Tested And Proven Digital Marketing Strategies With Low Budget

Digital marketing is an extremely important part of any startup’s success, but it’s no secret that many startup companies aren’t blessed with a massive marketing budget. This leaves them at a disadvantage when competing against established brands with more resources, but luckily, there are some tried and trusted digital marketing strategies that work on a low budget. If you’re looking to grow your startup’s visibility without breaking the bank, read on to find out how. 

1. Work On Your SEO‍

First things first, you need to analyze your site for SEO and work on the areas that aren’t performing as well as they could. To do this, you’ll need to understand which keywords your site is currently ranking for and how you can help those rankings get even better. Make sure the keywords you are going for are included in your website content, and specifically in the title, description and header tags because the search engine gives more value to these aspects. You can also run an analysis of your competitors’ websites to see where your company stands and what keywords and search terms they are using to rank. 

2. Research Even More Keywords

Though it takes a bit of time, keyword research is completely free thanks to Google’s Keyword Planner Tool, and can make all the difference in your digital marketing strategy. Even after your initial research, you should keep looking up fresh, relevant keywords multiple times per week to stay on top of the search trends. You can start by looking up the keyword your website already ranks for and then looking at the related keywords that can supplement your content and get you even more search volume. 

3. Develop Great Content‍

Now that you’ve done all that research on your most relevant keywords, it’s time to put them to use through your content. Quality content is a great way to draw traffic to your website organically, so it needs to be targeted to your best audience and offer value to the reader. Consistent, quality content takes time and dedication, but it’s the only way your startup can gain trust and authority within your industry. Putting out less-than-quality content, however, will work against your brand and turn off potential customers. 

4. Start Blogging Regularly‍

The best way to house and organize all that amazing content you are creating is to start a blog. Yes, there are lots of other blogs out there and plenty of content, so that is why it’s so important to be focused on targeting to a very narrow and specific niche when you’re starting out. When running your blog, make sure to fill it with truly valuable content, not just filler posts loaded with keywords. These don’t bring particular value to your audience and are less likely to be shared. You should be able to add a blog to your existing CMS, but if that’s not the case, you can still start one on a separate platform such as Blogspot or WordPress. Just make sure you always link back to your website to generate traffic.

7. Put Together An Email List‍

There is a good reason why email marketing is considered the most profitable – you can actually achieve as much as $44 in ROI from a $1 investment in email marketing. The reasons are simple, a high open rate, low cost and an already interested audience that has agreed to receive your communications. If you haven’t already done so, focus on building an email list and then market directly to them. You don’t technically need a separate email automation platform, but if your budget does allow for it, companies like MailChimp and Constant Contact can make this task infinitely easier. Be sure to extend the rule of quality content onto your email marketing and craft truly engaging subject lines to further encourage your audience to click. 

8. Don’t Forget Mobile Marketing‍

An increasing number of your potential customers are using their mobile phones to access information and make purchases. If your website and content aren’t optimized for a mobile user experience, you may be giving up a large portion of your leads. Digital marketing platforms don’t perform the same way as mobile marketing, and should be designed with that difference in mind. Both the content you are sharing and your CTA need to take mobile users into consideration. 

9. Join A Facebook Group‍

Facebook Groups are very often overlooked by startups, but are a great way to gain exposure and build relationships with people within your industry. Some Facebook groups can have upwards of 100,000 members, who are like-minded and likely to engage with your content. Just keep in mind, most group moderators won’t tolerate posts spamming other members with self-promotions, so keep your content valuable and relevant. Your blog posts are prefect for sharing in this environment. 

10. Take Part In Forums & Comment On Relevant Posts‍

Here’s another great way to gain trust and exposure for your business without spending a cent of your budget – partake in forums and offer valuable responses to relevant discussions. Again, make sure you’re sharing valuable information and include a backlink to your content when it feels natural and not spammy.  Besides Facebook, you should think about websites such as Quora, Reddit, or Tumblr, which may give you better organic reach than the social media behemoth. With some time and effort, people will start to notice your input, and you’ll gain recognition and authority for your new brand.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there are plenty of low-budget digital marketing strategies that can give startups the exposure they need without draining their limited funds. With some careful keyword and SEO analysis you can craft targeted content that will organically draw visibility and traffic to your site. But for this strategy to work, you must invest enough time and effort into producing quality content consistently. Do this, and you’ll soon turn your new audience into your loyal customers.