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You would be surprised at the number of New Zealand business owners that don’t spend money on marketing – that’s not to say they don’t market, but that they find cost effective (free) ways to market themselves.

Here’s how to promote your business with a minimum spend.

#1 Talk to your clients/customers
I know this seems like a crazy idea, but just imagine if you spent time talking to your customers rather than merely transacting with them. As well as the 80/20 rule coming into play here – where it’s more effective to target and grow your existing customers, you should also note that those very customers know lots of other people – talk to them and ask them for a referral.

TIP: Choose 5 customers a month to actually talk to and ask for referrals.

#2 Give more thought to your next marketing campaign
How about thinking a little more out the box – creative thinking and campaigns create virality – people talk about your business because they like what they see and how you present yourself. There’s a lot of marketing ‘stuff’ out there, so you have to be clever to get noticed. This never means spending lots of money – it just means brainstorming with colleagues or talking to a creative studio, like printing.com.

Be clear on what you want your campaign to achieve and don’t try to say too much in your messaging – pick one thing and focus in on it. If you need to say more, then put it in another campaign!

TIP: Designers and creative people are exactly that – creative. We can’t all be, so know when to reach out to others for great ideas.

#3 Get the word out
This takes time, but usually no cost at all. Create stories about your business and get in touch with local journalists and local publications. Talk to the editors and journalists about what sort of content they’re looking for and then craft stories that address this.

The key to success is not to get disheartened with rejection. Keep writing and keep talking to local contacts. You WILL get publicity, it’s just that sometimes it takes time. Just remember that PR is generally more credible than advertising.

#4 Leverage existing relationships
Get out there and network – NZ is full of networking groups and they really do work as a method to grow your business. Printing.com business owners all contribute to networking groups and enjoy the rewards of talking to fellow business owners as well as generating business through referrals.

Don’t be shy about using your network of family and friends too – they’re all good sources for promotion!

TIP: Google business networking groups in your area and make a connection – start attending each week, and I am willing to bet that within 6 months it starts to payback.

#5 Get into email marketing
As a channel, it ranks much higher than social media, so start building a database and start emailing it with news, product information, launches and to share case studies and publicity. Other than the time it takes to write, email is mostly a free channel using tools like MailChimp.

Also consider how you can build your database, looking at tools like Autopilot – add this to your website to generate pop-up messaging and drive online form completions.

Remember, our studios can help you design email templates for MailChimp to ensure your brand stands out.

TIP: There are heaps of tools available for email marketing. At PDC we use MailChimp but there are many options. Try not to make all your comms about your business – include other stories that might be of interest. And after you send it out, be sure to look back at the reporting – you’ll begin to understand what your customers like to read!