As a strategic marketing company, we have promoted the importance of marketing for any business loudly and often. At the same time, we understand that small businesses are often operating on razor-thin margins (if they’re even in the black at all) and may not have substantial cash reserves on hand to fund an aggressive marketing campaign. Fortunately, a large war chest is by no means a necessity in successful marketing.
There are a number of ways that small businesses can get more value from their marketing efforts, and digital marketing is certainly a cost-effective option. Although we have worked with clients on paid search efforts, the vast majority of our work involves generating website traffic through organic and referral sources driven by online PR/media placement.
One of the greatest opportunities for small businesses — depending on their areas of focus and expertise — is to contribute content to a wide range of media outlets. Doing so both boosts credibility and provides backlinks that will drive traffic back to the business’ site — all for no cost other than their time and fees they might pay to work with agencies or content creators.
In addition, successfully managing online content in a strategic way can lay the foundation for ongoing success. This requires careful consideration of the target audience — or audiences — to drive the strategic selection of online communication channels (e.g. social media sites), as well as the creation of content. Once selected, it’s important to establish a process and schedule of regularly posting content, engaging with others online and growing social media channels. This requires ongoing and reliable participation, as well as the creation and dissemination of high-quality, original content.
Digital Current also offers some helpful tips in an article by Chris Brown called “5 Cost-Effective Ways to Spend Your Leftover Digital Marketing Budget.” So does Hank Ostholthoff in an article for Entrepreneur. We also have a number of blog posts on our website that provide additional information and insights.
The bottom line — if you’ll forgive the pun — is that you can drive real revenue to your business with some clever and cost-effective digital marketing, whether or not you have deep pockets at the moment.
Recommended Reading:
The Everything Guide to Customer Engagement
