No Budget, No Problem!

Juan Garza, Marketing Consultant

If you're like many other business owners, you may be wondering how you can promote your business with little or no advertising budget.  After meeting with a potential client (shout out to Aime's Party Place), it was clear to me that many business owners have a head full of ideas but have trouble translating those ideas into a successful marketing strategy. I think everyone has experienced something like this whether it be writer's block or a brain fart, sometimes you just need a way to put your ideas to action.   

  

The part owner of Aime's Party Place and an old friend of mine, reached out to me after reading my blog. Aime's is an elegant reception/banquet hall located on the north side of Laredo and they offer catering services for events covering birthdays, wedding, quince's, and much more.
   
The issue my friend is having, is that she is trying to promote her company in a cost effective or free marketing platform. Using traditional marketing techniques can be very costly and frankly when most businesses are just beginning they just do not have the traffic they were hoping for, thus they do not have an extensive marketing budget. There are a variety of different tactics that can be implemented in the overall marketing strategy to help grow your business. One of the suggestions I made was to use her networking skills and reach out (like she did by contacting me) to people that have an influence on her target market. Most people when contacted will be glad to help you out and believe it or not they even want you to succeed. 
 

The person might ask for a small favor or something and if they are a business owner will probably suggest you taking some business cards of theirs but overall I think most people are willing to show their kindness just because. Reaching out to a person that has a direct influence on your target market translates to quality leads and can have a bigger impact on your business than a flyer or a newspaper ad. Another tactic that I suggested was that she advertise her business by mass marketing in a controlled environment. This may sound a little complicated but there is really nothing to it. Once you know where people are located and that they are open to engagement, you have defined a controlled area that you can direct your focus on. In our case, I suggested we focus on large apartment complexes 1) because they are heavily populated, 2) the demographics (age, gender, employment status) fit the criteria, and 3) it is cost effective. The complex I suggested is known to be a little more high scale,  family oriented residents, and the residents have disposable income. The resources needed to advertise at the apartment complex is minimal compared to commercial spots or billboards. By simply building a relationship with one of the leasing agents, one could leave a display with business cards in the lobby area where traffic is routine and at no cost (w/ the exception of the cost to make business cards). 
 

Next on the agenda was email marketing. A lot of potential clients walk through the doors of your business every day and walk right out without ever being contacted again. Some businesses may have a system where they collect the potential clients name and phone number but are those people answering their phones or better yet is the business making contact with that potential customer? I suggested that Aime's put in place a system in which they not only get the potential customers email but they make sure that it is an email that is used on a daily basis. This allows the company to keep in contact with the "subscriber" in regards to any information that may benefit them, promotions, or simply to thank them for their business. I don't know many local businesses that have a system like this in place, which surprises me because the benefits of email marketing are limitless.
 

 I provided a number of other tactics that can be used but for the sake of the length of this article and your reading pleasure, I'll end this segment by describing a call of action plan. A call of action plan or action plan for short, is a specific series of steps taken to accomplish a specified goal. An action plan generally includes steps, milestones, measures of progress, responsibilities, assignments, a time line and is an extremely important part of the overall marketing strategy. To successfully implement an action plan, we discussed the different measurements that can be taken, for example conversion rates for the advertisements being utilized. At the moment Aime's runs two ads in local catalogs, 4 Seasons and Laredo Weddings. Knowing where the traffic is being directed from is one part of the marketing strategy but knowing how many of those people reached that are converted to clients will allow Aime's to measure the success of the advertisement. 
 

It's pretty easy, if it's working, great. If it's not you should be spending your advertising dollars elsewhere. As mentioned before these are just some of the marketing tactics that Aime's can use and may be something that you can implement in your business. Every business is different and of course may not be able to use all the tactics I have expressed but at the least, should have a direction and an action plan that allows them to measure their success. 

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