29 Low-Cost (even free) Marketing Ideas

Keeping in touch with your clients and staying visible in your community doesn’t have to cost you a bundle. Take a look at some creative, inexpensive and even free ways you can keep your business growing.

1. Send a Digital Newsletter each month packed with useful articles and tips for your clients. (You can use a service like constant contact for a very small fee)

2. Write a personal email just checking in and send it to ALL of your clients.

3. Email a piece of Trivia to your database each month, and award the first person to respond with the correct answer a $25 gift card to a restaurant.

4. Hand out free balloons in, or outside of your office. Make sure your business card is attached!

5. Partner up and cut your marketing costs in half. Choose your favorite professional referral source and send out a postcard together.

6. Host a neighborhood picnic/potluck. Invite your neighborhood either over to your house or to a neighborhood park. Provide soda, water and some snacks. Tell them to invite a friend too!

7. Conduct a survey of your clients. Ask them what they most need right now, what their biggest fears are, etc. Follow up with each based upon the results- you never know who may need your expertise.

8. Email a motivational or inspirational quote of the day to your clients.

9. Choose one person per day from your database and send them a hand written note card simply saying “hi”.

10. Start a Blog. Write about personal and business related topics. Send an email reminder to your clients each week reminding them to read it!

11. Write a “tip sheet” relating to your industry and email it to your clients.

12. Host a free educational seminar and invite your favorite professional referral source to present with you.

13. Contribute an article relating to your industry to your local publications. Become the ‘local expert.’

14. Choose five people per week from your database (starting with your top tier) and send them a $5.00 Starbucks gift card and a handwritten note to see how they are doing. They may call you and invite you to have coffee with them and talk about their current needs.

15. Keep a vase full of carnations or inexpensive flowers in your office with your business card attached to each one. Make sure everyone (even the delivery personnel) take one with them when they leave.

16. Call your clients. Choose 3 people each day and call them just to say hello.

17. Offer free Lunch and Learns to local businesses to talk about your industry, products and how you can help them.

18. Contact local business owners and create a “discount package”. You can send this to your database as well as the client lists of the business in which you partnered up with.

19. Check with local schools (elementary, middle and high school) and see if you can contribute an article or offer a discount in the newsletter that is sent to parents.

20. Sponsor a charitable event in your area and invite your database to participate with you for a good cause.

21. Post a well written and benefit driven ad and offer a discount for your services on Craig’s List. www.craigslist.com

22. When you find any statistics or fun facts about your industry save them and compile a list and email it to your clients each week.

23. Ask local businesses if you can place your business cards or brochures in their offices for their clients to take.

24. Contact all Alumni associations of schools you have attended and tell them about your services or new company developments.

25. Sponsor a local high school sports team and get an ad in the team program.

26. Sponsor a float in a city or town parade.

27. Get car magnets printed and sport it proudly on your car. You can even ask that your office mates do the same.

28. Go to your local bookstore with a stack of business cards and place them inside of books that relate to your industry. Even better, write a personal message on the back of your card- “hope to hear from you soon.”

29. Celebrate a season in your neighborhood. For example: plant mini flags in neighborhood yards (with business card attached) in July or place mini-pumpkins on doorsteps (again, with business card) in October.

As you can see, there are many inexpensive and even free ways to market your business! Remember, the more creative you are in your marketing efforts, the higher likelihood people will remember you.