If you are a startup founder or marketer who is trying to create dynamics with little or no budget, good news is: Scrappy is the best place to start. Some of the most effective marketing I have ever done – from the early days of my career to my time at Drift – came from moments when there was no budget at all.
If you don’t have big dollars to hide, you are forced to get creative, move quickly and find out what actually attracts attention. You learn by doing, not by building a 40-river decks to request $ 50,000.
In this article I will lead you through real examples of shabby marketing tactics that work and how you can steal them for your own game book.
My own experience with low-budget marketing
My first job outside the college was at a PR agency. This was in 2009 and the “Playbook” was quite traditional. I built a list of reporters, cold, hoped for a goal. But social media have just started to change the game. I realized that I was able to skip the outdated tactics by connecting to reporters directly on Twitter.
I would follow their work, comment on their contributions and pitched them, who showed that I actually understood their beat. That was not rocket science. But nobody did it at that time. And it worked. I started getting quick profits, and internally people wondered what my “secret” was. The truth? I was only shabby and curious.
I also have ghostwrite for one of the managers in the same company. I would spend all day to find blogs and design comments on blog posts that were a community builder as a blog comment.
That would lead to a cover. Thicken comments would become future options because they would be seen as an expert. The reporters would say: “Wow, this is a really good comment on this article. Hey, let us introduce this person in the next article.”
At the beginning of my career, I read and devour everything about social media marketing, digital marketing and online marketing. I liked the world of the post about Reddit and answering questions about Quora.
Later at Drift Kings Media I helped the company’s first podcast. The growth show. I would find relevant subreddits and advertise the podcast creatively. We have many links and a lot of love. I just got into this shabby marketing level.
At Drift I used the same way of thinking on a scale. We didn’t buy any advertising boards in San Francisco, but we act Buy an advertising table outside the office of an important customer for 1,200 US dollars. We put a screenshot from her tweet on it, and she finally took a photo in front of it. This tweet did more for us than any display display could ever.
Or take the time we went to Saastr. We had no stand. Our CEO had a speaking slot and I flew out my podcast equipment in my backpack. I recorded interviews, wrote articles and created a lot of content – all for the price of a plane ticket.
How can you have a big influence with a small budget? Here are my greatest knowledge.
4 tips for marketing without a budget
1. Play where you have levers.
The fastest and cheapest starting point is social media. People hang here, regardless of whether they buy software or shoes.
If I say socially, I don’t just mean paid ads or promo contributions. i mean actually appear where your audience spends time. This could mean that publishing on LinkedIn, answering threads to Reddit or sharing knowledge in niche -Slack groups.
2. Create moments that can be used together.
The best shabby games are often the most memorable. At Drift we sent newly written notes and shirts to new customers. Why? Because they took photos and shared them. It created organic reach and goodwill.
When I started my book, I paid $ 5,000 for Plasting in Boston as if a musician were to apply for a show. People saw them, took pictures and spread the floor.
3. Start with content, not output.
Most marketers ask: “How much can we spend on this campaign?” But instead you should ask yourself: “What is the most helpful or interesting thing we can do?”
No matter what you manufacture, content that combines are actually high quality, unique and interesting. I find a simple text newsletter with real knowledge more appealing than beautifully designed shipping with custom graphics. A podcast with low-fidelity audio can be more valuable than one in a state-of-the-art studio.
Focus on bringing information into the world that give your audience added value. You can ittery and then put money behind plays that work.
4. Use Scrappy games to endanger larger bets.
Scrappy experiments are small options for testing ideas. Before investing in a large sponsorship or a campaign, test the message organically. Does it get to arrange for social times? Having a response to customers? If yes, Then Double with expenses.
Don’t remember to be powerful as an alternative to a budget. Instead, you can use it as a test floor for great ideas on which you can double.
Scrappy marketing is a way of thinking.
There is nothing wrong with spending your marketing budget – after You deserve the right. The budget should reinforce what is already working and not compensate for a weak idea.
Your expenses should follow the signal. If something shabby works, put money behind it. Perhaps this means sponsoring the event where you had organic dynamics. Perhaps it means that you turn your simple text newsletter into a beautifully produced podcast.
What I don’t believe begins with expenses. I would rather pass on $ 5,000 with a clever idea than to burn it on a stand that nobody remembers.
Remember that Scrappy marketing is not only for teams for startups in early stages or under-financed teams. It is a way of thinking. It’s about staying close to the customer. Move quickly. Test before scaling. Create great content and build trust in places that are important.
This is the game that I always played. And I would bet on it every time.