Promote Business Successfully Even On A Tight Budget
When you go into business, your main purpose is to get customers and bring in sales. This can only be accomplished through excellent marketing.
If your door does not open as frequently as expected and your cash register does not ring at all, something is wrong. You need to find out what is wrong as soon as possible, because of the highly competitive world today, getting positive result matters the most. Successful business owners are not really more intelligent or talented than you. They are ordinary people like you who simply know how to do things to work for their advantage.
The usual dilemma of entrepreneurs is capital. While they understand that a good marketing strategy is critical to a business, they usually postpone it until they have recovered their expenses. However, marketing is something that should not be postponed. A follow through is needed to sustain business momentum and eventually grow the business. Fortunately, there is a way to market without spending a lot of money. Here is how:
Distribute greeting cards
Greeting cards are simple yet special ways of letting people know that you remember them. Whether you give them birthday greeting cards or special occasion cards, these cards let your customers feel they are valued.
For a small and medium enterprise, greeting cards are an inexpensive way of promoting business. You can print them in full color if you can afford the expense or in two-color if you are on a tight budget. Your cards do not have to be elaborate and overly creative. As long as you are able to deliver your message clearly, it does not matter your card is expensively produced or not.
Create a referral program
A referral program is like bring a friend promo. This means that for every friend your customer brings, he/she gets a special discount or freebie from you. This promo is not only effective in creating customer relationships, but is cost effective as well as you only had to touch on your existing customers to get new patrons.
Target on a small market rather than the whole
When you are on a tight budget, it is more economical to concentrate on a small niche rather than trying to sell to everyone. For instance, if you own a laundry shop, it may be better to distribute your flyers or brochures to apartments and condominiums instead of giving them out on subdivisions. It is likely that people living in subdivisions do not need laundry services as compared to people living in apartments. The market in apartments may be smaller than in subdivisions, but it sure is a profitable market.
Use several campaign strategies
Aside from using just brochures as your marketing materials, print greeting cards, flyers, and business cards as well. These materials will help you reach your target market easily resulting in greater reach. These materials do not also cost a lot to produce, so even if you are on a tight budget you can easily bring in customers.
Whatever you decide to use as your marketing plan, keep in mind to follow the following factors - visibility, consistency, and commitment. You have to be visible to your target market, remain consistent in your products and services, and commit to your customers. Even if you use simple and inexpensive marketing materials, if you remain visible, consistent, and committed to your business and your customers, you are sure to attain business success.