Marketing a Business with a Small Budget
Starting a business is extremely expensive when you have to buy ingredients, packing material, site expenses, etc. Another aspect of becoming an entrepreneur and having a beginner company is marketing the merchandise which can also be pricey. After all expenses are calculated, your goal is to make more money FROM your business than what you’re investing IN it. When starting a company, you might miscalculate and not make much money or any at all. That is where you learn and find new ways to do more without draining your account. There is a category in which you can spend less money in order to keep money in your pocket.
As a marketing and consulting company, we’ve found different tools that will allow you to market products on a low budget. Many new companies believe they need to invest a vast amount of money into marketing campaigns which is understandable considering that catching the consumers eye is the priority of any company and having a thorough campaign is the way to go. In actuality, when marketing a company and forming a campaign, we’ve learned that a business can have multiple video or photo campaigns on a small budget. We have conducted multiple campaigns come high priced or others low priced. We decided to inform other businesses about ways to market on low budgets and ways we utilize such.
Every year companies release holiday campaigns such as recent advertisements broadcasted on
multiple platforms pertaining to Thanksgiving. If you are a small business, a technique that we have found businesses should implement is to avoid creating content and marketing campaigns pertaining to holidays. Due to holidays being celebrated once a year, like Christmas, making seasonal content is better. This content would specifically be developing themed campaigns related to the four seasons: Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer.
In 2020, we conducted a winter-themed campaign for skincare and beauty brand, Noire Beaute’ named Winter Noireland. In both of the photos you see not he left and right, we used plastic snowflakes to relay the winter message. Fortunately, we were able to purchase the light counterfeit snowflakes for a low price from an accessible store. Also, for our signed model on the right photo she has earrings in the shape of snowflakes continuing the winter theme while
holding the marketed product. The photos are extravagant, but maintains a recurring message with the theme being identified easily. Instead of creating campaigns centered around holidays businesses can do seasons which correspond with holidays as well. That can save money, time, and use the campaign photos throughout the respective season.
Props. They’re valuable items that are present in photo or video campaigns, but are not companies products or the item they are marketing. They’re used to bring attention to the actual product and subject of the campaign. In some cases, props are expensive costing a large sum of money though they are not the point of the advertisement. Since the items are props, they can be bought for low prices from the clearance aisle in a store. It is vital that the props match the color palette or stay in the theme of the product being promoted.
Another technique is taking advantage of daylight and nightlight. Knowing how this works can help prevent the need to buy a ring light or go into a setting with dark surroundings. Instead, money can be saved from buying expensive equipment and the light outside can be adapted to photos. To add on, you can control the amount of brightness you want in a photo by using windows that would cast a shadow, but add more to the campaign photoshoot or film.
The photo above is not part of a campaign, but part of a collage of pictures taken by a photographer of ours for candle company, Warm Embers Candle Co. As a company signed with our firm, we represent and market their products including photographing pictures of their products for the company’s website. In order to glam up the photo, we used props in the form of flowers to add an accent to it. With the dual glow from the candle lights, the flowers colors are brightening with soft reflections showing in the camera. The photos are beautiful, but as a marketing firm we have learned to promote and keep personal photos on a low budget.
On the right is a photo from a photoshoot campaign we conducted this year for candle company, Unlax Candles. With a short budget, we utilized the morning light by taking multiple photos
outside directly in the light or behind closed doors. The light was able to be cast on the products
through windows with a reflection on the walls behind the marketed product and props. We made sure to have props that matched and promoted a color theme with even the models hand brightening the photo with the contrast of her skin tone. The props in the photo were bought for a low price and can be purchased from retail stores or on e-commerce platforms.
The background of any film or photoshoot matters because that is a marketing tool that helps a
product pop due to the contrast. That is why backdrops are an amazing instrument we've utilized on more than one occasion to market a small company for a budgeted price. Due to not being utilized on a small scale, a backdrop is the background of a photo that is not authentic. Instead of it being a different location and the locations settings being used in a photo, it is a form of fabric that contains a design or specific color. I'd often put behind the product in order to not take center stage, but assist the product in doing such. Not only does this technique relieve you of the need to move locations, but renting out locations for a large sum of money, if need be, can be ignored as well.
In 2020, we held multiple marketing campaigns for candle company J’Luxe Scents & Co. The two photos on the right and left are from separate campaigns we did for the company. One photoshoot held a Halloween theme and the other was to capture a soft, spring aesthetic. We utilized the dark concept for Halloween and we used a black backdrop. It made the product's label and prop, the Starburst, become the center of attention with colors contrasting. On the right is a photo from the Spring campaign with a pink backdrop which invokes a contrasting aura due to the bright pink. With the backdrops, a professional photographer of ours was able to stay in the location of her own home. We were able to help the company save money while conducting a campaign in full throttle.
Similar to props and backdrops, fabrics are usually a used factor in photoshoots for marketing
in order to add an attractive essence to the photo. Usually fabric can brought for significantly low prices from retail or fabric stores which we utilize often when promoting companies. Since they are easily accessible, fabrics can be found in clearance aisles saving a company a sum of money when marketing.
As a marketing company, we are regularly promoting businesses with the products taking front and center. In the photo above on the left we prove just that with the red fabric being used as a backdrop. As said before, we don't always conduct campaigns to market a company, but to capture multiple photos that can be used the brand's website. The photo is one of the many photos we took for candle company, Rosie, that is signed to our firm. The red fabric was able to add a tone of elegance without an abundance of money being spent.
Social media plays a significant role in marketing companies in today’s society. With a short budget, we utilized the morning light by taking multiple photos outside directly in the light or behind closed doors. The light was casted on the products through windows with a reflection on the walls behind the marketed product and props. We made sure to have props that matched and promoted a color theme with the model's hand brightening the photo with the contrast of her skin tone. The props in the photo were bought for a low price and can be purchased from
retail stores or on e-commerce platforms. DIY projects allow you to be creative while spending less money on materials. Using this technique will also let viewers see the before and after process while allows you to make more content for behind the scenes posts. You can use this for regular video content or Reels!
An application that is often useful in developing ideas for photography in content creation purposes is Pinterest. This is a non-expense platform that allows you o understand your ideas and visuals better with he help of other content not he platform. With users often going on the site to seek ideas or view the amazing visuals, a business may be able to increase their amount of consumers without spending a cent.
Our goal at KRX Firm is to build your brand's identity and also have consumers resonate with your company with representation present during campaigns and quality photos. At any company you want to put less money into the business and make a difference in sales. That is why we produced this blog detailing difference techniques for companies to utilize. We decided to include how we have made use of such methods during campaigns or simply promoting companies we represent on small budgets.
You can view campaigns we have done for our represented companies by clicking the button below or on our Instagram.