There is a lot more to starting a business than just creating and selling your product or service. There are so many variables that need to be considered before starting up and you will realise that they will cost you a lot of money. Take marketing for example. How does one figure out a way to get one’s brand out there without breaking the bank?

Well, the team here at Thunderquote has put together 10 low budget marketing ideas for your budding business today!

A practice by individuals, businesses, organizations and institutions that involves marketing is called business marketing. Business marketing allows you to sell products or services to other companies that will then either resell them or use them for their own benefit to support their daily operational activities. Companies that are the suppliers or manufacturers may also integrate products or services from other businesses into their own in order to improve their standard and quality. Business marketing is also recognised as industrial marketing or business-to-business (B2B) marketing.

Brand Marketing Strategy

Firstly, you need to have a solid brand marketing strategy. Your brand marketing strategy brings your competitive positioning to life, and works to position you out in the competitive market. Survey and research. Once you have your strategy in hand, survey your possible partners, vendors and customers to further increase its effectiveness. If you feel that their impressions are not consistent with your strategy then work on the elements to improve it. Emotional factors always have a huge role in decision making so develop your brand around emotional benefits. Determine benefits that are most important to each of your customer segments and identify the most powerful brand strategies to tap into emotions. Lastly, Define your brand personality, story and positioning statements. Think of your brand as a person with a distinct personality and describe it well throughout your materials used.

Here are some cost friendly marketing ideas for your business. 

1. Publish great content that would entice your customers easily.
2. Create videos on your product and services as they are able to capture the attention of people faster
3. Engage in social media networking such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Social media is an important and powerful tool that you can’t miss out on. 
4. DIY Infographics are insane powerful marketing tools. They create visual eye candy, easy to digest and would certainly drive traffic to your website.
5. Give life to you old or current graphics and information. If hiring a professional is out of your budget then tweak it on your own to have a brand new look.
6. Develop a Customer Referral Program. Existing customers are sure to be excited if you offer then a free product or free service when they refer new customers
7. Have online contest to be able to draw in more potential customers and these gifts don’t have to be so fancy as backpacks and custom made mugs would do.
8. Apply online for business awards as carrying awards would definitely boost sales.
9. Make sure to have your business card ready to pass it to anyone you meet.
10. Carry out guerilla marketing as it is very budget friendly, creative and easy to implement. One simple example would be putting up balloons on cars.

Digital Marketing

A layman term for digital marketing is any form of marketing products or services that involves electronic devices. Digital marketing has to be taken seriously because the number of people spending time using electronic devices are constantly going up. It is also an ever-growing source of entertainment, news, shopping and social interact and all these are available at your fingertips in our amazing technological era.  Consumers are constantly exposed to not just what your company says about your brand, but what the media, friends, relatives, peers, are saying as well.

Brand Strategy

By definition, brand strategy is long-term plan that is built for the development and success of a brand in order to achieve their goals. Branding is crucial as it will help you to stand out among your competitors. A well-defined and executed brand strategy will touch aspects of consumer needs, emotions and competitive needs. It is the entire experience your business partners and customers can have with your product and services. Undeniably it consists of your logo, colour schemes and slogan but there are merely creative elements and what matters more is the interaction you have with the market such as:

• The image you portray and convey on your brand
• The messages you put up on websites and campaigns
• Interaction between your employees and potential customers
• Opinions and feedback from your customers

Rome wasn’t built in a day so the saying goes same with your brand. Your brand strategy should not be focused only on immediate tactics but on long-term goals and sustainable growth. Your strategy should always be flexible to cater for the ever changing market, consumers and competitors in order to succeed.

You have your strategies, you have your plans and you have the ideas in hand. Now who is responsible of executing them? This is when a brand manager comes into play. A brand manager is responsible of ensuring that a company’s products and services are compatible with the current market.

Firstly, a brand manager will need to conduct an initial research for a particular brand and gather data on where would the product fit in with the rest of the market. He/she will then have to conduct extensive research on market trends, demand for a product, demographics and to keep a close eye on the competitive products in the market in order to gain popularity among people and also to ask people on what makes a product or service stand out. They are also responsible of overlooking their junior team members, executing marketing campaigns, managing profit & loss, driving market growth and regularly meeting up with clients. With that, a brand manager should posses strong analytical and creative skills, to be business savvy and to have excellent communication skills.

Starting a business is stressful but there are ways for you to counter it and make it a fun overall experience. We hope that we’ve helped you today and if you need more help, head on over to ThunderQuote where we can help you find the best help you need.