Small business owners in Arizona – and truly across the country – have been faced with trying to do more with less. If your marketing budget has been shrinking in recent months or years, you are likely trying to find ways to still spread the word about what you do, but doing it in a more affordable fashion.

As accountants we understand how to stretch a dollar for our clients while still giving them the best value for their money and that’s why we offer you these five tips to stretch your marketing budget:

1.  If your marketing efforts are showing successful, measurable results – don’t change a thing! Keep running the marketing programs that you’re involved with right now and continue to track those results. If their effectiveness levels off, then you will want to rethink your strategies.
2. Repurpose and reuse advertising materials in more than one fashion. If you have a logo or an ad or a marketing brochure in hand, use it for multiple advertising avenues. There is no reason you can’t use essentially the same message on your Facebook page as you do on your LinkedIn account as you’ve written in a blog post. Don’t reinvent the wheel, reuse what you’ve got that is working.
3. If you’re running newspaper or magazine ads or are taking advertising spots on the television or radio, ask your sales representative whether you can get a discount if you pay in advance or purchase multiple slots at a time. Look for “volume” discounts in print and radio advertising just as you’d look for these discounts if you were purchasing business cards or printed materials.
4. The message is more important than high gloss or fancy designing and heavy card stock. Many clients and potential clients are more interested in what you have to say and the services you have to offer than on the color or style of the cardstock on which your brochures are printed. Spend more time crafting your message than you do money on paper on which it’s printed.
5. DIY – if you have the time, talent and inclination, do your marketing, distribution of press releases or social media yourself. In some cases though your time is better spent in pursuit of your area of expertise and contracting your social media and marketing to another source may be the best use of your resources – only you know what works best for you.

Regardless the economy or your small business’s financial constraints, it is crucial to be in front of current and potential clients because you need to be continually marketing yourself and your business if you desire to remain successful!