Ways to keep marketing costs down

Every business owner is constantly looking for ways to keep costs down. This is true no matter what type of business you run or the size of the business. With limited resources most businesses are focused on keeping costs down. Because of this constant focus on cost cutting many business owners make the mistake of cutting marketing when times are tough. This is never a good strategy. Marketing is the lifeline of any business. Without marketing your customers won't know what you can offer them or even where to find you.

Instead of cutting marketing savvy business owners know that they have to make their marketing dollars work harder. They keep the costs of their marketing down and still are successful if they are careful and creative. Keep in mind that every marketing dollar that you spend should be bringing in the highest possible return. If it is not then you should look closely at your overall marketing plan to see what is working and what is not. By doing this you can keep the costs of your marketing in check. Here are some ways to keep marketing costs down-
- Do it yourself-Many business owners make the mistake of thinking that they have to hire someone to do all of their marketing materials. This is simply not true. Thanks to technology there are many easy to use software programs that can guide you through creating different marketing pieces. Even if you are not a graphic designer or highly technical you can still access ideas that you can execute in a successful way and best of all do it in-house for a lot less money. The bottom line is that before rushing out and hiring someone to create marketing materials for you take a minute and determine if you couldn't do it yourself.
- If it's not broken, don't fix it-Too often business owners feel that they have to constantly be changing their marketing strategy. This not only costs a lot of money but takes up time. The only reason that you should be changing marketing strategies is if you find something is no longer working and bringing in a high rate of return. Do not assume that you need to change a marketing method simply for the purpose of change. There are many businesses that have found a successful marketing strategy that they have used for years without very little or no changes made to it.
- Less show, more meat-This old adage refers to the fact that you may not need to be spending loads of money on 4 color marketing materials or using gold embossed envelopes. You need to carefully judge what your target market is going to be expecting from your marketing materials. If you focus your time and money on creating fancy materials but fail to offer your customers the information that they are seeking you are wasting marketing dollars that would be better off spent elsewhere. In addition, you run the risk of alienating your target market if the outside and the inside of your marketing material don't match up. Your customers may actually wonder if you know what you are talking about if they feel that you are "over-presenting" yourself in your marketing.
- Reduce, reuse, recycle-The present day green slogan also refers to marketing. Keep in mind that there are plenty of photographs, drawings, and other marketing materials that can be used again in another way. You need to employ your creativity and that of the people around you to find ways to not only reduce the costs of marketing but also reuse and recycle what you already have.