When budgets are tight, marketing is often the first area to be cut, but experts say that’s a mistake. It’s important to make your company visible to prospective customers and stay top of mind with your current clients. Try some of these low-cost digital marketing tactics to boost your brand reach.

Clocking in at just under a minute, here are 6 digital marketing ideas for you. (Read the full story here: https://t.co/Q4sHSw2K11) #digitalmarketing #promoproducts #promoinsiders #ASIMedia pic.twitter.com/Knh8OMzk3v

— Theresa Hegel (@TheresaHegel) April 20, 2021

1. Post a Short Video
Take 30 seconds to record something about your business – whether it’s a behind-the-scenes moment, an explanation of a problem you solved or a winning case study. Then post it across social media on places like Instagram Reels, TikTok, Pinterest Stories, YouTube Shorts and LinkedIn, wherever your prospects are most likely to congregate. “Right now, it’s very common for a simple video to go viral and lead to big exposure and sales,” says Whitney Lauritsen, a social media adviser.

Lauritsen recommends using a mobile device, choosing a simple background in front of a window and recording during natural lighting. Don’t be afraid to try something new, and don’t give up if your first few attempts fall flat. Also, don’t worry about trying to be perfectly polished, scripted and curated. That’s not necessarily what people are looking for. “Social media is now centered on authenticity and transparency,” Lauritsen says. “Many people online want to see the reality of life, not the highlight reel.”

2. Send a Text Message
Text message marketing is inexpensive and provides a strong return on investment, according to Bob Bentz, president of Purplegator and author of Relevance Raises Response: How to Engage and Acquire With Mobile Marketing. “It’s a great way to keep your brand in front of your most loyal customers,” he says. Getting started with text message marketing can be intimidating because it requires clients to opt in, but Bentz says that’s precisely why it’s worthwhile. “In what other medium will your customer say they want to receive your advertising?” he asks.

For clients that you already have an established relationship with, a simple personalized text message every once in a while could be a good way to check in and let them know they’re on your mind. Just be sure text communications are a way the client likes to be contacted.

3. Create Branded GIF Stickers
A clever way to increase visibility on Instagram is through a GIF sticker. GIF stickers are animated GIFs with a transparent background that users can pick from and attach to direct messages and stories. “GIF stickers are a quick, fun and easy way to make a brand more shareable, relatable and widely recognized,” according to Kate Mrozowski, owner and lead artist at Blending Mode, which helps social media marketing firms with animated GIF stickers.

A branded GIF sticker could include a business’ logo, hashtag, slogan or anything else that might represent its identity. They can be created using Canva, Photoshop or other graphics programs, then posted on Instagram Stories. Companies can also apply for free for a brand channel on Giphy.com to make their stickers searchable on Instagram, Mrozowski says.

4. Host an Interactive Event
Make lasting connections with people through an interactive online event. Trenton Moss, leadership coach and partner at Team Sterka, recommends researching prospects you’d like to target on LinkedIn, then sending out short emails inviting them to your event, emphasizing what problem your company can solve for them and how “fun and interactive” the event will be. “People will forget what you said, but will never forget how you made them feel,” he says. “Your events (and all your new customer interactions) should be high-energy, fun and connect people with their peers. Don’t just talk at them.”

5. Run an Online Giveaway
Giveaways can be a great way to build engagement and spread awareness of your company across social media. Gabriel A. Mays, co-founder of POPSMASH, calls them the “holy grail of marketing” because they provide “meaningful, targeted engagement at scale” and help you to reach “lookalike audiences due to social media’s viral nature.”

According to Mays, Instagram giveaways are the best driver of directed engagement, making them a cost-effective method of brand building. To enter the giveaway, you can ask people to like your post (creating engagement), follow you (growing your audience), comment about their favorite color or style of the promotional product you’re giving away (creating positive patterns of association with your brand); and tag three friends (exposing you to new prospects), Mays explains.

6. Focus on SEO
Search engine optimization can seem like a daunting task, but it’s crucial for growing your brand visibility online. “More people than ever used Google as a way to find products, services and platforms to help them in 2020, and 2021 doesn’t look to be much different,” says John Bertino, CEO of The Agency Guy.

SEO doesn’t require expensive consults, subscriptions or complicated tools, says Alexander De Ridder, co-founder of Ink. “You just need solid intent research and high-quality content that completely satisfies your audience’s intent,” De Ridder says. “For example, quickly write a relevant article by researching all of the related questions you find when you Google your target keyword or topic, make an outline using those questions and respond to them with the best, most concise answers.”

Creating original infographics and branded graphics for your site can also help your rankings on Google image search, De Ridder says. When your content is shared on social and other sites (and backlinked to your page), it will increase your authority, helping with your Google rankings, he adds.