Alan DraperIf you are currently trying to get a new business off the ground, or if you have ever worked with a startup company, then you know that 99.9% of the time money is tight.
Startup businesses are notorious for trying to get as much as possible done on a small budget (and for good reasons). Before the emergence of digital marketing, a tight budget made communicating the business message of startups ridiculously hard. Even today, traditional marketing avenues are all but cost effective.
But with the advent of digital marketing, a startup can reach a target audience and increase its brand presence – and revenue – on a budget, without having to invest in costly traditional marketing methods.
Here is a look at how digital marketing offers a low-cost method of achieving reach during that crucial startup phase, a phase in which visibility is as important as anything else.
A Look at Traditional Marketing Costs
Here are some of the estimated costs of traditional marketing tactics:
- Local Television: Between $200 – $5,000 per spot
- Network Television: Between $80,000 and $600,000 per spot
- Radio: Approximately $70 – $250 per spot
- Direct Mail: Approximately $3,000 to send out 5,000 postcards
It is essential to note that all of the above numbers do not include production costs, which can range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars.
Looking at these numbers, there is no wonder that many startups have a hard time being able to afford these types of marketing avenues. Fortunately, with digital media there is not only a most cost-efficient way, but also a more effective way to reach your target audience.
A Look at Digital Marketing Costs
There is a reason that approximately 75% of marketers believe that content marketing is the future. Why? Because it is simply effective. Utilizing digital marketing for inbound initiatives results in over 50% more leads than traditional marketing (outbound) strategies. Plus, digital marketing is simply more affordable and allows startups and small businesses to compete with its bigger competitors.
Here is a look at the estimated costs of digital marketing:
- Blog Writing: Approximately $40 per 300 word post
- Search Engine Optimization: Approximately $1,000 per month
- Pay Per Click: Between $250 – $500 per month
- Social Media: Starting around $1,000 per month
- Social Media Ads: Starting around $100 per month
Note, that these are only estimations – there are many marketing agencies that charge significantly more than what is outlined above; however, these numbers are a lot more affordable (and typically more effective) than traditional outbound marketing efforts and therefore are ideal for startup organizations.
Despite the affordability, there are still many startups that are hesitant to spend money on digital marketing efforts. As a result, these startups are finding themselves in a hard spot – unwilling to spend money due to their tight budget and therefore having a difficult time reaching their target audience.
At the end of the day, getting customers (or investors) in the door is key to the success of any small business. In order to do that, startups have to get the most bang for their buck – while also being willing to spend money on marketing to reach their target audience.
Do you have a startup that is trying to get off the ground? If so, are you investing in your business’s success with digital marketing? If not, learn more today about the effectiveness of online, inbound marketing efforts and how these efforts lead to better chances of business success.
This article was written for Business 2 Community by Alan Draper.
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This is well done Nicole and most startups are much better off with digital marketing vs. traditional. My only pushback is in costs for a blog post In our experience for a 300-500 word blog psots costs will be 3-4X times what you quoted for anything well done: keyword integration, topics that dovetail with editorial calendar, cross linking, etc. This all takes time and then the quality of the writing has to stand out from the “herd” of the other 2-3 Billion blog posts too. Again, nice post and we are sharing.
Hi Lee,
Hire us :) We charge $0.06 per word and that includes keyword, description, article, posting, and linking. Can send you a surplus of samples to see the quality of our work (obviously this post was written by us as well).
Thanks for the comment!