What am I Supposed to Do when I can?t Afford Digital Marketing ? a DiscussionPosted by Unlimited Exposure Online on December 20th, 2017 For small businesses, money can sometimes be pretty tight. When you want to get to the next level, it can be tough deciding the best route and whether digital marketing is worth it. Evidently if you don’t have the funds and you don’t think the reward is worth the risk, you may decide digital marketing is not right for you. The truth though is that if you’re not engaged with digital marketing in some capacity, you’re going to see competitors blow right by you and your company will have big limitations as it tries to grow. To anyone out there who doesn’t have the money to hire a digital marketing company, here’s what we think you should do. How to get the Most out of a Small, Limited Budget As a small business owner who’s looking to grow, you need to set aside some funds for digital marketing. The first step to marketing yourself in an online space is by setting up a website. When done correctly, your website is your best salesperson, your best business card, and your best opportunity for customer acquisition. Secondly, you need to see marketing as an investment in your business and recognize that it’s a necessity. If you can’t pay someone to do it, you’re going to need to do it yourself. That may involve committing as much as five hours a week or more strictly to marketing. Whether it’s in time or money, you need to find a way to get it done. Ideally, if you’re doing it yourself, try to consult with other small business owners you know to get a sense of what to do. Marketing takes time so Don’t Give up! Whether you are going about it on your own, with a friend, or with a digital marketing company, it takes time for efforts to pay off and it doesn’t happen overnight. Remember, to get results, you need to be persistent. Beyond this, you also need to know how to measure digital marketing efforts. In any campaign, some things will work and other things won’t. Define how to measure consumer engagement, content being shared and viewed, and if efforts are translating to sales and profitability. There are Many Reasons Businesses refuse Digital Marketing Inexperienced business owners put up many excuses when deciding that they can’t afford digital marketing. Sometimes, they’ve tried it before and the company they paid did not deliver the results promised. Many say, “oh, I’ll do it six months. I don’t have the time, money, etc. right now.” A lot of the time, business owners just end up frustrated that their social media followingis not growing, or that they’re not getting high search rankings from what they perceive to be search engine optimization (SEO), or that they’re not growing online. Learn the Basics First The important thing we want to communicate with this article is to not be discouraged. There is no book on everything that will work in marketing and everything that won’t. Sometimes, little tweaks can lead to big success. Then, other times, you may need to scratch everything and start over. Learning the basics of digital marketing is a necessity if you want to survive in your corner of the marketplace. If you can’t afford a digital marketing company, this is where you want to start. Like it? Share it!More by this author |