Entrepreneurs and small business owners know that every dollar spent on their operation must be meaningful. One of the most expensive parts of getting your business off the ground is marketing, which puts business owners in a tough place. How can you spend money to bring in more customers, when you don't already have customers who are spending money?
Fortunately, the marketing sphere has changed significantly over the past decade. No longer are radio, television and direct mail your only (and extremely expensive) options for reaching your target audience. Today, online marketing solutions offer cost-effective method for increasing your brand presence.
In a post on Business2Community.com, digital marketing consultant Nicole Beachum compared the cost of traditional and digital marketing concepts, offering the following estimates:
- Direct mail: $5,000 to send out 3,000 post cards or flyers
- Local television: $200-$5,000 per ad
- Network television: $80,000-$600,000 per spot
- Radio: $70-$250 per ad
Beachum noted that the above costs do not take into account the amount of money you may spend producing this content.
Most small business owners can agree that it doesn't make much sense to spend tens of thousands of dollars on advertising content when they really don't have the funds to do so. Additionally, in an age when people spend more time in front of computer and mobile device screens than they do in front of a television, it may be wise to reach an audience through a digital medium.
"At the end of the day, getting customers (or investors) in the door is key to the success of any small business," Beachum wrote. "In order to do that, startups have to get the most bang for their buck – while also being willing to spend money on marketing to reach their target audience."
To learn more about how targeted internet marketing could improve their prospects, small business owners should consider working with KeyMedia Solutions.