When business is struggling, one of the first places business owners look to cut costs is in their marketing efforts.

Although many do not view marketing as an essential element, it can create immense value for a business. Fortunately, there are still ways to market your business on a tight budget, forging the need to get rid of your marketing completely.

Consider the following tips for lowering your marketing costs:

Public relations
Public relations, or PR, is an effective way of getting your business out in the community but at a low cost. Some effective PR tactics include writing articles for industry publications, starting a blog, creating an event, contacting journalists with a pitch, speaking at conferences and so on.

Consider outsourcing
Staffing an in-house marketing team is expensive. Luckily, many agencies that specialise in marketing and can offer the latest technology and expert advice at a smaller cost. Outsourcing also means you can use more marketing methods, i.e., social media, website, email etc., rather than hiring one person and expecting them to create and manage it all.

Eliminate what isn’t working
Work out your return on investment to figure out which marketing activities are bringing you success and which ones you can forgo without losing out. Often you may find you are wasting precious marketing dollars on outdated or inappropriate tactics. For example, you may have always used traditional advertising methods such as TV. With a little research, you may find your target market now use their smartphones more than they watch TV, resulting in a need for digital marketing instead.