Money Saving Ways to Market Your Small Business

What's stopping you from marketing? For most small businesses, the answer is time and money.

Almost half of all small business owners spend less than two hours a day on marketing, and half of all owners say they do their marketing themselves.

Cash flow problems are a fact of life for many small business owners, this can cause most of all small businesses to fail. When business owners have to choose between paying for marketing and paying operational expenses, marketing may seem like a luxury.

It's also true that large companies have an advantage when it comes to ad spending. They can pay for high-budget video ads, spread their message on billboards and radio, and cause consumers to hear their ads more frequently.

But you don't have to go head-to-head with Google and Pepsi or spend millions of dollars to increase your bottom line. In addition to regularly updating your blog and actively using social media, here are three money saving, unique ways to grow your business – without spending thousands of dollars.

1. Use Google's free tools.

Create a Google My Business account , which is a free account from Google that allows you to publish your business online. It allows your business to become visible when people search and to appear on Google Maps.

Once your My Business account is established, it can result in a steady stream of passive website traffic.

2. Try texting.

One uncommon way that businesses are driving engagement is through text messages. There is a higher rate that all text messages received are read, compared with a lower email open rate.

Promotional text messages cost pennies to send, and you aren't charged for any messages you receive in return. That makes it possible to have two-way text conversations at a low cost, making it easy to engage customers.

Similar to an email list, you'll only want to text customers who have signed up to receive communications from you. But with effort and a small investment, you can generate many repeat customers.

3. Use Facebook in a unique way.

Using Facebook's free features to engage with your audience and potential clients can help improve your bottom line at no cost to you.

Marketing your small business doesn't have to break your budget. By signing up for a free Google My Business account, engaging directly with your audience in their favorite Facebook groups and spending pennies per text on a direct marketing campaign, you can increase your business's bottom line without spending a lot of money.