It’s extremely common for small businesses to have a tight budget, especially if you are just starting off. You may also go through business slow down periods, when you may not be making as much revenue. Fortunately, there are marketing strategies that you can adopt to boost sales and increase revenue without spending a lot of money. Below are our top seven budget-friendly ideas.
Ways to Increase Your Business’ Revenue on a Tight Budget
1. Prioritize Social Media
Marketing on social media platforms is both effective and inexpensive, and it must be a part of your marketing strategy. Therefore, we encourage businesses to create and share social media content regularly to engage with relevant people. This will get people invested in your brand, and it will spread brand awareness. Make sure to use hashtags to improve your reach.
When businesses run ads on social media platforms, they tend to make the mistake of targeting everyone. However, most of the time, they end up burning a lot of their advertising budget without making many sales. As a result, many dismiss social media marketing as ineffective, when, in actuality, they simply targeting their products or services to the right people.
Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, you will generate more sales if you narrow down your targeting. That is because you’ll be investing your money and time in an audience that’s more likely to convert.
The good news is that digital marketing campaigns fit any budget, and you can set your ad budget for as little as $10/day. It’s a fantastic way to drive traffic to your site or store at a low budget.
2. Set Up a Referral System
What better way to reach new customers than through satisfied customers? Word of mouth drives up to 50% of sales. Thus, a happy customer telling others about your business is more powerful and cost-effective than any high-budget fancy ad campaign.
Develop a customer referral program by offering your loyal customers an incentive. This could be a discount code, an item as a free add-on, or something else of value. You may have to experiment with various incentives and different referral programs over time to find out what works and motivates people to help build connections. Let your customers be your active promoters.
3. Raise or Lower your Prices
If your sales are struggling, adjusting your prices to meet the market situation or your objective is essential. Are you underselling your products and services? If your pricing is too low without a valid reason, customers may think they’re purchasing a low-quality product rather than a bargain. So, raising your prices may improve the perception and increase your profit margin.
On the other hand, if the reaction of your potential customers is not favorable, make further adjustments, and consider going back to lowering your prices if needed.
4. Offer Discounts
Offering discounts is the oldest and most effective marketing strategy. Offering your customers discounts, a better deal, or a free add-on makes them feel special, and they will return to you as they think you’re providing them a good value for their money.
This strategy can be especially useful for bulk orders. Additionally, you could participate in coupon programs and daily deal websites such as LivingSocial or Groupon to gain exposure and increase sales. Distributing coupons through magazines and newspapers has proven to be powerful, too.
5. Pursue Content Marketing
Content marketing comes in many forms. It can be a video, e-book, case study, blog post, quiz, podcast, etc. Remember, this is not about self-promotion, but it’s about publishing relevant and educating content.
Content marketing has a vast potential of capturing a bigger market for your products or services and increasing your credibility. It will also boost your site’s organic SEO ranking, views, and drive more sales. To increase your reach and build relationships with people in your industry, you could also write guest blogs for other blogs to appeal to new audiences.
6. Start E-Mail Marketing
If you have a tight budget, similar to social media marketing, e-mail marketing is one of the most inexpensive and effective channels to engage with your customers, boost your sales, and increase your revenue.
If you want to drive traffic to your website, e-mail marketing is a must. Create weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly newsletters and keep your email list updated on your latest products or services.
You can even send them targeted follow-up emails to remind about an abandoned cart, close a sale, share your latest blog posts, offer exclusive discounts, and industry advice. As long as you’re sending them highly relevant content, it’s very likely that they will keep you at the top of their mind.
There are numerous e-mail marketing platforms to help you build lists and send automated e-mails. Yet, if you are trying to increase revenue with a low budget, you can use e-mail tools like MailChimp that has a starter plan completely for free.
7. Promote Your Products Offline, Too
While online marketing is critical, there are compelling and cheaper ways to promote your products or services offline, too. For example, you can create and distribute promotional flyers and business cards at various places.
You can also use your vehicle as a mobile billboard or support a social cause. Becoming a socially conscious company can drive your sales. This kind of marketing emphasizes creativity over budget, and they’re usually easy and inexpensive to implement, so think outside the box and grasp the attention of the public.
Furthermore, free or inexpensive networking events are available, as well. Ask questions and offer value to potential contacts and make sure to stay in touch with them. You never know who may need your products or services.
Wrap-Up
Successful businesses have to continuously reinvent themselves in order to increase revenue during tough times. They have to adapt their offerings, sales strategy, and, most importantly, listen to their customers. Each of the strategies above is powerful, and with a little creativity, you can certainly boost sales even when you’re on a low budget.
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