Growing Your Business

Creating a Low-Cost Marketing Budget  

by
Tera Kovanes
on
12/29/2016
Creating a Low-Cost Marketing Budget  

You have very big plans for your new company. You know your product or service is excellent, but you don’t know how to attract a large enough consumer base to it just yet. Marketing is at the heart of every new business’s success or downfall. While some companies may wish to spend a significant amount of money marketing their new company, that’s not always the best first step. Your first step is to ensure you have the highest quality of product to offer. Then, you need a more cost-effective solution for marketing.

Who Is Your Target Audience?

Before you can begin to put money into a marketing plan, you need to consider who you are marketing to. Ultimately, every dollar you spend on marketing should put your company in front of your ideal customer. For example, sending a flyer for pet care to a home without pets is a wasted marketing strategy.

  • Determine the demographics behind your targeted audience.
  • How can you reach them? Millennials are often online, whereas seniors are more likely to respond to print publications.
  • What is their need? Your marketing plan should focus on the pain point of your customer that your company will resolve.
  • What’s most important to your target audience? It could be price, fast service, or something else.
  • What does your audience need to take a step towards your company? This could be a special offer, a free consultation, or simply a winning sales message.

Once you outline these aspects, you can begin to create a marketing plan that addresses your target customer. As a result, your money is better spent.

Create a Business Plan

A business plan should be a key component of marketing as well. The key is to have a formula for success. Many of the questions you’ll ask about your target consumer will come from or help create your business plan. Work closely with your financial team and tax professionals to create your business plan based on market research and statistics. Invest the time and money here to ensure this is as thorough as possible. You’ll use it to determine where to invest in marketing as well as how to obtain the funds for your marketing campaign.

Consider the Marketing Options

Most startups and new business owners are not yet at the stage of hiring a marketing firm. You may not have to. A few low-cost ways to get your business off the ground include the following:

  • Create a comprehensive website for your business. Ensure it answers all of the questions your customers are likely to have. Tell them what to do to get the service or product you are offering.
  • Utilize social media. A well-created social media campaign can launch your startup in itself. Avoid fake news, gimmicks, and spam content. Instead, ensure your brand comes through and work to build an audience of your targeted customers.
  • Count on word of mouth. For local businesses, this is an important place to start. You’ll want your first customers to be so impressed they talk about your business to others. Ask for reviews. Ask for feedback. And, perhaps most importantly, ask your first customers to tell others about your business.
  • Consider educational spots. Instead of paying the high cost of a commercial, instead offer a free training session or sponsor a booth at a local fundraiser. Get your name into the community by being active within it.
  • Get talking. You don’t have to spend anything to talk to people about your business. Get excited. Get involved in local events to talk about why your company is different. Discuss it online.

A low-cost marketing plan can be exactly what your business needs to get off the ground. Before you can get to that point, though, you’ll need to work with your financial team to ensure you have a clear picture of what’s expected and what you can invest into such a campaign.

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Tera Kovanes

Tera Kovanes

Tera D. Kovanes, CPA is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) practice based in Henrico, Virginia. She can assist you with your tax preparation, planning, accounting, payroll and bookkeeping needs. She specializes in outsourced or part-time CFO work. In addition to being a CPA, she also is a Certified Fraud Examiner.

Tera D. Kovanes, CPA
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Virginia

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