Emarketing On A Shoestring Budget

Businesses large and small have embraced the Web as a place to have a presence. Fewer, however, have really figured out how to cost effectively market online. This week I thought it would be a good idea to revisit the topic of how to execute online marketing with a fairly limited budget.

• Search Engine and Directory Submittals: Search engines are the #3 way people find websites and are the source of up to 85% of all site traffic. Aside from Yahoo & LookSmart, most search engines allow you to submit your website at no charge.

   

• Paid-For Search Engine Listings: Several search engines, the granddaddy of which is Overture, now allow you to pay for top placements through advertising and bidding programs. The advantage to programs such as those offered by Overture and Google Ad Words Select are that their top search engine results are also syndicated across other search engines so as a top bidder, you get even more exposure for your dollars. Costs vary by search term.

   

• Site Linking: Getting other websites to link to yours is not only free, but can also help with your search engine rankings, as many search engines now factor “link popularity” in the relevancy of their search results.

   

• Email Signature File: “Sig files,” which automatically appear at the bottom of every email you send out, are like little text billboards, helping you promote your company.

   

• Participating in Discussion Lists, Forums, Message Boards, and Newsgroups: An excellent way to build your credibility and awareness of your company. Don’t forget to use your email sig file!

   

• Auto-Responders: These automated emails can be a very helpful (and dirt cheap!) way to send out follow-up information and customer communications. AWeber and GetResponse are examples of a few low-cost auto-responder companies.

   

• Co-Registration: When users can subscribe to more than one email publication at a time, it’s called co-registration. To implement co-registration you can use a co-registration service or recruit your own partners.

   

• Ad Swaps: If you publish your own email newsletter, you can swap ad space, content or other types of prominent placements with other newsletter publishers.

   

• Low-Cost Classified Advertising: Even if you don’t publish a newsletter, you can still buy relatively low-cost ad space which can work well when placed in email newsletters targeted to your audience.

   

• Remnant Ad Buys: Web publishers that don’t sell out their entire ad inventory might be willing to sell you a mish-mash of locations, referred to as “remnant space,” on the cheap. Ask!

   

• Pay-Per-Performance Ad Buys: Pay only when you get a click (CPC) or a sale (CPA). Ad networks like Advertising.com and ValueClick are examples, but they still have minimums buying requirements so be prepared.

   

• Content Placement: Re-use or write articles and content that you offer to others to publish. You and your company get exposure through your byline.

   

• Contest & Sweepstakes: If you’re trying to appeal to the masses, contests & sweepstakes are a great way to attract people. To minimize costs, you can even give away as prizes something you already own, manufacture or produce that your contestants will find valuable.

   

• Co-Branding/Partnering: Work with other related websites to cross-promote one another or share the cost of advertising and promotions.

   

• Affiliate Programs: A kind of partnering where one website compensates another for traffic, leads or sales. There are inexpensive do-it-yourself software programs as well as outsourced services that can help.

   

• Press Releases: Do you have REAL news? (by this I mean the kind that journalists, not just you, find interesting and relevant) Spread the word by writing and sending out a press release. You can use services like Bacon’s, Business Wire or PR Newswire to help select target areas to send to. The website PRWeb even allows you to post your press release for FREE!

   

Whew! This is some list, and I bet I even left out a few good ideas. Have you succeeded using another shoestring emarketing technique? Send your examples my way and I’ll be sure to share them in a future newsletter.

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