You’re (probably) a marketing student, what do you think you could do with a $0 marketing budget?
I sat down for a brainstorm of what I would be able to do as a digital marketer with no budget and came up with a small list of things I believe could be accomplished.
1. Have an idea
Use your creativity and your skills as a marketer to create an idea that will make an impact. Anyone can sit down with a pen and paper to map out an idea. You might be thinking of a new innovation, a way to connect, a way to make a statement. All of the advertisements and competitions and posts used by digital marketers come from somewhere, the mind.
2. Make use of social media
If you’re currently operating on $0 you can hold off on establishing your $30,000 website and just utilise social media. Facebook, Instagram, Pintrest, all of these platforms can help you launch your product or your message. If you have the right idea, and if you have the right message, you can put it out onto the web free of charge.
3. Undertake research
You don’t need a hefty research grant to go out and gain some information. The online world is a never ending source of valuable information. A simple google search can turn up academically backed opinions, verified statistics, proposed theories, and a multitudes of other valuable material . Secondary data always comes before primary data, go and see what you can find.
4. Engage with an audience
If you can’t find a way to engage online with an audience, you’re not a very good digital marketer. Use your ideas, use your social media platforms, use your research and engage! Ask questions, provoke thought, be responsive and capture your audiences interest and attention. You should know how, we’ve been doing it all semester.
You might think that digital marketing activities require money and budgets, sometimes all you need is your own head. Use it.
What else do you think can be accomplished?
– Todd
mymarketingtoddyssey 
Really great post! An expensive idea is not always a good one, and you definitely demonstrated that you don’t need money to market efficiently 🙂
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A friend of mine opened up a bar and didn’t have much money to use for marketing, so with the use of social media he was able to develop a great audience and some loyal customers! It’s amazing what you can do with some creativity 🙂 He uses Facebook for example and actually engages with his audience, which I think is key and definitely something i’d incorporate if i was working with $0!
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Very useful post for a start up business! I think every business needs to learn how to use social media and internet marketing efficiently. But when people got 0$ and things seem impossible, there is still some way some how to turn the impossible to possible.
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Really innovative post, it’s easy to forget not all businesses have a huge marketing budget!
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You raise some really great points here! They’re all extremely cost-effective and can be extremely effective for marketing purposes. If a brand is trying to market themselves to an older audience (who have a smaller presence on social media), is social media enough to reach them? What are some other cost-effective ways to reach an older target market who aren’t always tech-savvy? I know it’s a challenging question, but your post just got me thinking 🙂 Thanks for such a great post!
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What a great question! Thats true that a lot of the elderly generation have a smaller presence on social media than other segments. One could potentially undertake an email direct marketing approach, however access to email databases and resources costs money. I suppose it could be said that a new age idea launched via social media likely wouldn’t be targeted at an older population, but theres always a chance!
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Great post with some great points! There is so much you can do online without needing a large budget. However, i slightly disagree that you need to hold off for a website due to its expenses. There are some great online websites that have templates you could use for free to make you a functional website! I understand what you were saying, but maybe at the start with a $0 budget you could utilise a free template website until you can afford a professional to make you one. Just an idea 🙂
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