There are many different marketing methods and ideas available to grow a business, and every business owner has their own tried, tested and preferred strategy. Marketing is one of the key ingredients for business success and comes in all shapes, sizes and prices, and contrary to what many may believe, creating effective marketing campaigns is no longer the sole domain of expensive advertising agencies and company think tanks.

The type or size of marketing program undertaken by a company is obviously relevant to the size of their advertising budget, so for large or multinational companies, the favoured option is usually a series of catchy television adverts or a nationwide poster campaign, both of which are extremely effective methods.

For smaller companies a television campaign could still be an option, but with a much smaller budget, the resulting adverts are likely to lack the impact of the more expensive productions enjoyed by larger organisations. However, a smaller budget does not necessarily mean a less successful campaign.

There are those that champion networking events as the most effective way of getting their businesses noticed and bringing in new clients. Regular targeted leaflet drops is another favoured method; newspaper ads; company names on promotional items such as pens, key rings, mouse mats and calendars; national and local radio ads; website banners - the list goes on.

Start-ups and young businesses are understandably among the most cash-strapped when it comes to marketing, but it is these entrepreneurs that through necessity usually turn out to be the most resourceful and imaginative of all marketers.

A recent example of such an imagination is the runaway success of the Million-Dollar Homepage from the brain of young student Alex Tew. Created with the aim of making enough money to pay his way through college, the idea though fairly simple in its concept is still an exceptional example of innovative marketing the like of which only happens every once in a while.

Throughout every business year, there are the quiet times. Times when productivity, sales or both take a noticeable turn for the worse and galvanise some companies into starting a marketing campaign in a belated bid to get the sales machine moving again.

What they should have realised is that marketing is not an activity to be rolled out only when it is quiet marketing should be an ongoing programme regardless of good or poor sales figures. Buyers have so many options available to them that if they are not regularly reminded of a companys presence, they will simply forget they are there. Continuous marketing should ensure that the risk of that happening is significantly reduced.

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