Market Your Startup Online For Less Than $20 a Week

by Dr. R. Kay Green

Just started your business on a very limited budget? Like many small businesses, marketing your business can be a very expensive task. Launching a startup is an exciting endeavor but the reality is you need marketing to get the ball rolling. Otherwise, your new business will fail to gain any traction in the early stages.

How a business is marketed plays a major role in everything from how the brand is perceived to its success. Companies like Apple, Google, and Coca-Cola are some of the top brands in the world with billions of dollars in market value. But they certainly didn’t get there overnight. These brands took decades before they were able to reach that point. Even the biggest companies in the world began as startups.

So, as a small startup, what can you do to market your business when you have a limited budget? Here are some online marketing strategies you can get started with for less than $20 a week to start bringing in sales:

1. Bing Ads

Google is by far the most popular search engine in the world. But advertising on AdWords can cost several dollars a click depending on the keywords you bid on. Not a very practical or affordable option for most startups.

Bing is often left as an afterthought but it can be a great source of targeted traffic for much less. In fact, advertising on Bing is 33.5% cheaper in terms of cost per click compared to AdWords. Less competition also means better ad positions.

A smaller marketing budget can actually result in greater efficiency. When paid traffic is not resulting in sales, you need to figure out why. It forces you to carefully analyze key metrics such as click-through rate and conversions. Even a small budget of a dollar a day can lead to steady targeted traffic that translates to sales.

2. Facebook Advertising

Facebook is the largest social medial network in the world with over a billion active users.

This platform represents a huge opportunity to reach practically any demographic at a fraction of the cost. Compared to other advertising mediums (e.g. newspapers, magazines, radio, etc.), Facebook is extremely cost-effective with an average of $0.25 per 1,000 impressions. The minimum ad spend is one dollar a day which potentially puts your startup in front of 4,000 people.

Facebook is a massively powerful platform for any startup. Advertising to promote your posts ensures you get even more exposure and recognition for your brand. Similar to Bing Ads, you can specify targeting options based on certain demographics. This lets you reach more of your target market and increase the effectiveness of your ads.

3. Retargeting

Most online visitors leave without ever converting; but, what if you could bring them back to your site?

Retargeting lets you do exactly that and the way it works is rather straightforward. A tracking tag on your site places an anonymous cookie in the browser for previous visitors. Your ads then appear on other sites they visit. Retargeting is extremely powerful as it allows you to stay connected with your audience and increases brand exposure.

AdRoll is one of the largest retargeting platforms and works with a vast majority of advertising partners such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. It even offers more advanced targeting options based on specific actions. You can easily get started with a retargeting campaign for less than a dollar a day and eventually increase your spending as your budget allows.

Start Slow

Between Facebook Advertising, Bing Ads, and retargeting, you can expect to spend a few dollars a day. The effectiveness of your campaigns ultimately depends on a number of factors. But for less than $20 a week, you get great value for your money and a potential return on your investment. Once your startup begins generating results, you can gradually ramp up your ad spending and invest in other online marketing channels.