How can you save money on marketing tasks?

It's important to think of marketing as an extension of your sales team. Marketing drives business development, brings in new clients, and supports the efforts of sales through branded content. Therefore, it is vital that time, consideration, and budget be allocated to marketing endeavors. Free tools are great to leverage, but they are most useful in the hands of someone who has at least a minimal understanding of the data they gather and the technology they utilize.

Collaboration! Work with other businesses that have the same target market as yourself. Doing events and collaboration together is more fun anyways when you have even more things to offer your ideal clients. It’s a win win

Save money on marketing by setting clear goals, utilizing cost-effective channels, repurposing content, building in-house skills, using DIY design tools, investing in automation, and regularly analyzing performance

Image Content Design. There are super easy tools out there to create content just as good as trained designers can - *IF* you have the creative capacity to utilize the software effectively and to continuously maintain brand standards. To note, I am not disrespecting those designers who are very well trained in the field. If you are not creative by nature or do not have the time - outsource the work, rather. Make sure to present your brand accurately right from the start.

Beyond referrals and testimonials, delve into community-building where customers become advocates not just for your products but for a shared identity or purpose your brand represents. Explore co-creation initiatives where customers have a say in product development, fostering a deeper sense of loyalty. Moreover, tap into the psychology of reciprocity; surprise loyal customers with unexpected, personalized gestures of appreciation to reinforce their bond with your brand. By thinking creatively and forging meaningful connections with your existing customer base, you can amplify your marketing impact while minimizing costs.

Understanding what drives your best clients to take action means you can leverage your marketing efforts more effectively and efficiently. This also helps build trust and stronger relationships turning repeat business into a steady revenue stream, as well as evangelists for your business. It is important to keep in mind that listening is key. If you don't take action on their feedback, you risk ostricizing your biggest champions.

Photographers do what's called "Styled Shoots." In the wedding industry, for example, a wedding planner, florist, venue, cake designer, dressmaker, models, and other vendors get together to create a themed wedding. Everyone works together to get the marketing material they need and together they create an entire wedding that's greater than the sum of their parts. Because it's not just the cake, but the bride and groom model cutting the cake with the lighting design for the dance floor in the background and the dress the bride is wearing with the table decorations of flowers. What can you do to collaborate with others?

Find non-competing businesses in your area or that serve your clients and partner with them. This could involve sharing sales, referring clients back and forth, or offering joint promotions. Think about your ideal client and what they are also likely to need from a non-competing business. There are many ways to partner with other businesses, but the simplest is to pay a commission on each sale generated by your partner. Ultimately, don't view this as a cost. If you had to market to this client from scratch, you would probably spend more money. And referral-based introductions typically lead to faster sales at higher prices, because your new client already trusts the referring business.

Beyond client personas, also look at geographies and Industry verticals where you can drive more immediate conversions. For example, focusing on commercial real estate in the New York Metro if you're offering business services. You'll be able to target more highly qualified leads with a smaller spend.

I have a friend who scaled a 2+ million dollar website design business that focuses exclusively on HVAC companies. He reads HVAC books. He attends their conferences. He knows who the suppliers are. He understands the customer journey for these HVAC companies. But knowing all of this, and really understanding his customers, he's able to help scale these HVAC companies - sometimes quadrupling their yearly sales. Niching is a very powerful strategy when done right.

Often times, it's less about the content itself and more about the consistency to build brand recognition. If you're business is still small, you need to drive momentum and followers. Engaging content is great! But branded consistent content is vital.

If you are one of the 70% of the population who are wired to respond, you prove my know that when you are asked a question about your business, you find it easy to come up with a response. You probably also know that you find it easier to comment on other peoples posts than to create your own marketing content. Here’s the thing… Comments are posts you initially publish to a micro audience - the poster and their post readers. Write your comments AS IF you are writing for your audience (like this one) then REUSE those comments as marketing content. That’s your effortless route to consistent marketing. content.

Know the brands you carry and know if the manufacturers offer CoOp. The best way to save money on marketing is to get someone else to pay for your marketing expenses.

Automate as much as you can. Save time and your will save money. This could be scheduling your social posts in advance, setting up your email flows and automations, scheduling reports-- anything that you can do once instead of daily, weekly, or monthly.