Mar 1, 2021
9 DIY Marketing Tips for Solopreneurs on a Budget
9 DIY Marketing Tips for Solopreneurs
Do it yourself marketing is effective for small businesses and solopreneurs who are on a tight budget yet need to make their brand known.
Are you wondering how to market your small business? Are you constrained by a lean budget? As a solopreneur, you often face many decisions, as you have to take up several roles or work with a very small team.
Due to budgetary constraints, you are limited in what you can do. This calls for creativity in your marketing tactics to increase your brand awareness and ultimately revenue. To match the big boys in the industry on the cheap, start using the strategies outlined below.
ONLINE STRATEGIES
As a solopreneur, you can take advantage of the era we live in to carry out aggressive DIY digital marketing for your business to the right audience. Choose one or two online platforms and focus your energies there.
1. Blog section as a DIY marketing tip
If you already have an online presence, create a blog section. Write articles that revolve around your service or product. Google can help you discover topics to write about that match searchers’ intent.
Make sure you write engaging content that is helpful for your audience. You may include a call-to-action at the end to direct your readers on the next course of action once they internalize the information. If you build this section well, you will portray yourself as a trusted authority in that field.
2. SEO
To create awareness of your brand, you need to optimize your site. Including Search Engine Optimization in all your webpages and blogs attracts search engines like Google and Bing to your site.
It makes them rank you highly on page one of the search engine results page (SERPs) so that people find your site for the exact keywords you have used. Ensure you use keywords related to your industry throughout your webpages and articles without stuffing. Google will penalize you if it notices keyword stuffing on your site.
3. Video marketing
Video marketing is a powerful and effective marketing tool that has a wide reach. This DIY marketing tip involves creating videos that explain your product/service, revealing what your company represents. You can also conduct interviews related to your field of interest.
Done right, video marketing can catapult you to fame. You only need one good video that goes viral for you to move to the next level. Sharing a good video by our followers is a natural action that will increase brand awareness and traffic to your site.
4. Social media marketing
As a solopreneur, using DIY social media marketing will help you achieve positive results faster. This is because most people spend a lot of time online mostly on social media each day. This is according to Statista who revealed that 420 billion people actively used social media in the first quarter of 2020.
You need to create posts regularly (preferably daily). By engaging your followers on these channels as part of the DIY marketing campaign, you will know what type of posts to create. This is what works on most occasions:
§ Facebook — a quote, photo, message, or short post
§ LinkedIn — an official post or an article
§ Pinterest — photos
§ Instagram — photos accompanied by a short post
§ Twitter — a short message
5. Forums
Online communities, particularly Reddit and Quora are a great way of do it yourself marketing for your brand. All you must do is be active by participating in the discussions, which you can also initiate. Ensure your comments are timely until people start noticing you and looking up to you for authoritative information.
On Quora, you may ask questions in your industry and then answer them. Look also for related questions that others have asked and answer them authoritatively. Where possible, include your link so that people can get further information from there.
As for Reddit, identify the sub-groups or subreddits in your industry. Be active on such forums by asking questions, starting discussions, and answering helpfully. Within no time, your effort will bear fruits.
6. DIY email marketing
Take time to write convincing emails that inform and ultimately convert leads. This successful strategy requires creativity in creating concise mails that prepare your leads subtly until they are ready to make a sale.
It calls for patience as you send emails out weekly until the leads are warm enough. What you require is a valid email list. You can get it by offering freebies or contests on your site. If they are not sufficient, consider buying a functional email list.
OFFLINE LOCALIZED STRATEGIES
For DIY marketing ideas targeting your local community, consider the following:
7. Special days
Take advantage of the many special days to participate at the local level. The special days include World Literacy Day, Cancer Day, and National Friendship Day. Make sure your presence is felt during these celebrations.
Creatively plan to participate on such a day by organizing campaigns that reflect the day’s theme. You may also promote your services or products on the material day by being part of the celebration. On this day, you and your workers or team members can wear branded T-shirts that market your items.
8. Guerilla marketing
This is one of the oldest methods for capturing a wide audience’s attention at minimal costs. You make use of unconventional yet creative methods to get people to learn about your products or services. For instance, with permission from the county council, you can creatively paint the zebra crossing to depict your product or service.
You may also attract attention by getting people to ‘demonstrate’ with placards showing your products or services outside your business premises. Other ideas you can explore include using bumper stickers or complimentary gifts for promotional work. Note that you can also carry out online marketing DIY for guerilla campaigns using your social media accounts through such tactics as catchy posts and viral videos.
9. Car magnet
With a lean marketing budget, you can use car magnets to attract clients effortlessly. You get to advertise yourself anytime you are on the move. The best time to get noticed is when you are stuck in traffic, at every stop, and in neighborhoods you visit.
Car magnets are relatively inexpensive when compared to car wrapping. You can easily fix and remove them within seconds. They come in all varieties so you are sure to find one that suits your business.
By using high-resolution images and special printers, the magnets will not fade easily. Note that you can make your own car magnet at home in line with your DIY marketing effort.
SMALL BUSINESS FREE ADVERTISING IDEAS
Though your business may be small and your budget tight, this should not limit your DIY marketing campaign. Take advantage of these free advertising ideas to scale your business and increase your audience’s reach.
· Guest blogging: is a good way of sharing your insights to gain marketing exposure. You may also get backlinks to your website
· Google My Business: list your business free on Google so that any local search finds you. You can also freely engage your customers here through the Q/A section and respond to their reviews. Enrich your business profile with upcoming events, promotions, and photos
· Customer loyalty program: most supermarkets and some restaurants already do this. You can think of a way to reward your customers so that they keep coming back
· Customer referral program: use this program to get the word out there about your business in exchange for a sample product, discount, free service, or low-cost reward. Anyone who refers customers receives some form of appreciation
· Volunteer at charity events: this not only shows that you care but also gives you brand visibility
· Business awards: apply for any business awards in your field. Winning them will boost your brand and increase recognition in your community
· Attend networking events: they will boost your small business as you will meet people in your industry with whom you can share ideas. The event itself will provide valuable information that will enhance your organization
Final thoughts
Do not be intimidated by big, established businesses. By employing some or all of the above do it yourself marketing strategies for small businesses or solopreneurs, you will see positive results that will boost growth and brand visibility. Using these do DIY marketing tips consistently will eventually pay off as you will multiply your revenue and retain customers.
