Marketing on a Budget in an Economic Downturn

Everyone the world over is aware of the poor state of the economy at the moment and the restrictions this places on your income and subsequently your marketing budget.

Those in marketing will tell you that now is the time to actually make a concerted effort to further promote your business ahead of the competition. Getting the message across to businesses suffering from a dramatic slow down in trade is a difficult proposition though.

Bearing this in mind how can a business promote themselves on a limited budget or nothing at all?

5 Tips on Marketing on a Budget in an Economic Downturn

• Develop a customer referral system
• Use your database of clients/customers in an email marketing campaign
• Start a blog
• Get involved in social media marketing through sites like Linked In, Xing, Facebook, Twitter etc.
• Join a local business club and network til you drop

Now is the time to really promote your business and get ahead of the competition. Have you used any of the above techniques? How did you get on?

Or do you have other suggestions that worked for you? I'd like to hear about them.