How to market your product with no budget

Many professionals are afraid of building their own products because they have the wrong assumption that every form of marketing has big costs associated with it.

That’s far from the truth, as there are countless methods of marketing a product or a fundraising campaign, without the necessity of a big budget.

The digital environment allows us to reach and communicate with your target audiences like never before. Social media networks, for example, can be leveraged to increase your fundraising campaign’s awareness with no cost, while search engines can help you expose your work to hundreds and thousands of people, organically and for free.

In today’s post, I’m sharing several marketing strategies that can be performed without financial costs. Nevertheless, when money is not involved, your time, attention, and energy are just some of the resources you’ll have to “pay” instead on a consistent basis.

1. Write amazing guest posts

Content marketing is one of the most effective digital marketing strategies that can be performed without the need for a budget. Considering that you’re a decent content writer, you can start contributing to various niche magazines and blogs through guest posting.

This involves writing a quality post that matches the guidelines and expectations of the blog you’re targeting. The benefit is that you can include links to your fundraising campaign’s landing page, product page, or to any of your articles, so many targeted individuals might follow your link and discover your initiative.

If words are not your forte, I’d suggest you outsource academic writers. They’re not only more committed than regular freelancers, but they also master the English language better than most people. AustralianWritings Essays is just a recommended platform, though you can find plenty others online.

2. Offer valuable advice on niche forums

People that use forums are generally interested in three things: to solve problems, to satisfy needs, or to engage with a community of likeminded individuals.

As a product owner, you can reach your audience by engaging in the industry forums that are mostly visited by your prospects.

Some forums will give you the chance to create a forum signature. If that’s the case, use the opportunity to place a link to your fundraising page.

Also, ensure that you’re providing high-quality answers and that you’re not being too intrusive with your marketing approach!

3. Leverage Quora to bring targeted free visitors

Quora acts exactly the same as forums, only that the mechanism is a bit different. In case you’re not familiar with Quora, it is a questions & answers platform that connects the problems and needs of people with the solutions of other people.

Simply put, if you can provide useful answers to people’s queries and if you do it consistently, you’ll improve your organization’s reputation and reach.

You’re also planting “seeds” every time you post something. Therefore, if one year from now somebody seeks a question you’ve answered, they’ll discover your product link and may be tempted to pay you a visit.

4. Use social media groups to connect with prospects

Social media marketing is a goldmine opportunity for both marketers and consumers. Social media groups hold a great potential that can be leveraged for free.

This marketing strategy is quite simple: find relevant groups with people who might be interested in your brand’s offering and your product’s value and start engaging.

Most people are already using at least one social network on a daily basis. To sell your dream and fundraising campaign well, you need to constantly place it in front of your target audience. If social channels offer you this chance for free, why not leverage it?

5. Create an email marketing strategy

Building an email list is the best way to decrease future marketing costs. Additionally, an email list allows you to connect with your prospects on a deeper level. It allows you to share personalized information and relevant solutions every time you want it, so skipping this strategy is never encouraged.

Developing an email list isn’t hard at all. You’ll need an email marketing strategy, an autoresponder, and the drive to offer a lot of exclusive value.

The more value you provide the more trust you’ll get from your followers and fans. After you’ve “warmed them up”, you can introduce your concept or product and expect a much higher conversion rate than ever before.

6. Craft a strategic email signature

Why not leverage email signatures to constantly display your organization’s name? If you’re not familiar with email signatures, here’s how you can create a good one.

The strategy is simple: create your signature and engage with prospects and clients. Whenever people open your emails, they’ll immediately see your signature. In time, your product page will benefit from additional traffic and sales.

7. Leave thoughtful comments on relevant blog posts

Instead of submitting blog posts yourself, you can visit other blog’s content and leave insightful comments that may add up value. There are so many readers who are eager to see the opinions and comments of others, so they’ll head straight to the comment section once they’ve finished reading.

This gives you the chance to display your company’s value proposition, and obviously your product’s characteristics. A simple link back to your product page won’t hurt if you’ve made sure that your comment has changed the lives of others for the better.

8. Leverage the power of Reddit

Reddit is a great source of free traffic. However, before you plan an aggressive marketing approach, you should acknowledge the fact that Reddit users are extremely skeptical when it comes to anything that involves marketing and promotion. On Reddit, you can find unlimited subreddits, which are basically categories that you can target according to your marketing needs. For example, if you’re marketing the concept of improving ocean fishes’ lives, simply search for “Fishing” and you’ll get news, discussions, and various subtopics.

It goes the same with every niche. Now, once you find the most relevant subreddits, places that your target audience frequently visits, you can start following the discussions and begin contributing whenever you have something to add.

As I’ve already mentioned, Reddit users hate cheap marketing, so before adding any promotional link make sure you add enough value to the table.

9. Create a YouTube channel

Let’s not forget about YouTube, the second largest search engine after Google. There are many ways to promote your charity and products on YouTube. One of them would be to create a review and perhaps show your product in action.

Second, you can create educational videos that your community will be eager to consume. Third, you can comment on other relevant videos and link back to your YouTube channel or the product page/fundraising copy page.

10. Host a giveaway

A giveaway contest helps you spread your reach across social media channels, mostly because of its viral element. When you host a giveaway contest, you’re giving away something for free. It could be an eBook, a case study, a product, or whatever you find suited for your audience’s needs.

For people to participate, ask them to simply like and share your page. A more aggressive approach would be to demand likes, comments, shares, and a few tags. Depending on your niche and audience, ensure you give away something that’ll spark curiosity and desire.

Conclusion

Marketing your product through a fundraising campaign, for free, is one of the best ways to begin your entrepreneurship journey without risking too much. If your organic methods gain traction, your organization’s results shall also show significant improvements. When you finally dispose of a budget, it’s quite advisable to start using it to speed up your product’s growth.