alongside your other longer term strategies. With paid marketing, you should also be tracking everything you do. When you make a sale, if you can attribute it to a particular advert, you’ll know where to put your money in future. If you’re disorganised, you can lose track of where sales are coming from!
One of the best thing you can do for a locally based business is get a free listing on Google My Business. This can make a big difference and it’s totally free. Other strategies like niche website building, blogging and organic video marketing can take longer, depending on the niche you are in and the relative competition.
If you only have a low budget for advertising, it’s still worth running some adverts on Bing or Google Ads. Set your budget at a rate you can easily afford and build up slowly. You can run adverts which are very specific to your website keywords, so this can be very effective form of advertising. Just be careful with your daily budget and keywords when you start out!