Congratulations on being a young entrepreneur! This is no easy feat, and you’ve achieved it. But, remember that this is only the beginning. There are so many responsibilities you’ll have to do for your business to soar to great heights. Among these responsibilities are advertising and marketing.

Marketing a small business can be tough especially if you aren’t aware of different ideas or if you are bored with the same marketing technique. Besides, if you are a young entrepreneur, you don’t have enough budgets to spend on expensive advertising like bigger companies. So, the challenge is even greater. You’ve got to make do with what you have without sacrificing on the overall quality of your marketing campaigns.

To make yourself known out there with a small budget, you have to be a smart marketer.

If you are looking for ways to market your new startup then you must know that there are more than 582 million entrepreneurs in the world and 58% of them are spending 2 hours per week on marketing. That means you have to use the best possible ways at a cost you can afford. Even for small businesses run and managed by young entrepreneurs like yourself, the competition is still strong.

Table of Contents

A Brief Background On Marketing Statistics

In this article, we are going to share with you free marketing ideas to help you make your startup known by the public.

But before that, here are a few entrepreneurship statistics you need to know before joining the masses:

The main goal of every small business is to drive sales
83% of entrepreneurs with a website have a huge advantage over those without.
47% of small business owners take care of their own marketing work.
Small businesses in the US rely on social media for marketing activities more than other channels.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the 13 free marketing ideas for young entrepreneurs.

1. Create Valuable Content

No matter what will happen in the online world, the content will always be king- regardless of its format.

But here is the thing: To make your startup known by the public, you must create content that provides value. By this, it means that your content should provide answers to common questions and problems that the online world is searching for. Else, your content will never be viewed or read. Regardless of your type of business and the industry you are in, always focus on providing value first, and then money will come later.

A blog is one of the important content marketing tools to have for your startup. Nevertheless, regardless of its powerfulness, a blog will not help you if you are filling your blog posts with affiliate links or uploading sales videos. Keep it balanced. Sometimes, local viewers would love to read stories, how your day went, and other heartfully-made blogs without filling every single post with ads. If this is the case, they’ll get the point that you’re simply in it for the money and eventually leave your blog.

Research your target audience to see how you can provide them with the content they want.

You want to focus on educating them more about your products, how your products work, and how they can use them instead of selling to them.

If you can make your business blog a go-to resource for users who are searching for information to solve their problems, you can really win their hearts.

Remember, people are sold to every corner-whether on social media, offline, and every single day. Make your blog something worth reading during their idle time.

By offering them free value, you are making them love your brand and vision. And even when you finally ask them to buy your products, they won’t hesitate in making a purchase..

2. Don’t Miss Local Conferences

Don’t get us wrong. To reserve your space in a conference that is set to happen in your local area, you will have to pay. But the amount you pay cannot make a huge dent in your budget and the fact that you will not need to travel means that you can save a lot of fares.

The good thing about attending local conferences is the ability to network with other players in the industry, getting your business known to new customers. Also, as your business grows bigger, you will likely become one of the speakers at such conferences so you market your business without paying a dime.

While this is a no-brainer, you will be shocked by the number of young entrepreneurs who don’t put any effort into establishing and maintaining their social media profiles as required.

The good thing about establishing your presence on social media is that you don’t have to spend time there, neither do you need to be an expert and that’s why it’s one the best free marketing ideas for young entrepreneurs out there. If you have time, you can even allocate a few hours a day to marketing your small business.

4. Guest Blogging

This article you are reading is a guest blog.

Guest blogging is simply writing or publishing blog posts on other blogs.

Guest blogging is still one of the best white-hat SEO techniques when it comes to generating backlinks and traffic.

The good thing about it is that it’s a win-win endeavor. The owner of the blog gets free and valuable content for his or her readers and you drive traffic to your business blog. Just make sure you are writing guest posts on niche-related sites.

Also, you must understand that guest posting isn’t an opportunity to talk about your products or services. It’s about sharing your knowledge.

5. Blog Commenting

Commenting on other blogs within your industry can also be a free marketing tool.

