Marketing tips for frugal business owners

When I started EMARI, I was dead set against going into a decade of debt to start my business. If anything, I wanted EMARI to be a vehicle to help get me out of the debt I’d accumulated whilst undertaking two degrees and travelling!

As a freelance marketer, I know marketing is one of the most flexible, high-potential areas to maximise a very small marketing budget. There are so many ways you can get the word out about your business without spending much, so I thought I’d share some of my favourite ways to do so:

1)   Let your customers know they’re valued.

Any marketer worth their salt will tell you that any effective marketing plan needs a thorough understanding of your target audience. The more you know about your customer, the more you understand their pain points and goals, the easier it is to create and develop products and services that they want and need... but most advice only focuses on the “awareness” part of the journey rather than the “loyalty” part which is where customers continue to work with you and are thus more likely to generate referrals.

Whilst you may be marketing to a large group, you have a relationship with your existing customers that allows you to work on an individual basis and personalise your marketing messages and approach to address their needs.

You have to show them how much they (your customers) mean to you. Here are just a few of the things we do at EMARI that you can do too:

-      Ask for client testimonials and use them in all of your marketing materials

-      Send past customers free samples and other incentives so they are more likely to work with you again

-      At the end of every project, product testing or end of every month depending on the nature of work that you do ask your clients two questions:

1)   On a scale of 1 – 10 how would you rate your experience with X company/product/service

2)   On a scale of 1 – 10 how likely are you to recommend X company/product/service

-      Send gifts to your important clients – Birthdays, Christmas and various other festivals give opportunities but what about a hand-written note thanking them for their last referral? What about a pair of novelty socks/a book/their favourite scented candle that you just happened to see and knew they’d love? Something a little out of the ordinary sent when people are least expecting it stands out.

-      Don’t just remember birthdays and Christmas, remember anniversaries of big projects launching in their business/their business birthdays/when they first became a client.

-      Create a “frequent buyer” rewards programme and/or pricing waterfall

-      Tell them what their referrals mean to you and how they will help to achieve your business goals so they can buy into your vision too.

2)   Build an email list

Once you build an audience (of email subscribers), anything is possible. For some business owners, email marketing may seem archaic however, even with the pervasiveness of social media, email still remains a persuasive digital marketing channel for building awareness, boosting acquisition, and increasing conversion.

Ignoring email as part of your marketing strategy means you are missing out on potential business opportunities. Why?

- it’s direct

- whilst some of your customers can avoid social media for a couple of days, most are checking email every day

- you own your own list - these are people who say they want to hear from you

- converts more effectively - People who buy products marketed through email spend 138% more than those who do not receive email offers.

Alongside “total sales value” and “number of word of mouth referrals”, the only other marketing target I really concern myself with is the “size of email list”. Why? Because Email is the only place where you and not the algorithms are in charge.

I don’t mass-email out to everybody and I don’t have a newsletter currently, I prefer to send targeted messages offering free downloads, special offers, and provide exclusive tips/advice and other useful information/resources to carefully chosen accounts.

That’s not to say email newsletters are not an economical way to stay in touch with customers, promote new products and services and boost brand recognition – they absolutely are. I just don't have time to do everything so I have to prioritise accordingly.

The two things to remember with any email marketing campaign is:

-      make it clear what value you will be delivering if/when people sign up

-      promise not to sell their data or spam them out of existence.

3)   Use social media strategically

Most people say social media is an easy and cost-effective way to reach your target audience but to be honest I see a lot of people spending a lot of time, energy and resource on stuff that doesn’t work. Yes social media is the most common form of online marketing and yes your customers now expect you to have a good social media presence but it’s not just about how many followers or likes you have - you have to work smart not hard when it comes to social media.

In the world of inbound marketing you have to blog well and blog often. Every time you blog you create an opportunity to be found in search engines, to be shared on social media, add new backlinks and get new people to interact with your company.

