Marketing is one of the most expensive costs in any business. For businesses on a budget, it can be quite tough to market your services. However, even if you’re on a budget, marketing is still essential to your business success.
These five tips will help you save money on your marketing, so you can still bring in new customers without having to spend an arm and a leg.
==> Tip #1: Outsource Graphic Design on Elance
If you hire a graphic designer in your local area, it’s not unusual for them to charge $80 to $200 an hour.
On the other hand, a highly competent graphic designer online might charge just $25 to $50 an hour. You can find them on freelance sites like Elance or oDesk.
Graphic design is a global skill, so people with great artistic talent from countries like the Philippines or India can participate on Elance, even if their English skills aren’t top-notch. You get a great bargain, while still getting great design.
==> Tip #2: Do as Much as Possible Yourself
Don’t hire someone to write your copy. Don’t hire someone to do your online advertising. Try to learn and do everything you can yourself.
Of course, if you don’t have the skill for something at all, you have to go outside. For instance, if you don’t know your way around Photoshop, you’re probably going to have to outsource graphic design.
Do everything you can yourself, then pay as little as you can for everything else.
==> Tip #3: Market Online rather Than Offline
Marketing online is both less expensive and more trackable than offline marketing.
If you wanted to produce an offline radio commercial or TV commercial, you could easily be looking at tens of thousands of dollars in production and advertising costs.
On the other hand, online you’re only looking at a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars to get a PPC campaign off the ground.
==> Tip #4: Invest in Targeting
Let’s say you’re doing a direct mail campaign. You’re paying $5 per thousand names. For an additional $1.50 per thousand, you can make your list even more targeted – for instance, by targeting a specific income bracket.
This is a good idea. It might seem like you’re paying more, but in reality your increased ROI will almost always pay for itself. Invest in targeting, even (or especially) when you’re on a budget.
==> Tip #5: Don’t Be Cheap with Working Campaigns
If a marketing campaign is profitable, don’t be cheap. As soon as a campaign proves itself profitable, crank it up and pour as much money as you can into it.
Why? Because you know for a fact that you’re going to see more money back as a result.
Set budgets for testing campaigns that are unproven, but crank up campaigns that are producing a positive ROI.