No Marketing Budget? Think Viral!

Written by Kerry O'Malley Tuesday, 14 July 2009 18:04

Marketing budgets are shrinking.  In some cases, they've been slashed to almost nothing.  This is the exact opposite of what SHOULD be happening during tough economic times.  When the going gets tough, the tough get marketing.

OK, you say, but how does that happen when my corporate purse strings are tied?  Simple:  think viral.  You've probably heard the buzz words "viral advertising" or "viral marketing" in connection with Internet marketing; but go a step further with it.  Viral marketing principals can also be applied in industrial marketing communications.

Basically, you want to leverage all your assets.   Here are some ways to market in these tough economic times with little or no budget:

1. Maximize every communication.  Every time a communication leaves your company  - whether it's a business card, letter, invoice, quote, email, ANYTHING - include a flyer (or pdf attachment) that cross promotes other products or services, or announces a special offer.
2. Ask for referrals.  I have done this many times over the years and found that generally speaking, people like to help.  If you're doing a good job for a customer or have a good relationship with a vendor, why wouldn't they be happy to refer you to another company that could benefit from your products or services?  You can kick-off a referral program by offering a small incentive for a referral in your e-newsletter, email ads, or on your website.
3. Upgrade your website.  If business is a little slow, it's the perfect time to focus on making your website more attractive to visitors.  It's also a good time to evaluate the website for SEO (search engine optimization) and start a program where new, keyword rich content is added on a regular basis.  That alone can improve your natural search engine rankings, driving more visitors (potential customers) to your website.
4. Make the most of every customer contact.  Press your sales force to start asking during any interaction with a customer (phone, email or face-to-face) what other needs they have that you're not currently addressing.  What's their pain?  Can your company provide a solution?

Sure, it would be great if you could do all of the above plus have a budget for advertising, trade shows, and that new brochure.  Maybe that will come in 2010!  In the mean time, make the most of what you already have:  think viral!