8 Cheap Marketing Ideas | Types of Online Advertising

Online Advertising in Marketing

Advertising can be expensive, especially for small businesses who might find traditional marketing methods like conventional billboard and print ads expensive. But, these methods might not even be the best way to advertise your business in this online generation, especially if you are looking for affordable marketing. As digitalization becomes increasingly more apparent, traditional print ads are starting to lose their effectiveness against online advertising campaigns. Here is a list of different types of online advertising and cheap marketing ideas to help you find the cheapest way to advertise your business on a budget.

Cheap Online Advertising Methods

1. Advertise Using Google AdWords

If your business has an online presence, SEO is essential to succeeding in online marketing and advertising online. Using keyword ads to your advantage will boost your online visibility immensely, consequently increasing possible click-through and conversion rates. As discussed by SEO specialist Andrew Riker, “AdWords and PPC [pay-per-click] can give you crazy amounts of traffic if you are tight with your campaign and run niche ad groups. A small budget can provide you with a large amount of traffic and in turn qualified leads, as long as the ad is relevant”. For small businesses, using focused long-tail keywords in Google Ads that are specifically targeted to your industry will be particularly effective.

2. Advertise Using Facebook Ads

Advertising on Facebook provides businesses with one of the largest user bases on the internet. According to Statistica, Facebook is the most popular social network worldwide with 2,910 million active users as of January 2022, followed by YouTube at 2,652 million active users, and WhatsApp at 2,000 million active users. Having a Facebook advertising strategy allows marketers to target specific demographics depending on their target audience through filters such as gender, age, education, and interests. This helps maximize the effect of active marketing campaigns to obtain relevant customer leads. As explained by e-commerce manager Chris Knollmeyer, “we tried print ads and banner ads, but for our money, Facebook ads provide us with the most focused consumers”.

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3. Submit Articles to Websites

Another great and cheap way to advertise your business is to submit articles on topics your customers may be interested in to reputable article websites. Such websites include EzineArticles, ArticlesBase, and TheFreeLibrary. As explained by marketing specialist Matthew Kostanecki, “in exchange for the content, they allow you to include a couple of backlinks to your website. Not only does this provide you with potential traffic and leads to your business, it also helps establish you as an expert in your related field”. If you’re having difficulty trying to think about what to write, try asking your customers about their biggest pains and problems to see what would be relevant to them.

4. Build Connections by Donating Products and Services

Not only is volunteering to donate products and services to a good and charitable cause a generous and kind thing to do, it is also good for building relationships and connections within your community as many may see your charitable actions and want to support your business. Not only can you provide products and services to charities, you can also provide your services to other businesses in need, creating important intercompany relationships.

5. Partner with Influencers and Bloggers

Partnering with influencers and bloggers exposes you to their audience and consequently expands the reach of your marketing efforts. In exchange for a free product, most would be happy to provide you with some exposure. Even if influencers ask for reimbursement, they are normally a cheaper and more effective option than that of a standard banner ad. When deciding which influencers and bloggers to partner with, choose influencers that have your desired client in their audience base in order to make those partnerships count.

6. Claim Local Business Listings on Google Maps and Bing Places

Many small businesses may forget to sign up and claim their local business listing on services such as Google Maps and Bing Places. By claiming your local listing, you can take advantage of people searching for businesses in your area by making your business and its location known online.

7. Use Community Sites and Local Directories 

Using local directories listings and community-based online networks is a great yet cheap and cost-effective way to spread the word about your business to local communities. Such websites include Thumbtack where you can search using your zip code, and Quentin’s Friends for New York City businesses. Boasting about the benefits of Quentin’s Friends, CEO of Aspyre Solutions Dana Leavy says “the service is location-specific, so my ad is going out to thousands of people who are specifically in my geographic area, New York” as she experienced an impressive ROI of 6,500% by using the platform.

8. Use LinkedIn Ads

If you own a B2B company, a good way to reach your target audience is by using LinkedIn advertising. LinkedIn Ads allow companies to target and filter through geography, demographics, job title, or LinkedIn groups in a specific yet cheap manner. Being able to target users who belong to specific LinkedIn groups and segments allows companies to tailor their design ad copy to their relevant audience.

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