Publishing 16 blogs per month brings in 3.5x more traffic to your website than publishing 4 articles per month according to recent HubSpot data based on 13,500+ customers. It’s fair to say that the companies that make a commitment to publish blogs with quality content regularly tend to reap the biggest rewards in terms of website, traffic and leads but it’s not just about the content you put out, it’s about the effort you put in. You should be subscribing to other blogs related to your topic, commenting on them, driving the conversation forward... Yes, it’s time-consuming but it’s important in building social capital and long-term relationships. I use the coffee-cup routine religiously to maximise the amount of time and effort I spend on social media (happy to share if anyone wants it - direct message, comment on this post or email me emma@emari.co.uk) The coffee cup routine has been instrumental in me being able to create a six-figure turnover business within a year – I didn’t use social media adverts and I didn’t have a website at the time either just to be clear, instead I doubled down on my skills in networking both online and offline to generate results.

Many companies spread themselves too thinly on social media – LinkedIn, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok… but if you’re just posting content out into the abyss and not making effort to engage with others, your social media won’t work well. Likewise, if you don’t have a clear content strategy and spend every morning thinking “what can I put on LinkedIn today” you’ll get poor results. You have to think message first, then work out how to communicate it best on which social media channel.

Personally, LinkedIn is my primary source of enquiries, so I spend most of my time there; I add content to Instagram, and Pinterest periodically. I record how much time and effort I spend on content and then how many enquiries I have as a result and adjust my resource schedule accordingly. I also do not use automatically scheduled posting software. Just no. You can read my previous LinkedIn article on that subject at your leisure.

As with any marketing activities you have to have a plan before diving in. It may be a quick and easy medium to use but a well-organised strategic approach will garner a much better return on investment that just chucking stuff up and seeing what sticks.

4)   Give something away

Samples or freebies can be a great way to attract new customers and grow your email list – coupons, contest, a free webinar or workshop… they’re all tried and tested methods but if you want people to think your product or service is valuable then why give it away for free? Customers are getting savvy to the “taster sessions” which are actually hour-long pitch fests that end with the usual “buy my course it’s normally $1997 but today it’s only $47!” rubbish. YAWN.

I decided early on that whilst competitions with premium prizes were fine, freebies weren’t right for my business so I decided to give away my time in a way that promoted my brand in the right way. Every month I donate a minimum of 8 hours to charity and non-profit organisations including my favourite sailing charity WetWheels Solent.. It's a win-win

I offer free social media training, ideas and strategic consultancy and in return, I get to increase my portfolio, develop my network and often generate new (paying) clients through referrals. Not only that, it gives me a blank canvas to experiment and try new things which often leads to the development of new products and services that others will pay for and fundamentally it’s really good fun and makes me feel good! Now some of my clients are doing it too for example Village Hotels offers 1000 hours per hotel to charity per year through their Village Green initiative! I also have clients who sponsor local sports teams, plant trees for every product or service package bought or offer a 1 for 1 option e.g. A company buys their training package and then nominates a local school, children’s group or charity to get a training session for free!

5)    Grassroots

Sometimes there is no better way to promote your business than just talking to people. Some of the most obvious ways to get involved in your local community and maximise your networking opportunities are to join the Chamber of Commerce or other local professional organisation (if you’re between 18 and 40 I fully recommend Junior Chamber International for cost-effective training and opportunities to travel and meet some genuinely incredible people!).

As well as being heavily involved in JCI, I'm also a Portsmouth Ambassador through Shaping Portsmouth and an Enterprise Advisor through the Solent LEP. I also go to two dance classes per week which has opened up countless personal and professional networking opportunities!

Other options are to co-sponsor an event or launch a strategic partnership with a complementary business, get involved with sports groups, charities or other interest groups. You never know where your next referral will come from but the more things you’re involved in and passionate about, the more likely your name will spring to mind when they hear someone needs what you have to offer!