Good marketing doesn’t always require lots of money.

In fact, many startups can do this without having many funds at all. It is not about how much you spend but where and how you do it. So finding the right strategies is the key to a startup’s success.

However, where should one start, and how must it progress? Promotional campaigns are some of the most crucial stages of any new business. Entrepreneurs should start thinking about promoting their business as soon as they know how to open it. 

So, let’s see a few simple but effective and affordable ways to market your startup without spending a lot of money on marketing. 

9 Cost-Efficient Marketing Techniques For Startups

1. Define your brand

First of all, you can’t start with a marketing campaign before defining your goals and brand ideology. Such a campaign should present your startup to the world. So you have to choose what face you want to show. A brand comprises many things at once, from the message and ideology you want to represent to the style guide, including design, color scheme, and logo people recognize you by. 

Creating such details may require hiring specialists like designers or SMM specialists, which will be your main expense. However, building brand awareness is crucial to making people notice and remember you. It becomes your startup’s personality and helps people connect with your business. 

2. Start a website 

A website is your personal promotion platform, so you better start one right away. In fact, there are seven ways to create a business blog or site completely for free. You don’t need to hire developers to build and design sites. Instead, you can use free no-code platforms that allow you to build your own pages and even provide all the tools and design templates to do so. 

It will be your place to post updates, inform people about new products, communicate with customers, and more. In fact, even a simple landing page can help people create a better impression of your startup and build higher credibility among online users. 

3. Be active on social media

You won’t go far without an active presence on social media. Businesses must form their communities on at least one social media platform. 

Based on your audience and product analysis, you should already know who your buyers are. This information (including age, professional, family status, etc.) will determine which social media page should be your primary base. 

However, with time you can expand your influence across all of the major platforms. There you have to be active, positive, and open to communication.

4. Guest blogging 

Finding support and recognition among other businesses in your niche is always of help. If you share similar online communities, you may share raiders and potential clients, too. So finding a relatable business and asking for a guest blog publication can be a budget-friendly, effective solution. 

The key is to write a high-quality, informative piece that represents value to the business you write it for and the users who read it. 

5. Create email listings

The email marketing tactics won’t cost you much but can lead to grand results in terms of building a customer base and creating a buzz around your products. For one, here, you already interact with people who showed interest in your business. You collect emails from your site’s subscribers or previous customers. 

So, targeting them narrows explicitly down your marketing campaign and guarantees a higher success score per person. 

Plus, a single email takes up to several hours to write (and pay for) but can generate good traffic to the site, where you hook users with other offers and services.

6. Offer special deals

Nothing helps you promote your product or services like a good deal on them. People love getting products thinking they’ve made a good trade on them. So, find a way to promote your product with special offers without causing a financial toll on your business. 

Sometimes, even small things like a minor discount, free shipping, or a small token of gratitude like a promo code or a giveaway can do the trick here. 

Overall, such promo ideas aim to make your clients feel special and appreciated. You show them that their attention and loyalty are valuable, making them more likely to return the favor. 

7. Network

As always, networking plays some of the most influential parts in your business success. The right words to the right people can take you a long way. Hence, you should engage in the local business world. 

Attend various business events, meet specialists and successful entrepreneurs in your niche, and make connections. It won’t cost you anything but time. However, the results of such social time can bring a lot of benefits. 

For one, networking can lead to collaboration. Thus, you can organize campaigns or projects with other already-known businesses and earn recognition among their customers. You can also do the same routine online by advertising your startup to other businesses, collaborating, and earning traffic to your website. 

8. Enhance client interaction

An improvement in client interaction can bring your higher exploration, more loyal customers, and a chance of word-of-mouth publicity. For instance, developing a corporate culture on how to interact, greet, and communicate with clients via calls or messages can help you solidify your stand in the niche and earn more sales.

Don’t forget that content is also a type of communication between clients and businesses. So pay attention to your posts’ quality, frequency, and overall reception in public. A poorly done article, misleading title, or typos can draw people away from your site and your business. The good news is you can refer to expert editors, like the ones at speedypaper.com, to help you produce high-quality, error-free texts. 

9. Find ways to save money 

Last but not least, there are always ways to save up a bit more money. A good marketing strategy will always pay off. After all, what’s the point of creating a great product if no one learns about it? 

So don’t skimp on promotional tactics too much. Better find ways to sponsor them! 

These are only some areas where a startup can cut costs:

• No office space: a small startup with a small team doesn’t require an office yet. Save rent money can turn into additional marketing resources. 
• Apply for grants: many young startups can be eligible for various grants, depending on their industries and niches. See ways to get financial assistance if needed.
• Minimum team size: you need the minimum number of employees to accomplish all essential tasks. More than that already duets your business. Plus, you can always outsource some marketing work to reduce costs. 

Conclusion

As you can see, there are multiple free or highly accessible strategies to promote your business. Of course, you should focus on the digital world for higher exposure and lower costs. The Internet provides you with numerous tools and platforms to promote a startup almost for free.

Feel free to refer to ReVerb for professional help. We’ll create an affordable yet impactful marketing proposal according to your needs and budget.