You have an idea that will definitely revolutionize the market. We know what you are dreaming of today. Customers would stand in lines to use your product or service. Competitors would suffer from reduced profits since everyone wants to buy from you.

But a unique product alone is not enough. You have to tell audiences about it. How can you do that? Marketing techniques are here for you.

What Is Marketing in Business?

Marketing is what helps you to reach potential and existing customers to promote your product or service. For that, entrepreneurs of all scopes choose an appropriate marketing technique that will help to achieve a goal.

What are marketing techniques? Basically, it’s a set of activities or tools a business uses to promote the product for a target audience. This includes the digital realm as its penetration is increasing, literally, daily.

The key to success is integrating both digital and traditional marketing activities. However, this is a tough task. Only 36% of respondents claim that they are actively working on this, according to a survey.

Marketing strategies usually imply excessive expenditures. Some even claim that it takes one of the biggest shares in marketing. This can become a problem for small businesses that have limited resources. Therefore, we have worked out a list of marketing techniques that work but don’t require a fortune.

List of Marketing Techniques for Small Businesses

Here are 11 marketing techniques for small businesses:

1. Partnerships With Other Businesses

Collaborating with others isn’t always a bad idea, especially if you are new. It can significantly boost your reach. You don’t need to turn to competitors. Choose partners from a related sphere and promote each other. Sometimes, you pay nothing.

2. Flyers

Flyers is an ever-popular way of cheap advertising. The ultimate challenge is to find the right to spot to distribute them. It must be a hot location where your target audience exists. You can hand out not only promotional flyers but also coupons on special deals.

3. Banners   

Banners are one of the most efficient promotional tools the world has ever seen. They bring attention, improve brand awareness, and deliver a message to dozens of people at the same time. You can use them for branding as well – for example, a step and repeat banner that features your logo.

4. Value Additions

Traditional value additions are discounts for repeat customers, guarantees, point cards, referral rewards. Basically, they add value to the choice of a seller. If a consumer deals with you, he will have more lucrative conditions. This drives loyalty. Wonderful, isn’t it? After all, what are marketing techniques in business for?

5. Referral Networks

Word of mouth is one of the most influential powers. So are referrals. Here, you must concentrate not only on customers’ referrals but business-to-business as well. That’s one way to gain respect.

6. Follow-ups

Feedback is essential for any marketing campaign. It shows how it is going. Business owners use questionnaires to know what requires optimization. Moreover, you can determine why exactly customers choose you and not competitors. All in all, follow-up questionnaires are what identifies the strengths and weaknesses of your marketing campaign from a customer’s perspective.

7. Cold Calls

Cold calls are unlikely to be the most favorite activity in your sales department. However, they are highly important. Why so? It’s a cheap way to promote yourself, find new clients, and upgrade selling skills. Basically, you have to sell not only your product but also yourself.

8. Facebook Advertising 

Facebook is an affordable platform to reach virtually any audience. First of all, it has set up a straightforward mechanism to launch an ad. You can easily target a specific segment of an audience based on online behavior, sex, location, age, etc. Secondly, you don’t need significant marketing knowledge to operate on Facebook.

9. A Free Consultation

By offering a free consultation, you make a person acquainted with your brand. You can present yourself as an expert and, therefore, promote your business. After all, no one wants to deal with amateurs. Moreover, free consultations help to guide customers to the right purchasing decision.

10. Local Business Groups

Local business groups can become a treasury of new ideas or talent. This is also an amazing way to expand the scope of your connections. We all know how vital they are for smooth business operations. Apart from valuable connections on a local level, you will have a chance to improve expertise in the field.

11. Direct Mail Marketing

Although online communication channels are booming, they are overloaded with content. That’s why many consumers ignore the information. You can also include presentation videos or images about your products or services. Traditional mail is a way to stand out and engage on a different level. Just be creative enough to drive curiosity and make a memorable statement.

Summing Up

Marketing is a key pile of communicating with your audience and promoting a product or service. It shouldn’t be compulsory expensive. You can start with more affordable techniques. What matters is a result, not the amount of the expenditures.

Do you have any other opinion on: “Why are marketing techniques important for a small business?”

About the Author

The author is an experienced entrepreneur. He believes that a person can make a difference even with insignificant investments. In 2006 he founded the family business Fortuna Visual Group. They started off as a one-man show but now they are a crew of dedicated art crafters, designers, expert fabricators, and installers with exceptional skills, professionalism, and work knowledge.