3 Small Business Marketing Ideas with Minimal Costs

Small business marketing ideas can make the difference between profit and loss. Since small businesses primarily lack the budget for the usual large scale marketing strategies, they rely on less costly (preferably free) creative marketing alternatives to keep them afloat and at par with the big businesses. Here are 3 small business marketing ideas commonly employed by newcomers and small scale businesses.

Seminars or Open house

Hosting events is an excellent way to gain exposure and talk time with key clientele and possible customers, as well as circulating your company name. Plus, the media is usually interested in these small business marketing ideas so it usually covers events and seminars. Just provide a good enough or interesting enough reason to expect something from the event. This way, you double exposure.

Another possible thing you can do, if it's a seminar, is to charge a fee and set a maximum limit for the audience. A fee gives the impression of value while limits give the impression of exclusivity. This more or less segregates the audience into more prospects and common passersby. If you’re handing out brochures or flyers in the seminar which your company spent on, might as well give them to people with a better chance of buying than to those who just happen to be there by chance, right?

Bartering

One of the small business marketing ideas with little cost is bartering. It’s a really good strategy especially for those with limited budget. You can exchange your product for ad space or for another company's service or product. This way, you only spend on a few samples while also gaining exposure. Also, if things go well for both you and the companies you choose to barter with, then it also creates good partnerships and even future relationships with customers of other companies.

Mail Outs

Of the many small business marketing ideas, mail outs is probably the least bothersome. This involves placing your brochures, ads, flyers, or any promotional material in all your outgoing mails. It not only saves on postage, but it also gives your company extra mileage. However, it is more likely that most of the recipients will not be buyers. The good thing, though, is that the few who might be interested could at least get their hands on means to order or be informed of your products and your company. These people might later be your means to spreading the word around.

To minimize printing cost, you can send out surplus ad materials from other marketing gigs that were never used so you don’t have to make new copies.