Sometimes, you may not really need that much money to successfully pull off some of the greatest feats of digital marketing.

“Precision beats power & timing beats speed” as MMA champion Conor McGregor says. Digital marketing can help you get your work into the hands of users and sometimes, all you need is sharp wits, a clear objective, a vision, and dedication.

Having said that, some cash in your pocket may not hurt as well although some of the digital products that we love and use today did originate from humble beginnings. If you’re on the road to takeoff and are bootstrapping, you can take comfort in knowing that it is possible to make it big while being scrappy.

Here are four ways that you can market your digital product on a budget.

Make good content

Michael Dell has spoken about his 3C’s– Content, Commerce, and Community. You’d do wise to not underestimate the power of great content and if it’s at all possible for you to do it yourself, that would most probably be best. After all, you probably know your product/market/vision much better than anyone else and (not to mention) doing it yourself means you don’t have to pay someone else to create content for you. You could publish an article, make an interesting infographic or even a podcast. Just remember that your content should serve a function such as helping people solve their problems/pain points or enrich their lives in some way. Get creative!

Make videos

Video gets its own section. This is becoming an increasingly important component of the marketing mix. With Facebook Live and a whole host of streaming apps (alongside YouTube of course), there are so many ways that you can approach video content marketing. You could get into it by means of instructional videos, lifestyle vlogs or by sponsoring an influencer. There are also many channels and platforms that you can use such as Twitch. About 75 per cent of internet traffic is video and with video seeming to be a very efficient means of building a following, it’d be a shame to not try and explore this avenue of getting your digital product out there. You don’t necessarily need to break the bank when foraying into video. Sometimes, professional videographers can be found online at places like Fiverr. You can also DIY it and set up a youtube page yourself and begin uploading some creatively produced video content shot on your webcam or mobile phone.

Get involved in forums

Try and think outside the box a little. You can divert from the norm and instead of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, you can try getting the word about your digital product out there through other platforms like Reddit or ‘question and answer sites’ like Quora. Remember that in order to make a mark in today’s saturated markets, you have to give before you ask. This can be a great way to establish yourself and build your base. Group discussions can be very relevant to what you have to say and not only can you get a chance to market your digital product, you also may just learn a thing or two from other users (maybe even getting some constructive criticism/feedback).
Be wary about how you market your product on Reddit, though, as it has been known to have an audience that is very blunt and harsh when it comes to obvious marketing tactics. Be smart about it. Post to niches. Share only great content. Really understand what Reddit is before trying to benefit from it in terms of your product/business.

Be active on your channels

Whichever channel you decide to use, regardless of how many subscribers or followers you may have/how big your audience grows, try your level best to be active. The keyword is engagement and if you are not present, how can you expect anyone else to be? It may seem like you’re flogging a dead horse, posting when it seems nobody is listening but you never know who’s going to show up on your page or where that piece of content you’ve just posted is going to end up. What you don’t want is for someone to show up to your page/channel only to find that the page’s last update was 2 years ago (that can really leave a bad taste in the mouth). You may even lose a potential customer. If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed and are finding the process of managing all these different channels tedious, you can always try out a scheduling platform like Postfity for free. This can help you managing/consolidate different channels and make your life simpler (and saner).

*We are a UX-focused team of developers and designers. Our goal is making our products understandable at any level. The result is web and mobile applications that take minutes to learn and are easy to implement in any company, big or small. Find out more about Soda In Mind here