In a world where digital marketing is more prevalent than ever, keeping up with the competition requires a persistent approach. Digital venues and channels allow even the smallest of businesses to adequately reach their audiences, whether it be through search engines, social media or email. Ultimately, deciding which platforms are most worth the time and money can be a challenge, and can also be impacted by what niche(s) your brand is targeting.

Today, we’ll examine some affordable marketing strategies small businesses can use that won’t break the bank or take a lifetime of technical expertise to master.

Repurpose Content Across Platforms

There’s a good chance that your existing blog or brand has plenty of content to work with: you don’t always need to create new content for new marketing efforts. One common and affordable marketing tactic is to repurpose content. By pinging servers with content you’ve already shared – however slightly revised or updated – you can create new opportunities to engage your audiences on social media, via email and beyond. In addition, some find success in creating mash-ups of a variety of helpful pieces of content and then sharing that. It’s also important to remember that if you’ve never shared an older piece of content on a particular platform before, there’s nothing stopping you from doing so in the present.

Targeted Social Media Ads

With billions in revenue every year, social media advertising has become a juggernaut in the world of marketing. Through platforms such as Facebook, you can immediately begin targeting as many people as you can afford. Thankfully, targeted social media ads are insanely inexpensive and can be very productive when targeted at the right people. In addition to this, many platforms offer first-time discounts or matching ad budgets for those beginning in this endeavor. Additionally, some brands may be hesitant to deploy ads if they currently don’t have the budget available: many of these platforms only bill once per month or once you reach a minimum ad budget, making it a more flexible option for brands that are tight on finances.

Scour for Mentions

The use of search engines is absolutely free and can provide one of the easiest ways for brands to reach targeted audiences. A great marketing strategy that costs absolutely nothing involves pinging servers and search engines for mentions of your brand. This not only can provide insight into late-breaking discussions about your enterprise, but may also help you find what people are saying. Whether it be complaints or compliments, this strategy can help you find relevant and meaningful situations off-site where you can address these issues and ultimately drive more traffic for your brand. Given that it’s a completely free marketing strategy, you can’t say no to the benefits and ease of it.

For brands that don’t have gobs of cash, getting creative about exposure is a must. Whether it be through repurposing content for additional use, taking advantage of low-cost paid ads on social media or finding platforms where discussion about your brand is ongoing, these strategies can be juggled by brands with any budget.