Marketing With No Budget
Is it even possible?
Author’s note: I’ve started a fascinating newsletter filled with practical advice on business, marketing & finance… All designed for you to read in one minute or less. Read it here for free.
“Can you sell my product?” says the client.
“What’s your budget?” you respond.
“Nothing.” says the hopeful client.
Is that even possible, you wonder. Can you market a product effectively with no budget whatsoever? Of course, everyone’s first answer would be “make it go viral”, meaning organic reach that begets more organic reach.
All viral campaigns seem to occur for free and although true in a small percentage of cases, most viral products are bought in one way or another — *Spoiler alert* through publicists, blog-networks, sponsored posts or influencer shoutouts.
Worse still, virality doesn’t always equate to sales. So if we can’t rely on organic virality, how can we market products, services or causes, for free?
Is it really possible to market for free?
The short answer is yes, but to varying degrees of success. To answer this question properly, however, you first need to ask yourself what can a marketing budget buy you? The answer is attention.
