Every now and then, you receive those $100 google adwords credits and $50 facebook credits. You might drive a little bit of traffic to your website and maybe get one or two conversions. Unfortunately, for most bootstrapped startups, it isn’t a viable marketing plan to keep spending upwards of $1 – $5 cost per click (depending on the keywords), especially if your revenue per user is low starting out.

Instead, check out some of the tips below for cheap startup marketing alternatives. Just keep in mind that in order to expect results, you’re going to be paying in one way or another, be it hard work or financially.

The goal of all marketing in the early stages should be to build a list of customers or fans that give you permission to send them messages, either via email, social media, or through apps. Click to Tweet.

1. Content Marketing

Content marketing may take at least 6 months to begin showing results, but it’s a no brainer investment for a startup, especially if part of your sales process includes educating customers or proving your “expert status” to browsers looking to buy.

Content marketing can take the form of blog posts, youtube videos, infographics, podcasts, and more. Typically, this content is given away for free and solves a problem that your customer has.

For example, many non-profit owners struggle with internet marketing and are frequently combing the web for free advice. If you type into google “internet marketing for non-profits,” this Moz article will come up Online Marketing Tips for Nonprofits.

After reading this article, you have the opportunity to check out the company’s products and services, which includes a product that helps small businesses with SEO and internet marketing.

Moz isn’t paying for this article to be in a top spot on google, but because it is helpful and free, customers can find the webpage and a certain percentage will click through and buy their products.

The goal of content marketing is to begin a dialogue with your customers and prove that you know what you are talking about. 

Start creating blog posts now, aimed at solving your customer’s problems or educating them about about your industry. If you aim for three blog posts a week and promote them on LinkedIn groups, Google+ groups, Twitter, Facebook, and your Newsletter, you’ll begin seeing more traffic to your website. With more traffic you can always experiment to see what types of content yield good conversions and sign ups.

Content marketing has helped me build up an email list of close to 2,000 individuals in a little under 10 months. I’ve written an article on CrowdCrux about using content marketing. The focus of the article is on promoting a crowdfunding campaign, but the same principles apply.

2. Social Media Marketing

When I first started CrowdCrux, I thought that social media marketing was all hyped up and overrated. Boy was I wrong. Every single person that “follows” you on twitter, “likes” your facebook page, or “circles you” on google+ is essentially saying “I want to receive messages from you.”

When you tweet or post, they will see these messages and your social media profile becomes a distribution platform. In addition, when users re-tweet you or re-share your messages, your business is exposed to a whole new set of potential customers.

Be smart and start building your social profiles early. Post interesting content, relevant links, and every now and again your own messages or content. Interact in the community, retweet, use hashtags and mention people in your posts.

Social media is at the very top of the sales funnel, where you can attract new leads and begin a dialogue with new customers. You can also keep an eye on how existing customers are responding to your service.

Social media has helped me build up a following of 4,000+ people in 10 months that receive my messages and check out my links. I’ve written an article on CrowdCrux about using Twitter. The focus of the article is on promoting a crowdfunding campaign, but the same principles apply.

3. LinkedIn + Meeetup.com

In an age of digital overload, sometimes old fashioned in-person events are the best way to stand out in the community, especially if you are younger.

Yes, it can be intimidating to go to a Meetup.com event if you are 16-25 and most of the people are in their late 20s, however, I’ve been to countless events and I started going when I was 19. People don’t bite. They love it when younger people are looking to learn more about a particular industry or get their foot in the door of the business world.

One of my favorite reasons for having turned 21 in 2013 was being able to go to networking events that served alcohol, as many of the events take place in these kinds of establishments.

Try not to think of attending interest-specific events as “sales”, so much as establishing relationships with people in the community and your target customers. Learn from them. Ask them questions. Get inside their heads.

I’ve written up a brief overview of LinkedIn on CrowdCrux. Again, the focus of the article is on promoting a crowdfunding campaign, but the same principles apply.

Conclusion

Like with most things in life, the earlier you start, the better. Always remember that great things take time. Start building up your sales funnel now, and you’ll benefit down the road. You can even automatize social media marketing with tools like Buffer and Hootsuite.

If you have any questions or would like me to expand on any of these broad points, leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you ASAP.