If you are a small or local business it is important to find cheap digital marketing channels that generate a positive return on investment.
You don’t have the luxury of the big brands in your industry that can spend thousands and sometimes millions on failed marketing campaigns.
At Bespoke Marketing Plans we specialise in finding cheap digital marketing channels that are successful for small & local businesses.
Below we have listed the 5 most successful cheap digital marketing channels and offered some guidance on how you can implement them into your own digital marketing campaigns.
We have included pro’s & con’s of each channel and a pro tip on how you can get the cheap digital marketing channel to work best for your business
Social Ads
Ranked in 5th place is social ads. These can be a very effective cheap digital marketing channel for small & local businesses.
Social Ads on Facebook & Instagram allow you to niche down your targeting. You can even target people that are only based in the postcodes you operate in.
Their audience data is some of if not the best in the world meaning you can pretty much target your exact target market.
Pros
Very detailed audience targeting
Can run a wide range of ads targeting different audiences under one budget
Can turn off, change budget or edit ads whenever you want
Cons
No guaranteed result in terms of new leads or conversions
Cost of ads can vary depending on time of year, audience & competitors running ads
More big businesses are advertising on Facebook each month making their ad space a lot more competitive
Pro Tip – Install the Facebook Pixel on to your site as this will allow you to run remarketing campaigns to people who have previously visited your website.
Email Marketing
In 4th place we have email marketing.
Many professionals believe that email was dead a few years ago; however it has made a strong comeback.
In terms of a cheap digital marketing channel, email marketing can be free however if you are looking at sending mass emails it would be better to look into paying for a platform such as MailChimp.
Email Marketing can also refer to sending cold emails to potential customers trying to persuade them to use your service.
Pros
Can be free to use
You can send mass messages to a number of potential customers at the same time
Great to push new content, products or services your website is offering
Cons
Can be very time consuming (especially if writing personal cold emails)
Very easy to end up in the spam or promos folder when sending out mass emails
Cold email response average is around 1%
Pro Tip – Aim to offer something free in your first email. This will get a conversation starting and allow you to do a sales pitch of your product/services later on.
Referrals
In 3rd place we have referrals.
Most digital marketers don’t like admitting that word of mouth is still one of the most successful marketing channels for small & local businesses.
In terms of being a cheap digital marketing channel it can actually be free however there are paid for platforms that can help you push referrals.
Pros
People are more likely to be persuade by someone they know over a brand’s advertising
Your current customers will be closely connected to new potential customers
Can save you a lot of time in marketing to get new customers
Cons
It can reduce profit margins if you offer a reward based referral scheme
If you only focus on referrals you cannot control your own business growth
Losing one client/customer can have a snowball effect if they are all connected
SEO
In 2nd place is SEO.
Search Engine optimisation is crucial if you want your website to increase it’s organic traffic.
A fully optimised website and sticking to good off-site practises such as building backlinks will allow your website to start ranking for keywords related to the services & products you offer.
Doing SEO yourself is a great cheap digital marketing channel as it would be free; however this can be time consuming if you are not experienced.
Pros
Once you start ranking you will get free traffic to your website
SEO is great for the long term growth of your business
It can allow you to outrank your competitors
Cons
SEO is not instant it can take months and sometimes years before you get a good amount of traffic
It can be very time consuming
There is no guarantee that you will rank in good positions
We actually offer cheap SEO services to small & local businesses if you were interested in getting some professional help.
Pro Tip – Don’t try to rank for generic keywords. Target very niche keywords when you first start out and build the foundations for future growth.
Google My Business
In 1st place Google My Business.
In my opinion Google My Business is the greatest cheap digital marketing channel any small or local business can do.
A fully optimised listing can help you appear in the map pack which can put you at the top of Google for searches such as “(keyword) near me” or “(keyword) your location).
Your listing allows customers to leave reviews, get directions, visit your website and even call you directly from the listing. If you haven’t got a Google My Business listing, create one now.
Pros
Rank at the top of Google for free
Only takes a few hours to fully optimise your listing
Not many people focus on their listing making it quite easy to rank well
Cons
No guarantee you will appear in the top 3 of the map pack
Features are often added & removed
Will require some daily work if you want to have the most visibility possible
Pro Tip – Post on your listing everyday. This is proven to help you rank higher in the map pack. Publer is a great tool that will allow you to automate your daily posts on Google My Business.
This order is my opinion of what has worked best for my business & clients we have worked with. There is no reason why another cheap digital marketing channel will work best for your business.
If you were looking for professional help with your digital marketing send us a message below and we would love to offer some free advice on how you can grow your business.
