6 Affordable Marketing Hacks
Starting or growing a small business can be daunting. Often times business owners do not have the time, money, or capabilities to produce professional marketing materials. However, creating and marketing a unique brand identity is essential to the success of any small business. Thankfully there’s an app (or website) for that! From do it yourself templates to hiring virtual freelance help, you have dozens of options that range in both price and services. These are some our favorites:
- 99 Designs.com
This site allows the user to create a ‘design brief’ that tells the potential designers about your business and what you need designed. You then pick a design package ranging from $299 to $1,299. The larger the package, the more designer entries you will have to choose from. After that, you launch your design contest. Designers from all around the country will enter designs for you to choose from. After seven days, you choose the best design. Your designer gets the prize money and you get full design copyright to use for your business. - Typorama
This iPhone app allows users to create visuals by automatically transforming your text and photos into beautiful typographic designs. Just choose a background, type in your words and your creative typography is ready. The app is free to download with in-app purchases. - Fiverr.com
This site offers a variety of freelance marketing services including graphic design, digital marketing, copywriting, video production and web design. You set price you want to spend and when you need the work completed. You are able to read reviews and ask questions directly to the designers. This site was specifically designed for the small business owner in mind. You can create logos for as little as $5. - Canva.com
Their business motto says it all: Canva makes design simple for everyone. This site helps create designs for web or print. They offer templates for all social media platforms as well as posters, billboards and infographics. Many of the graphics and designs are free with the ability to purchase designs for a few dollars. This sites allows you to create professional posts and marketing materials for very cheap. - PicMonkey.com
This site offers photo editing, collage making and graphic design services. This service is free but they also offer a monthly subscription service with prices ranging from $3.99 per month for the premium service to $8.33 per month for the Supremium service. - Animoto.com
This fun and cost-effective video making site allows users to create professional videos on a computer or mobile device. There is a tab specifically for business owners to help turn photos and video clips into shareworthy marketing videos and slideshow videos, designed to stand out on social media. This subscription service ranges from $8 for the personal service to $34 for business services.
Whether you are looking for a website designer, a graphic designer, or just some help with a do it yourself campaign, these tools will guide you along the way!
Leigh Magnotta
Business Consultant
The University of Scranton Small Business Development Center
Artwork adapted from vecteezy.com