Marketing is a crucial component of running a successful business. Successful marketing takes a wide array of elements into consideration, including identifying your target audience and ongoing product development. Your marketing team will also develop promotional strategies designed to reach them in the most engaging way possible. Effective marketing generates sales, which are essential for any business to survive.

Small businesses and new companies may have limited marketing budgets, but that doesn’t mean they should forego promotion. There are plenty of ways to effectively promote your products and services with a limited budget. Here are few ideas to get you started.

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Marketing

SEO marketing involves using strategies designed to raise your website’s domain authority (DA) score. This increases your site’s ranking on search engines. If your site ranks higher on search engine results, you are more likely to generate organic traffic to your website and increase your profile.

Multiple SEO strategies can increase your DA score. Backlinks are links that lead to your site. Good backlinks come from relevant sources and are likely to draw visitors who are interested in what your company provides. For example, you could write a guest post on other sites or blogs and include a link in your bio. Bad backlinks from sites known for spam content can lower your score. You can use Google’s disavow tool to keep those links from affecting your score.

You can also improve your DA score by using keywords on your site related to your goods and services. Ensure your site is easy to navigate and that you continuously provide engaging content. Your DA score will increase as visitors spend more time on your site and click on more pages.

2. Social Media Promotion

Social media is one of the most valuable tools at your disposal. It provides you with the potential to reach billions of customers worldwide. When you add new content to your website, make sure you promote this content through targeted social media posts.

Another effective strategy is to host contests via social media. Offer prizes that will appeal to your target audience and use contests to gain followers, add newsletter subscribers, or generate referral posts. Conditions for entry could include liking and reposting your post, referring newsletter subscribers, or creating a post that tags your company.

Pay per click advertising on social media is also a good way to go about affordable advertising. Your business can produce and distribute ads on sites such as Twitter and Facebook for as little as $5 a day and still reach thousands of viewers. If you create ads that are engaging and aimed at your target audience, this can be very profitable.

3. Use Contractors

You do not have to hire employees to initiate and maintain a strong marketing campaign. Contractor marketing experts, such as Contractor Gorilla, can provide you with affordable access to a marketing team that can develop and maintain an affordable, effective marketing strategy for your business. Services include website design, website optimization, and social media marketing. You can save money by forgoing the cost of interviews and avoid the cost of employee benefits by utilizing contractors for your marketing.

If you opt to use contractors, you can maintain communication with an OKR. What is an OKR? Objectives and key results software enables multiple team members to coordinate efforts on projects. Companies such as Workboard offer software designed to enable you to set clear targets and identify how to determine if the targets have been met. OKR software ensures all team members understand the goals they are working towards and are clear on how to achieve those goals.

4. Sponsor Community Events

Promoting local events is an effective way of establishing your presence and building a reputation in your community. If your company sells pet supplies, you may opt to sponsor a local dog park. This is an effective way of supporting the community in a way that raises your profile with your ideal audience.

You can also opt to support state or national events. These efforts may be more expensive but have the potential to reach a wider audience, particularly if you’re sponsoring a televised event.

5. Referral and Rewards Programs

Referral programs are an effective way of attracting new customers. For example, provide a benefit for existing customers if they refer a new client. Develop a rewards program and offer customers points towards a gift or a discount off their next purchase.

Rewards programs promote consumer loyalty by offering an incentive to continue using your services. Rewards programs should offer appropriate incentives. For example, if you sell pet supplies, it’s unlikely your rewards program would offer free audiobooks and DVDs. Many gas stations offer customers a free hot drink after they have purchased a certain amount of gas. Instead of reducing the drinks’ price, the incentive program encourages customers to choose their business over that of competitors.