4 DIY Marketing Tips for Small Businesses on a Budget
Plenty of new or small businesses owners would love to hire a team of professionals to solve their marketing problems. Yet, the reality is, it’s expensive to outsource marketing and advertising work. Many companies simply can’t afford to partner with a digital marketing agency. This doesn’t mean that these companies should ignore marketing or advertising until they have the capital needed to bring in an agency to help them, though. Rather, it’s imperative that they figure out a plan of action for the interim –– lest they fall behind their competition. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a marketing maven or an SEO guru to make a few smart decisions that will boost your company’s visibility online. 
Register Your Website Today
Domain age doesn’t have a massive effect on SEO rankings, but it does carry some weight. What’s more, Google and other search engines typically won’t index brand new sites. It can take several months for a site to rank organically on Google. As such, if you haven’t registered your website yet –– do it today. You can always make changes and adjustments to it down the line.
Start a Blog
For some professionals, starting a blog can be intimidating. Thankfully in 2019, it doesn’t have to be. Setting up a blog on a site like WordPress, Hubspot, Wix, Squarespace (etc.) is straightforward. Almost anyone can do it within a couple of hours. From there, you can begin to write content for your consumers. Again, there’s no need to be worried here if you’re not sure what to write about. At the end of the day, your blog should focus on what you know best –– your business. Don’t worry too much about stylistic or grammatical flubs, because it’s much more important to reach your audience with your message. Plus, writing the occasional blog won’t cost your business a cent!
Respond to Customers Social Media
Often, businesses treat social media like a one-way street; they post a lot of content, but they rarely solicit responses from their customer base and even more rarely address those responses. However, at it’s best, social media should act as a platform for consumers and businesses to interact in a productive manner. In fact, when companies take the time to respond to customer queries or concerns, they dramatically increase their chances of generating high quality leads through social media.
Start Small
Advertising online can present a tremendous opportunity for growing businesses –– if they know how to work the system. Unfortunately, many inexperienced professionals don’t understand how to create successful ads on platforms like Google Ads. But this doesn’t mean you can’t figure out an effective strategy regardless. Start by making small bids and gradually adjust your ads over time based on their success (or lack thereof). Like anything else, digital marketing requires lots of hard work and TLC, but if you get it right, you can save a lot of money in the long run.
The Bottom Line
Whether your company manufactures complex lab equipment like 384 well plates, or you run a sporting-goods shop, all small business owners can increase their company’s visibility online by making a few smart decisions. Just be sure to keep the above tips in mind if you’re struggling to get started!
