It may sound counter-productive for a marketing an design agency to be giving away trade secrets about low cost ways of promoting your business, but as an SME business ourselves we know how hungry the ‘marketing animal’ can be and also how sometimes the low cost, simple things can be very effective.

So here is a list of 16 ideas and tips for marketing your business. Hopefully you will be doing many of these, but even if you are, there should be a few that are new to you. If they are new to you, then you have a great list to work your way through the appropriate ones and really start to have a positive impact on your business.

Recession, credit crunch, economic downturn - call it what you will there are few small businesses that have not been affected in some way or another.

In tight times the need to cut costs can often result in reduced marketing spend, especially in light of cash flow concerns but when times are tough it is even more important to keep promoting your business.

Now you may be thinking ‘well of course she would say that, marketing is what she sells’ but if you consider what is actually happening in a recession, you see why it is so important to keep up the momentum of your promotions.

1. 1)  Your customers (people or businesses) have less money to spend
2. 2)  They are looking to make more careful purchasing decisions
3. 3)  You will need to demonstrate how your product or service provides real value and is a better choice than your competitors.
4. 4)  You need to stay ‘front of mind’ so that when customers are looking to purchase, they come to your business.

Sounds like a job for marketing.

So if we accept that marketing is something all businesses need to do to survive, then what can be done when cash is in short supply?

How sensibilities have changed in advertising.

A lesson in how important it is to understand consumer attitudes, values and peer environment.

Like everything, advertising has its fashions and some examples of old ads from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s I came across this week got me thinking about just how much has changed in terms of not only design trends but more importantly the attitudes of customers.

However fondly we remember the 50’s. 60’s or 70’s there is no denying that things we find unacceptable today such as racism, sexism and homophobia were endemic and was reflected and magnified by the advertising of the day.