When thinking about marketing your small business, what comes to mind? Do you imagine meeting with some big marketing exec that will talk you into spending thousands  on billboards, radioads, and TV spots? Thanks to the advent of the Internet, the days of relying on traditional media to promote your small business are long gone. If you're  tech-savvy enough, you don't even need to work with a marketing company to see significant gains in your business. Whether you are a franchise operator or own a small business you created yourself; this guide will show you different ways that you can market your small business with a small budget.

Fix Your Website

You no longer have an excuse to 1) not have a website and 2) have a poorly organized site. More and more these days, people are looking at a company's website before walking in the door. If your site is ugly or nonexistent, that may turn away a prospective customer. If you don't have the knowledge yourself, you can work with freelance website designers to improve the look and feel of your site for a relatively affordable price. Once you have a great site, then it should pay for itself.

Social Media

Social Media is for more than just keeping in touch with friends and family—it’s also a powerful marketing tool that many of the world's biggest brands have taken advantage of. But this also works on a micro level for small local businesses. By harnessing the power of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, you can interact with your customers like never before. The best part? It won’t cost you a dime unless you invest in advertising (more on that later).

Your posts can promote new products, special promotions for your followers, or you start a conversation about industry news. The possibilities are endless with social media, and it allows your business to have its own unique voice.

Become Involved with Your Community

Think smaller and find ways that you can make a positive impact on your local community. After all, they are your customers, and leaving a positive impression with them is sure to help drive sales. You can become involved with your community in a multitude of ways. Here are a few examples:

• Sponsor a little-league baseball team
• Donate to local charities
• Volunteer to help with a local event

Any one of these options will help your business to be put in front of more prospective customers, leaving a positive impact sure to bring them into your business.

Online Advertising

If you feel you’ve exhausted your social media and website tools, there are paid options you can utilize to help boost your business’s online presence.

Facebook Ads

Want to attract more attention to your Facebook page? Facebook Ads provide more exposure for your posts, and your page and its core features are easy to use. You can set what your goal for the ad will be such as more page likes, more website clicks, etc. and then set a budget. Facebook will then run your advertisement and once your budget is reached it will pull it. If you have a solid brand message, this is an easy way to boost your business's exposure.

Google AdWords

We'll warn you that this service is a little more advanced than Facebook's ad service, but it has been shown to help businesses around the world attract website visits. Whenever you've Googled something, chances are you've seen a couple of sites at the top of the page denoted as advertisements. Those didn't just appear out of thin air— somebody paid for their website to be at the top of the search results.

It’s a service that Google provides called AdWords. To put it simply, you place a link to your website, write a short description to attract potential customers, and then create a list of keywords that would trigger your ad.

For example, if you operate a flower shop, you could write a description saying “Best Flowers Available in Melbourne!” and then insert a list of keywords such as “flower shops near me.” “Melbourne flower shops,” or anything that you feel is related to your website. 

Give it a try, and if it isn't working for you, you can cancel anytime. You can also collaborate with a marketing agency to manage your AdWords account as well if you have the budget. 

Hopefully, this guide has opened your eyes to the possibilities of marketing your small business. It doesn't hurt to experiment, especially when you aren't paying much money. Check out other guides online with other tips, and good luck in your marketing efforts!