How to Keep Your Marketing Costs Low and Your Results High

How to Keep Your Marketing Costs Low and Your Results High

    Unfortunately, it’s a story those in the marketing community hear far too often: A small business opens up, the owner spends hundreds of dollars in marketing costs, and the next thing you know they’ve stretched their marketing efforts so far that they can’t afford to stay in business and they have to close their doors. Obviously, this isn’t something you want to have happen to you! The secret to success in the real estate world is to buy low and sell high, and the same concept applies when you’re talking about marketing-you want to invest a little and get a lot.

    In order to do that you need to know how to keep your marketing costs low while still launching an effective campaign. The first thing you need to consider is the cost of your PPC advertising. Very little puts as large a drain on the marketing budget as Pay Per Click advertising, particularly if the marketer has not yet learned where to set their limits.

    Think about it. When you’re browsing online and you’re bored, what’s the first thing you do? You start clicking links, many in the sponsored section of your search engine page, just to give you something to do-without thinking of the effect that random clicking is going to have on the marketing costs of the companies those links belong to. Imagine next how many web browsers a day do the exact same thing and you’ll understand why PPC advertising is among the greatest dangers to your marketing budget.

    If you’re going to launch a PPC campaign, establish strict limits for yourself regarding the amount of money you’re willing to put into it. Better yet, keep your PPC marketing to a minimum-or don’t do it at all. There are hundreds of ways you can market your business without sending your marketing costs through the roof, and they are just as effective (if not more so on occasion) as PPC. For example:

? Article submissions. There are literally hundreds of online article directories, and each of them offers you a place to submit a link to your website. This provides you with plenty of free exposure to keep your marketing costs low and your results high while also establishing yourself as an expert in your niche-a plus on any occasion.

? Blogging. Blogs and forums exist all across the web for every topic under the sun, which means that somewhere out there is a blog just waiting for you to post your link onto it-and blogging doesn’t cost you a dime.

? E-mail tags. Most e-mail providers offer you the opportunity to tag a signature onto your webpage, and this is a great opportunity to drive traffic in your inner circle to your website-and encourage them to tell their friends.

? Viral marketing. Get others involved! Most affiliate marketers don’t ask for direct pay, but make their money on the commissions their sales bring in. This allows you to keep your marketing costs low while still exponentially increasing the exposure your business receives, which in turn will send your profits through the roof!

Carrie Mark
Exclusive Marketing Coach

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