Guest Times: How brands can cut costs on paid marketing

Not every brand has the budget on hand to spend big on marketing. If you are running a bootstrapped startup, it's best to explore novel ways of getting the most bang for your buck. You need to make every penny count and need a compounding return on your marketing efforts. I’ve outlined a few strategies for brands to make sure every penny used on paid efforts is used judiciously. 

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Focus on ad relevance and quality score

While running your campaign on Google ads always think of quality score, it should be your primary focus. If you work on increasing your quality score, the cheaper your CPC will be. Google AdWords can be an expensive affair. It is wise to use the exact keyword match phrase; you will spend only for that specific keyword or phrase. If you opt for Broad Match over exact match, the chances are that you may end up spending more than you want as Google will end up showing your ads to people who are less likely to click. Add negative keywords, this will nullify irrelevant results. Shift focus on optimising ad text; if your ad text gets more clicks than your competitors then your CPC will go down increasing your quality score. 

Focus on video ads

A lot of marketers prefer banners over video ads because of the creative effort making videos involves. However, evidence suggests that video ads are the best performing ads, the simple reason is the conversion rates are a lot higher. Ensure that you’ve added text and transcription and it plays automatically along with the video. Focus on storytelling and keep people hooked. Be wary of the video length, don’t just focus on minimum CTR it might not garner the required revenue; never optimise for spend reduction and instead optimise for maximum ROI. Focus on how much you are generating for how much you are spending, that’s the key for video ads.

Focus on remarketing 

Before you start any campaign, keep in mind the rule of 7, the more people see your product, the more chances of them buying the product. This rule suits remarketing perfectly. Remarketing or retargeting is nothing but re-engaging with previous website visitors trying to get them back to your website to buy your products, it is doubly effective and also the cheapest form of advertising. You can cut on half your marketing budget if used wisely. Ensure you have 100 visitors in the past 30 days in order to implement this strategy. Remarketing targeting is available across platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Focus on referral programmes

Referral programmes are a marketing tactic which most brands fail to capitalise on. Always keep your customers as a priority and they will return the favour. Word mouth marketing doesn’t happen overnight, you must first build a loyal audience base for them to refer your business. It usually works best if it's mutually beneficial for both parties. One of the best referral programme examples would be Dropbox; the more people you refer the more storage space you get in return. If you manage to build a strong referral programme, it can get you more leads from your customers.

Encourage user-generated content

 Content marketing is a powerful tool, however, in most cases it might be an expensive option. How to use this powerful tool without putting a dent in our pockets? User-generated content is the answer. Engage with your audience regularly and encourage them to share their product stories. You get free content, fresh stories, and more traffic. Content can be in the form of reviews, testimonials, social posts or comments. It plays a vital role when it comes to inbound marketing. 

Focus on customer retention

 If you think you are successful after getting a customer on board then think again, customer retention is a whole different beast. Retaining a customer is a challenge and it is much cheaper than attracting a new one. One of the best methods to retain customers is through email marketing, send personalised messages and promotional offers for existing customers to keep them engaged. 

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