5 CREATIVE MARKETING TECHNIQUES WHICH ARE LIGHT ON POCKET FOR DEVELOPING BUSINESSES

While some marketing campaigns can break a small business's bank, not all require big bucks to execute

Shawn Prez, CEO and founder of the marketing and promotions firm Power Moves, Inc., said there are a variety of campaigns small businesses can run for little to no cost. To help businesses looking for a creative marketing plan on the cheap this holiday season, Prez, a former executive at Bad Boy Entertainment, offers five suggestions, including:

·         Social Media Marketing: More than three-quarters of adults between the ages of 30 and 49 use social media, according to the Pew Research Centre. Since this age range represents a significant portion of those in a household with purchasing power, small businesses should make sure they target their audience through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Post a visual of holiday deals or fun holiday products and invite the audience to share and comment. Businesses can even film short holiday-themed commercials and post them to their social profiles.

·         Product Placement: Product placement is perfect for those without an extensive holiday campaign budget that are looking to gain airtime for their products. Businesses can contact production assistants or networks and explain why their product is the perfect fit for a time slot this holiday season. Product placement allows marketers to spend the money and effort displaying their products, while ensuring the chosen time slot or location reaches very important and influential demographics.

·         Guerrilla Marketing: A tactic that is perhaps the most effective with reaching younger audiences is guerrilla marketing. It focuses on non-traditional methods for increasing brand awareness, using various brand ambassadors to interact one-on-one, in a very intimate manner. Using minimal resources, this tactic is proven to have a significant effect on driving sales, as well as growing brand awareness. In addition, the interactive nature of guerrilla marketing aids in building a brand experience by helping a community create a more lasting relationship with a product beyond the holiday season.

·         Lifestyle Marketing: Small businesses that are a lifestyle brand should consider utilizing lifestyle marketing to reach their audience this holiday season. Lifestyle marketing utilizes word of mouth. Place products or messaging at locations where consumers frequent, such as hair and nail salons or popular lunch spots. These locations can carry a lot of influence with a local community and a product or flier visible in these locations will help grow brand awareness for small businesses during the holiday craze.

·         Holiday Shows: Work the holiday shopping fair circuit. Metropolitan areas have hundreds of these shows each holiday season. Make use of these popular venues and rent a booth for your business. These fairs are great for exposing products to a large crowd at little expense to the business. Even for those that don't sell a lot of merchandise, these fairs are great networking tools for small businesses to grow awareness of their brands among the shopping community. When at a holiday show, make sure to spend time passing out business cards and talking up the products.

SOURCE:  by Chad Brooks