This question was raised the other day in the Free Index Business centre and I thought it was a great question.
How to make cheap marketing not look cheap.
Unless you have some great contacts with designers, printers, photographers, SEO’specialists, broadcasters, publishers and the Royal Mail who’ll give you 90% discount on everything then I don’t think you can make cheap marketing not look cheap, it is what it is but should the success of a marketing campaign revolve around a budget?
Any form of marketing success comes down to the idea and its execution. A poor attempt on either one can let down a whole campaign, whether it was cheap or expensive. Overall, having a big budget and using it right allows you to narrow down on any mistakes and produce a better finish with a better return on your investment. The bigger the budget the better chance you have of success.
In saying this, there are the anomalies which defy the rule. These anomalies don’t really focus on the budget at heart but more so the idea. The execution is simply a ways to a means. Here they are:
1.) Guerilla marketing – A cheap and effective way of marketing which doesn’t necessarily look cheap because the focus is drawn to the message and style of delivery in relation to the service/product.
For example (doable but illegal and unadvisable) – Buy a tin of paint and a paintbrush from the pound shop and paint your company name on the surface of every road in your area.
It’s cheap and effective, a little unprofessional and illegal but if you’re a painter & decorator you’ll probably hit gold (or end up in court).
2.) Value for money – The strength of a good deal can sometimes overpower the hint of a cheap marketing document because the deal was just so great. Where you can go over the top with guerilla marketing above you are essentially doing the opposite with this idea.
Forget the shock tactics, design and paper it was printed on, the deal is just straight forward. The success of this tactic is based around the TA. Its not just enough to know who exactly will be interested in your deal but who will really want your deal right now. If it lands in the right hands they’ll look past the cheap delivery and just buy.
As you can see, both ideas have there drawbacks but with a little more thought on the execution, (a classier guerilla campaign or intensive research into your TA) they can be executed cheaply and they can work.
The key point in the success of both tactics is YOU. The best possible way of making cheap marketing not look cheap is to play to YOUR strengths, whatever business your in. Maximise on what skillset you do have to gain the best possible result.
