Help! I have no marketing budget!
- Tue, October 31 2006
- Filed under: Marketing essentials
Picking up the topic from my last post, the second most common question I receive is:
Q: Is marketing really possible with practically no marketing budget?
A: Yes, if you do it right.
A lack of funds should force us to be creative, not to complain. Most of us are never going to have fat marketing budgets. But we don’t need a glossy brochure to succeed. Don’t believe me? Then I will tell you my favorite story—the chicken story. I tell this at all my workshops, and I’ve mentioned it on my Amazon blog.
A few months back, a creative leader at a small nonprofit told me he wanted to get heavy coverage in the press and on TV, start an online donation program and just generally make a big marketing splash with almost no money. His name was David Levinger, and his organization was Feet First in Seattle, a local group advocating for a more livable, walkable community. A classic nonprofit mission: worthwhile, ambitious and very hard to talk about in catchy, relevant terms. Until David started talking about chickens. “It’s like we’re in this town where the chicken can’t cross the road,” he said. In fact, that simile was so apt that he’d bought a chicken suit. For about $125, if I recall correctly. That chicken then went around Seattle trying to cross the road.
Guess what happened. Coverage. In all media. Talk about photogenic.
I loved the story and told David a chicken suit was the best non-brochure I could imagine. But it got better with a few brainstorms - plastic eggs with a chick and message inside asking for donations. A Network for Good recurring giving program where you “click the chicken.”
The moral(s) of the story? If you are dangling by a marketing shoestring - or even if you have a healthy budget, remember:
1. When everyone is doing wristbands, brochures or whatever, don’t try to compete. You don’t have enough money to stand out in a herd. Do something entirely different, far away from the herd. Chicken eggs are different.
2. Make yourself a story that gets covered instead of buying ads. Chicken + rush hour = visual story for media.
3. Invest your marketing energy in “open-minded moments” when your audience is most likely to be thinking of your issue—like when they are about to cross the road and can’t.
4. Get a recurring online giving program going and give people a compelling reason to participate. Regular, automatic gifts mean you don’t have to spend money asking those donors for money over and over. All you have to do is thank them.
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Comments
What a great case study, Katya. But I do advocate for nonprofits to show (not tell) management that a marketing investment is a worthwhile one. More tips on this in
1) “How to Defend Your Marketing Budget” at
http://www.nancyschwartz.com/defending_marketing_budget.html
2)The Missing Conversation: Why Communications Advocacy Should Remain #1 on Your To Do List
http://www.nancyschwartz.com/strategic_communications.html
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Marketing takes on many forms both expensive and cost effective. I would say that there was probably a large return on th $125 investment. What a great story of someone thinking outside the box.
One of the best things that anyone can do on a budget of $0 is blog. They are free and can garner a considerable amount of traffic for whatever you sell.
That’s a great story and it nicely illustrates what a little creativity can do. Often, the most successful marketing strategies include the media, creativity and a small budget.
Very nice story. I guess whether you have money to spend on marketing or not, being creative will always make you stand out in a crowd. That’s what we’re all trying to do anyway - isn’t it.
Thanks for the story.
Nice story. Marketing does not always need to be expensive. Be creative.
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Marketing is one of those fields that is always a science. There is no “exact” or “perfect” way to do it. Sure if I hand out candy to kids and tell them to shop at my store there’s no guarantee that it will make me money. Seems like a good idea but in the end its all trial and error.
Real estate marketing is a lot like that. You can do all the “right” moves and still not get any clients or new listings.
LOL. Funny story. Thanks for the interesting tidbits
Therefore good marketing must be able to create a “proposition” or set of benefits for the end customer that delivers value through products or services.
All good ideas for charities looking to get themselves out there
Great post, and you are certainly right, marketing is more about creativity than anything else. i love finding ways to promote something, even though i am an engineer lol.
That is a great way to exploit the chicken who crossed the road idea. Everyone is already familiar with all the (dumb) jokes about why the chicken crossed the road. Very unique idea to save $$ on marketing. Free publicity is usually a good thing.
Many people these days have zero money for marketing. Use Viral methods such as youtube and or submit some linkbait article to Digg and other social media networks.
Very interesting history. The main thing, that on an example of this history the author completely opens that wishes to tell audiences.
The best marketing for the money I think is Pay Per Click with search engines if done properly. I will repeat it again “if done properly”
Very good story! Nicely organized with a gr8 case study. Marketing can be done with no investment, just learn SEO.
A great free way to market is pretty simple. Just tell people what you do. Gather an email list of everyone you know and spread the word. Hand out business cards (ok, that costs like $30). Follow-up and provide great customer service. I know this is pretty standard advice, but if you repeat the process day after day, your customer list will grow.
Well, I have to agree, wonderful story. And it brought back fond memories of Seattle, though my memories don’t really involve chickens. I like your end points, especially 2 and 4. This also brings to mind that all marketing and selling involve communication. And people love a good hook; people love to be hooked and reeled in. It is sort of the “candy” factor, the candy of curiosity, amazement, g-whiz or whatever. I think pure g-whiz wonderment always trumps SEO in the long run. You SEO the hell out of a site, and it can still be dull and lackluster, whereas a little bit of “wow” and P.T. Barnum will bring floods of nearly instantaneous traffic.
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and correctly carefully thought out,
personally I found here much interesting
and useful
Click the chicken, nice idea and good marketing concept.