The sole aim of businesses is to make profits. Even social businesses cannot survive if they don’t create sustainable financial channels. It’s no surprise that business revolves around money-making. People indulge in such ventures for financial and economic gains. So they use numerous tools to ensure it. There are different business functions involved in the holistic process of value generation. Finance, human resource, supply chain, and sales play an important role. However, marketing is the most critical function to produce business value.
According to Group M, the world spends approximately $2 trillion on marketing each year. Only advertising makes up about 30% of this amount. So marketing is undoubtedly a multibillion-dollar industry with high stakes for any business. Therefore, we see innovative marketing gimmicks making their way to the marketing world every year—marketers trying new tricks to gain market presence and acquire customers. More and more marketing agencies come to the fore in the business world. In short, marketing itself is becoming a great business than just merely a business function.
By now, you might have crafted a perception that marketing always revolves around heavy stacks of money. It is always capital intensive and requires hefty expenditure. However, that is not always the case. Several marketing avenues can provide broad customer reach with minimal cost. They require more of your time and strategy than money. This article tells you 4 of those low-cost marketing strategies that guarantee broad audience reach.
Email Marketing
While traditional marketers deem email marketing ineffective, they couldn’t be further away from its many long-run benefits. Email marketing is a highly beneficial marketing tool that requires minimal costs and efforts. What’s more, you can learn email marketing on your own as well. You can easily find online resources to learn how to build an email list, target the right customers on emails, and track responses. According to Statista, around 4 billion active email users exist in the world currently. So, there is no doubt that email marketing will provide you a broad audience approach.
According to HubSpot, every $1 spent on email marketing generates $42 in return. That’s a 4,200% return on investment (ROI). Isn’t it mind-boggling? That is the potential of email marketing. It has manifold benefits across different aspects of marketing. It helps you to develop a strong relationship with the customers and create a buzz in the market. You stay relevant in the market, and your target audience remains spellbound. Other than this, email marketing also drives an organic audience. It increases customer visits to your online presence.
Guerrilla Marketing
Previously, Guerrilla marketing tactics were used for physical marketing campaigns only. However, as the marketing paradigm is heavily shifting toward online marketing, we can see several elements of Guerrilla marketing on online platforms as well. Guerrilla marketing focuses on utilizing unconventional means and ideas to promote your products, services, or brand. Regarding online media, this marketing technique relies on the “element of surprise” when the viewers least expect it. It’s highly engaging, low-cost, and a compelling way to leave a lasting impression on your target audience. What’s more, if done the right way, viewers might even share your online Guerrilla content with their friends, further expanding your audience reach.
Nonetheless, what makes a marketing strategy Guerrilla is the reliance on creative content and ideas that are previously never deployed by a brand. It’s all about distinguishing yourself from the crowd and creating a heightened buzz.
Digital marketing
Digital marketing is not always large-scale advertising and paid marketing using high-tech Google Analytics tools. It can be as effortless as posting a well-designed announcement on your Instagram page. It requires almost no cost at all. You can drive highly engaging social media marketing campaigns and reach millions of people through just a single post. Digital marketing also includes content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). These tools help you develop better awareness about your market offering and convert consumer intentions into buying decisions.
According to a PR Newswire report, the global digital marketing market size reached a whopping $350 billion in 2020. Analysts expect it to grow further at a CAGR of 13.9% by 2026. Therefore, we can only predict a more significant role of digital marketing in the future landscape of the global marketing industry. It provides many practical marketing tools like infographics, webpages, podcasts, and interactive videos. These marketing tools are difficult to gain from other sources. Therefore, digital marketing has leveled the global marketing field. Now emerging businesses can use the same marketing means as developed organizations with strong financial muscle.
Utilize the Physical Space/Opportunistic Branding/Brand the Easy Way/Inexpensive Branding Opportunities
It will undoubtedly cost some money to have your vast hoardings and billboards on a highway. For most businesses, it will not be financially feasible. However, you can always utilize other available physical spaces to brand your organization. Most importantly, you can start from your office building. Internal office premises, stairs, sidewalks, and main front walls are potential spaces to brand your market offering. There are always external stakeholders coming to office spaces as well as passing by your physical presence. It can always convey a marketing message to them.
You can also opt for other social and corporate meetings where you can acquire easy sponsorships. It is comparatively more straightforward with social events. You can place your hoardings at social gatherings at a meager cost or for no cost at all. You can brand your company in exchange for volunteers. This way, you will participate in CSR activities and gain marketing access to a broad audience. For a minimal cost, you can communicate your message to a large audience. Moreover, social participation also creates a market buzz that you can capitalize over social media platforms.
Final Thoughts
Marketing has drastically evolved over the last few years. The rise of the COVID pandemic introduced more innovative marketing measures. It promulgated the acceptance of online marketing tools across the world. Now technological implementations in marketing are at their peak. These applications have created affordable alternatives for emerging businesses. Therefore, we see more companies gaining market traction in less time. You can unleash the actual ability of your business operations through utilizing these low-cost marketing strategies too. It is all about taking innovative initiatives at the right time.