Think about it; you are enjoying the content if it’s niche-related and if the content is valuable, why not share your opinion?

If you have something to add, just do it freely. People love to see others comment on their blogs as that shows their target audience that their content is valuable.

Note that you should write meaningful comments to get people to click on your avatar which is next to the comment to learn more about you.

And the next thing one realizes is that they have landed on your business blog without you, paying anything. This means that you get free traffic and connect with new friends without paying a dime.

Another important thing to avoid when it comes to blog commenting is not to spam other people’s blogs with useless comments. Read this guide to learn how to leave valuable comments on other business blogs.

6. Create Short Videos of Your Products or Service

Content is king but the real king of content is video. And the good thing is that creating videos of products or services these days is much cheaper and easier thanks to the available free platforms and low-budget video tools with shorter learning curves out there.

With these available video tools, you can create tutorials or demos of how to use your products.

7. Send Handwritten Notes to Your Customers

If a customer takes his time to come and buy your products or use your services, why can’t you spend a few minutes to send him a handwritten note to tell him “thank you” for trusting my business?

That handwritten note, no matter whether it’s only two sentences shows you value your relationship with him.

8. Take Advantage of Local Opportunities

Regardless of your type of small business, your local chamber of commerce has something to offer. Local opportunities can be powerful marketing ideas for young entrepreneurs.

Become a member and have your small business listed in their directory.

But before you become a member, take a look at the membership fees to see whether it’s something you can afford with your tiny budget.

The good thing about joining the networking events your local chamber of commerce has in the community is that you get your business known to people out there.

9. Post Your Business to Review Sites

85% of online customers trust reviews and personal recommendations. Having your business published on review websites is a great marketing idea especially if you are just getting started. Get your business featured on sites like Trustpilot and many others out there.

10. Take Advantage of ‘Google My Business’

If you are running a local business, Google My Business can be a free marketing idea. Get your business listed on these local directories and keep on asking customers to leave reviews on your page to build trust.

After you’ve registered on Google My Business, take the time to review your analytics. That way, you have an overall idea as to important matters such as customer buying behavior, cycles, and your SaaS marketing funnel. This can help fine-tune your marketing activities to meet the expectations of your target customers.

11. Interact and Engage With Customers

Once you have created your social media channels, you should interact with your customers who are either commenting or liking your posts.

By responding to their comments or answering their questions, they can know that you are listening to them and you care.

12. Try Influencer Marketing

Influencers are all over in social media. You can partner with them to help make your business known to the public. This is also referred to as affiliate marketing, whereby you reach out to these influencers to feature your products or services in their blogs.

Give them a product or allow them to use your services for free so that they can feature your brand when they share their story on their social media channels.

You can also set a small budget to pay the influencer to advertise your products or services.

This is a very effective tool simply because you already have a good audience to begin with. To the readers of the influencer’s blogs, they take their word for it. So, when they talk about a particular product or service, they know that this is something that’s trustworthy.

Journalists are looking to feature businesses in their articles. They are looking for experts in different fields. If you sign up to HARO and see an inquiry related to your niche industry, you can send the journalists a pitch. This is also another free marketing idea for young entrepreneurs.

When going to this route, you’re giving the journalist something to feature and write about. At the same time, you’re also able to strategically promote your business for free. This is a very good opportunity as asking journalists to feature brands can often be costly. Plus, their audience is also wide. It’s a very good way to get the word out about the existence of your business.

Over to You!

Which of the free marketing ideas above do you use or you intend to try? Don’t feel pressured to do all at once. You can take it one step at a time and see which of the strategies work the best for you. As you can see, regardless of how small your budget can be, you can still reach many customers who will market your startup without making a hole in your pockets. Take advantage of the resources used by youngsters today.

Good Luck!!

Author Bio

Tobias Foster is a small business consultant and freelance writer who write custom essay papers and offers thesis help. Tobias shares his knowledge about small business marketing, entrepreneurship, and finance all over the world. He also offers professional writing services when he is not busy.

Also published on Medium.