You don’t need a giant budget to market your service business. But you do need to spend time and energy to stay visible, keep your clients happy and have another way to get new clients.
If you’re looking to stretch your marketing dollars further, these five low-cost marketing strategies can help you hit well above your weight.
Marketing isn't about spending big - it's about spending smart. With a bit of creativity and elbow grease, you can have a marketing strategy that's both effective and budget-friendly."
Go Local & Connect with Your Community
Being found easily in local searches can bring a steady stream of clients right to your door – that aren’t reliant on your client’s remembering to refer you.
Include local keywords, write some local-specific articles and make sure you’re on all the local directories.
Bonus Tip
Make sure your Google My Business profile is bang on. Include your services, operating hours, contact details, and lots of client testimonials. This helps you stay visible and relevant in local search results.
Be seen in your community
My business continues to diversify, all because I invested time into my community and started being visible there. You don’t have to start a network group like I did, but it’s a good idea to join your local Chamber of Commerce, turn up to a few business events, and post in the local Facebook group where you can advertise once a month.
Strategic Partnerships & Collaboration
Teaming up with another business in the same or complementary industry can be a great way to gain a new audience and potential client pool.
But make sure you’re a good fit – and check out my article that deep dives into the pros and cons of partnerships – as not all collaborations are equal.
Ideas
Take over each other’s social media account, run a joint event, guest blog for each other, run a joint competition, package a service offer, make a new offer together, share a space (or stand at a local event), go live together, etc.
Example: If you’re a law firm, why not partner with a local real estate agency? Offer free “Home Buyer Legal Advice” sessions during their open houses. It’s a win-win—you get in front of potential homebuyers, and the agency adds value to their client’s experience.
Up Your Social Game- Engage Without the Spend
Social media is a goldmine for low-cost marketing – if you know how to use it right. It’s not about being everywhere, it’s about being where your clients are. Where are your clients?
Instagram? Facebook? LinkedIn?
My business has been built off LinkedIn and building a consistent presence and personal brand that has clients coming to me or being referred to me. All off no spend, just my time.
Take Action
Try it for a month. Intentionally show up and engage with your clients & potential clients.
Be brave and reach out with a pitch. Ditch the mindless scrolling and use the 30 minutes for growth instead.
Start producing better content with a plan
You have the brains and expertise your clients need from you. Why wouldn’t you share that?
Get clear on your audience, and what they need at different stages of their buying journey, and start sharing.
People want to know the people behind the business and relate to the stories, behind the scenes and culture of your workplace.
High-quality, useful content can position you as a trusted authority and attract organic traffic to your website.
Idea: Blogging is not dead.
For example, as a small business coach, you might write posts like “Top 5 Tips for Improving Cash Flow” or “How to Avoid Common Start-Up Mistakes”.
Make it practical stuff your audience can implement right away. And don’t forget to repurpose these posts for LinkedIn articles to boost your visibility.
Host Webinars to Engage and Educate
The marketing gurus refer to this as a lead funnel with the idea that you share helpful, valuable information that positions you as the go-to expert.
But the webinar itself doesn’t quite solve the problem, so your viewers are eager to know more or pay for your help. Often there’s a ‘only for attendees’ low risk, low cost offer.
This is where the nurture part comes into play. You now have their email address and can continue to lead them down the path to working with you.
For example – If you run a digital marketing agency, host a monthly webinar where you unpack key topics like SEO or social media trends. Let’s say you focus on “Building a Social Media Strategy on a Shoestring Budget.” Encourage attendees to ask questions and offer a brief free consultation for those who join. It’s a great way to connect and demonstrate your knowledge.
At the end of the day, smart marketing is all about connection, consistency, and delivering real value to your clients. These strategies are just the starting point. The key is to get creative, stay consistent, and always keep your ideal client in mind.
Still feeling overwhelmed? Sometimes, a fresh perspective is all you need. If you’re feeling stuck or just want to bounce some ideas around, drop me a line at . Let’s chat about how we can make your marketing budget work harder for you.
Ready to get those marketing tasks off your to-do-list and onto mine?
– website projects
– content and marketing strategies
– LinkedIn training and more
About the Author
Rebecca Cofrancesco is an experienced marketing strategist and content creator.
She works with professional services brands and offers freelance services without the overhead of a full-time employee.
Contact:
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