How to attract new customers without a marketing budget

Over the last 2 years, deal marketing has taken the marketing sector by storm. It has literally been a revolution in marketing terms. The unaccountable advertising which was prevalent in the past has become overshadowed by a new wave of marketing called ‘deal marketing’.

In the past, companies needed to allocate money towards pre-paid marketing costs, such as advertising. Marketing departments spent their time looking for publications, newspapers and online opportunities in their sectors and regularly purchased advertising space in them. The costs would often run into thousands of pounds for a single submission. What is worse is that there were no guarantees of results and very little prospect of tracking results. In fact, companies still do this today.

What makes deal marketing so attractive?

Deal marketing is so exciting simply because it requires no marketing budget. For most small companies, marketing costs make up a large proportion of their budget and should not be wasted. So, imagine the scenario of being able to promote your product, but only pay a fixed fee when one is sold. Well, this is the way deal marketing works and is a primary driver for its worldwide success.

Deal companies generally do not charge any up-front fees, but earn a commission on each sale achieved. The best part is that, if no sale is achieved, no commission or charges are incurred. If sales do occur, the costs are known in advance and can therefore be anticipated.

Why should I consider business deal marketing?

Here are some of the reasons why you should or should not do deal marketing:

1)       DO NOT do deal marketing if you have a single-sale model, where you typically have very little opportunity for repeat business.

2)       DO NOT do unlimited daily deals if you cannot handle hundreds of new customers immediately after deal day. If you cannot handle it, if it doesn’t put you out of business directly, the impact of the bad PR you will be faced with for not being able to deliver to every customer a top quality product or service probably will.

3)       DO deal marketing if you want customers fast without the need for a marketing budget, or the risk of spending money where you are not guaranteed results.

Where can I go for deal marketing?

Depending on your target audience, you will have a choice. If you are selling to consumers, then there are well known, household names that would suit you such as Groupon or LivingSocial. 

If you are in the business to business sector, then your options for placing business deals are limited, and Blue Square Deals is your best bet.