There are endless ways to market your business online if you have unlimited funds, but what about those businesses that are working with a limited budget? Everyone has to start somewhere, and if you fall into that category this article is geared specifically for you.
Here are several ways that you can drive awareness, website traffic, and sales using online marketing strategies that can all be done for $1,000 or less. Use the suggestions below to plan out different online marketing tests, and then scale up the ones that work the best. This is the best way to grow your business to the point that it allows you to launch higher budgeted marketing efforts.
- Create an epic pieces of content.
“Create a powerful piece of content that other people can use and get value from. Then publish this on your business domain. Then reach out to like-minded business and allow them to use this content as well.” — Marc Webb, Founder of Real PDL Help
- Sponsored posts.
“There are many sponsored post opportunities out there. Find a popular blog in your niche and reach out and offer them the opportunity to review your product or service. Some may even do it for free, while some charge a small advertising fee. It’s a great way to be seen.” — Jim Epton of Dom Huga Ltd
- Promote content using Facebook’s ad platform.
“Facebook ads are a great way to get the attention of a very specific group of people that may be interested in your products or services. No other platform that I’m aware of lets you target people based on what they have already said they are interested in.” — Joseph W. Belluck of Belluck & Fox, LLP
- Test multiple ad sets in AdWords.
“You can start a small Google AdWords campaign with $1,000 and just create several ad sets and test small daily budgets in order to get several day’s worth of data. Look for high performing ads and then allocate more spend towards those in an effort to scale the ads that convert the highest.” — Andrew Tran, Founder of Therapy
- Create an affiliate program.
“If you sell physical products online, consider using it to fund the launch of an affiliate program. You can use that money to recruit affiliates or buy some prizes to award to top performers. Building a team of strong affiliate marketers can really help grow your business.” — April Gillmore, CEO of ClickFirst Marketing
- Podcasts
“Podcasts are becoming very popular now, and there are many sponsorship opportunities that you can secure that are fairly affordable. Find some niche relevant podcasts and then purchase in-episode plugs. For $1,000 you can get exposure on several smaller podcasts.” — Tom Munroe, CEO of RugStudio
- Influencer marketing.
“Find influencers in your niche and reach out to them with a partnership or collaboration opportunity. Social proof will continue to be a conversion driver for many businesses in 2019, and an effective way to invest a minimal amount while achieving high, targeted reach.“ — Sean Christman, Founder of Slamdot
- Facebook ads.
“Facebook ads is one of the most effective ways to generate business, and you have access to anyone you want to target. I would suggest starting small and playing around to get a feel of how the platform works before spending $1,000. Test with $10 a day to get started.” — Christopher Dziak, CEO of Pure Nootropics
- Perform outreach.
“Good old fashioned outreach. Look for online sites related to your business, local business sites and organizations, and other resources that your business is related too. And then — get to work contacting those people letting them know about your site.” — Shawn Schulze of HomeArea.com
- Social media campaigns.
“Social media campaigns. You can use one platform and grow, splice aggregate that data to multiple places. Utilizing FB ads, google my business, and boost functionalities make it easy to ensure you are being seen.” — Shawn Freeman, Founder and CEO of TWT Group
- Micro-influencer marketing.
“Micro-influencer marketing can be a very inexpensive way to reach a larger audience. Market to the influencers instead of the consumers. If done correctly, the influencer can help you reach a broader market.” — Matthew Kolb of All High Schools
- Google AdWords.
“Marketing online can be very expensive if you don’t pay attention to what you are doing. I would suggest Google PPC for anyone with a smaller budget like $1,000. You can track everything within Google and tweak it as needed to get the most out of your money.” — Ben Walker, Founder of Transcription Outsourcing, LLC
- Newsletter advertising.
“There are many newsletter advertising options that can deliver your message to a large targeted audience, as well as opportunities to send an exclusive offer to their list. Email is still one of the best ways to market, and sometimes testing lists other than yours is a good way to drive sales.” — Ari Evans of AAA Handbags