Marketing is a very important function in any business. Its sole purpose is to bring in customers, old and new. Our notion of effective marketing campaign equates to spending plenty of money. If this is the case, no small business with limited budget will ever succeed.  The key to a great marketing campaign is not the amount of money spent, but how it effectively drives the message to its target market.

Big companies are now turning to lower budget campaigns. Instead of utilizing TV, many of them are turning to Youtube or Facebook.  Coke is a case in point. Instead of paying millions to air their commercial on TV or hiring expensive models, they created a docu-video about the homecoming of an OFW. It was a very effective campaign because it went viral and the company did not spend as much as they used to.

If you are a small business with little budget, you can utilize Social Media as a marketing strategy. To ensure the success of your campaign follow the steps below:

1. Know your target customers. You have to be able to define your target’s profile.  Know who they are; their age profile, and their socio-economic class. Having this data will make it easier for you to find and communicate to them.
2. Know what their needs and wants are. Having an understanding of your customer’s behavior will help you develop products or services your market will easily accept. Market acceptance is the key to bringing in the cash to your business. You can find out more about your market through surveys or by observing them.
3. Design a campaign. Campaign can be in the form of video or photo. Videos do not have to be too long, but make sure the quality is acceptable. You must always consider the fact that internet is the Philippines is not very fast. If you use photos, make sure that it can easily capture the attention of your audience. The goal in creating a campaign is to make an ad that is shareable. Of course, the more shares the better.
4. Disseminate. You have to spread your ad. You may use your fanpage, email, website, youtube account and forums to share your ad.  When posting online, always remember to use sites that are most viewed by your target market. Ask bloggers to have your business featured in their site. This is a good way to spread the word about what you do.

Social media can be your tool to compete against the big boys since you do not plenty of money to come up with a good campaign.  You just have to be creative and have little knowledge in marketing to execute an effective ad.