4 Ways to Increase Sales on a Small Marketing Budget

So you want to grow your business but you may not have a ton of money to invest in marketing in order to grow. You need to make your dollars work for you, and every dollar matters.

First and foremost, the important thing to understand about online marketing with a small budget is this:

Go narrow.

You’re passionate about what you sell. It’s common to want to target everyone. But not everyone is meant for you or your business. And that’s okay. In fact, this is a GREAT thing because the more specific you can get about who your perfect client or customer is, the better you can tailor your message to your audience. Magic happens when you get hyper focused:

• • You spend in the right places where your customers are
  • You get more raving reviews because the people who buy really wanted it
  • You generate more referrals, shares, and customer-promotion
  • You increase the customer value as your customers come back again and again

Identify who you want to target—more than just age and gender, know what publications they subscribe to, where they shop, and even the perfume/cologne they wear. Leverage what you know about your current customers to develop your perfect customer. You have all the data already, now turn that into actionable insights that you can use to market.

Once you are crystal clear about your ideal customer, build ads that speak directly to this person. If you sell interior design services, talk about how living and working in a space uniquely designed impacts mood, productivity, and overall well-being.

Start small and scale fast

The beauty of digital marketing is that once you find an audience that responds, it becomes super easy to get 10x results by simply funneling more dollars to what is already working. Platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads are designed to make testing easy. If you’re ever unsure about what kind of ad will do better, try them all. Want to know if your audience cares more about sustainable material or quality pieces? Try two different versions of your ad: one that speaks about environmental protection, and one that prioritizes luxury and comfort.

Run your ads for a day or two and you’ll have your answer. Once you find your winner, increase your budget and create more ads similar to that. Over time, as your ads improve, your costs will go down.

Don’t sit around debating when you can test and get market data instantly.

Interpret your data

When you ask how to increase sales, be prepared for an honest answer. Facebook and Google ads are effective. But are you willing to sit down, analyze your data, and draw actionable insights from it? Do you understand what your data is telling you?

Data is the lifeblood of your business’s success. These are some things to keep in mind:

• Who’s seeing your ads
• How are people interacting with your ads
• Which ads have the highest click-through rate
• Which ads have the highest conversion rate
• Which ads are increasing return customers
• Which placements are getting the most results?
• Is the Facebook newsfeed getting more clicks than Instagram?
• Are people more engaged on desktop or mobile

Review your data regularly, and on an ongoing basis. Use it to your advantage and you’ll become an unstoppable sales machine.

BUILD BRAND EQUITY

Marketing gets short-term sales. But brand wins in the long run. When you’re at the store, you’re more likely to purchase products from Kleenex, Tide, and Kellogg’s because these names you already know. What they have established is brand over the years, which has allowed them to become household names. Kleenex has become synonymous with tissues. You associate Tide with detergent.

Over time, brand equity fuels your advertising and becomes easier for you to sell. People click because it’s a brand they recognize. They’re more likely to buy because you’re a name they know and trust.

A few ways that you can start doing this is by being consistent with:

• Fonts
• Styles
• Color schemes
• Patterns
• Web design
• Image types
• Interacting with people on social media
• What you share other than your own stuff
• How you approach blogging or video-making
• Language you use
• Your domain name

These elements become your style guide. They help potential and repeat customers instantly recognize you and remember you.

This is how it’s done. Go narrow. Start small, but scale quickly. Know your data. And think long-term.

For more on how to use digital marketing to strategically grow your brand, send us a message here.