How to Do Digital Marketing with $0 in 2024

A lot of marketing gurus won’t like hearing this, but you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on digital marketing to make money. Paid advertisements can be successful, but you risk losing everything if you don’t do them perfectly. Alternatively, check out these five free and efficient ways that any company may use digital marketing to attract more customers. These strategies have been shown to be effective, and numerous six-figure business owners vouch for them.

Why Free Marketing Methods Are a Better Idea

Consider that monthly electricity bill payments are similar to those for advertisements. It keeps your company visible, but as soon as you stop making payments, you lose all visibility. These prices could go up at any time. What if you had solar panels instead? Setting them up takes some work at first, but once they’re up and running, your business is run on a never-ending cycle of free energy. These no-cost advertising techniques function similarly. A small initial effort consistently attracts new clients.

1. Optimize Your Google Business Profile

Establishing and completely optimizing your Google Business Profile is one of the most powerful and cost-free marketing tactics. It’s amazing how many companies only provide the most basic information, especially considering that listings with all the information complete are seven times more likely to be clicked on.

Key Areas to Optimize:

• Primary and Additional Categories: You can choose a primary category and up to nine additional categories. Selecting all relevant categories increases your chances of being found for related searches. For example, a landscaping business should choose “landscaper” as the primary category and consider additional categories like “garden maintenance,” “tree service,” and “landscape design.”
• Services and Descriptions: Add every service you offer along with detailed descriptions.
• Attributes: Include all applicable attributes such as languages spoken or if the business is minority-owned or woman-owned.

Benefits:

• Increased Visibility: Completing your profile thoroughly boosts your chances of being found in searches.
• Case Study: Levian & Co., a London barber shop, saw a 70% increase in bookings and quadrupled their mobile website traffic by completing their business profile.

2. Direct Outreach via Social Media

Directly contacting prospective customers or referral sources via social media is a popular tactic, although many people overlook it. The “Rule of 100,” proposed by marketing guru Alex Hormozi, calls for sending out 100 cold direct messages each day.

Why 100 DMs?

• Volume for Results: The number 100 provides enough volume to see real results. Most messages will be ignored or turned down, but that’s part of the process.
• Skill Development: Each message helps you learn, tweak, and improve your approach.

Effective Messaging:

Hormozi recommends starting with a line like, “Hey, I’m doing this thing. Do you know anybody who’d be interested in doing that thing?” This non-soliciting approach often makes recipients think of themselves first.

3. Leverage Podcasting

Rather than starting from scratch, which takes time, consider being a guest on already-existing podcasts. Every area is covered by millions of podcasts, and the majority of them are seeking guests with fresh perspectives and specialized knowledge.

Benefits:

• Showcase Knowledge and Personality: Being a guest allows listeners to get to know you and your business.
• Case Study: Merill Johnston grew her accounting and bookkeeping practice by appearing on 12 podcasts in her first year. She noted that people who heard her on podcasts were more inclined to work with her.

Getting Guest Spots:

• Rule of 100: Split your daily DMs between client outreach and podcast introductions. This increases your chances of landing guest spots and sharing your story on various platforms.

4. Create Video Content

Video content is incredibly effective for grabbing attention and building trust with potential clients. The best part? You can start creating videos for free using your smartphone.

Steps to Get Started:

1. Start Simple: Answer common client questions in short 30 to 60-second videos.
2. Expand to Longer Videos: Once comfortable, create longer videos (5-10 minutes) expanding on those FAQs.

Distribution:

• Platforms: Post your videos on YouTube with searchable titles. The real magic happens when YouTube’s algorithms start recommending your videos to viewers.
• Repurpose Content: Use AI software to pull engaging segments from longer videos to create shorts. These can be pushed out across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, multiplying your reach.

Avoid Bad Advice

Be cautious of poor recommendations that waste your time and potentially hurt your organization when looking for free marketing help online. Choose tactics that have been shown to be effective and modify them to meet your unique requirements.

These cost-free digital marketing techniques will help you expand your company successfully without breaking the bank. To draw in and win over new customers, start by making your Google Business Profile more optimized. You can also use podcasts, direct outreach, and well-crafted video material.