Advertising Small Businesses With A Limited Budget

Small businesses may have a limited marketing budget so good value advertising is important. A marketing plan should be developed and integrated so that it is a central part of the business. Using targeted advertising channels that fit within the budget and business aims are crucial for success.

Being smart about advertising

Small businesses need to develop a thorough and intelligent approach to marketing. Advertising can be expensive and costly mistakes are easily made. By producing a detailed marketing plan, small business can avoid untargeted publicity. A marketing plan can include information about your target audience, business aims, marketing messages, marketing budget and tactics. A plan may also include competitor analysis such as competitor pricing and advertising.

Once a marketing budget is established, businesses can explore communications channels to reach customers. For small business advertising it is important to stick to the marketing plan and not be swayed by pushy sales people or offers. Sales callers may be trying to sell advertising in print publications or on websites or trying to recruit your company for search engine optimization. It is prudent to refer to the marketing plan and stick to the smart objectives and marketing tactics to avoid any costly errors.

Advertising channels for small businesses

Small business advertising plans should explore all free publicity. Free marketing can include listings on local websites or listings in free print directories. A press release may also be free and can generate publicity. Whilst you can write a press release yourself and send it to print and online media to publish, it may be wise to employ a public relations consultant for their writing skills and media contacts.

Small companies should use social media as a free channel for publicity. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn are all free and can bring huge benefits for small businesses. It?s a great way of communicating with customers and other businesses. LinkedIn and Twitter are particularly good for business to business marketing. It is important to use the different social media channels appropriately for the particular media and fittingly for the type of business. Facebook offers different ways of setting up pages and groups and posting messages so that communications are effective. Staff resourcing for social media is also a consideration.

If paid for advertising is essential, then it is important to research the options fully. Check what competitors are doing, analyses the demographic of your target audience, investigate the reach of the different media and establish the costs involved. Becoming familiar with marketing language is also essential or a marketing consultant could be hired to provide advice on the different options available. Paid for advertising channels for small business include print publications, direct mail, email marketing, online advertising, radio advertising, Facebook advertising, outdoor advertising and Google Adwords. Television advertising is hugely expensive so not usually suitable for small businesses.

Measuring advertising outcomes

All advertising should be monitored, measured and evaluated. Evaluation will give a small business an indication of how and where their customers are finding them. It can also be a good indicator for what marketing channels to use in the future and which channels to drop.

AUTHOR BIO

Anna Mathews writes regularly on business for a range of business and marketing websites. She has owned her own small business and has become educated on small business advertising and marketing through her own experience and practice, as well as completing the Professional Diploma in Marketing through the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

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Source: http://toptenpk.com/advertising-small-businesses-with-a-limited-budget/

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