When you own a business, marketing is your lifeline. Without it, there will be virtually no customers and in turn no revenue to keep your business in operation.

Sometimes marketing doesn’t require a complex strategy or in-depth tracking. Some of the best marketing tactics come down to simple decisions and recognizing every opportunity to promote your brand. Below are a few marketing opportunities you don’t want to miss.

Product Packaging

Products used for packaging and shipping are a perfect example of making use of every marketing opportunity. You could get a plain cardboard box to ship products. It’s simple and cheap. But for just a little bit more you can get custom printed boxes that act like a small billboard throughout the entire shipping process.

Each person that touches the package on its way to the customer will see your company name. It also helps to reinforce brand recognition with the customer who receives the package.

Business Cards

Business cards may seem like a thing of the past in our digital world, but they are still highly useful as an inexpensive marketing tool. Cards that include the company logo, tagline, color scheme, and information are wallet-size ads.

Local Radio News Station

Many consumers aren’t fans of commercials whether they’re on TV or the radio. However, many local radio news stations run off donations. During fundraising drives, the station announces the names of donors, and for business donors, they’ll continue to do so for an extended period.

This lesser-known marketing tactic is genius for several reasons.

  • It’s relatively inexpensive for offline marketing.
  • The donation counts as a tax deduction.
  • Your business is directly connected with philanthropy.

The last point is a big one these days. Corporate philanthropy is a big selling point among consumers, especially among Millennials. A recent survey found the majority of people younger than 44 years old prefer to work for and patron businesses that give back.

Car Decals and Wraps

Turn your personal vehicle into a rolling billboard with car decals and wraps. Some businesses will even pay other people to add a customized wrap to their cars as well. Basically, every time you hit the road your company branding will be in front of hundreds of drivers and pedestrians. At least traffic jams can be profitable.

Create Visual Interest With Instagram and Pinterest

Many businesses are now using Facebook and Twitter for social media marketing. But for many businesses the real powerhouse social platforms are Instagram and Pinterest.

You can create visual interest for your business by posting images and videos of products, locations, live events and anything else you can snap a picture of. Add your logo to the corner of each image and you’ll get double the benefit of each share.

Savvy marketers are using one of Instagram’s newest features to gain a much bigger following. Instagram Stories are photos and videos that only remain up for 24 hours, but stay at the top of a follower’s feed. The short timeframe is ideal for advertising a one-day-only flash sale or special limited-time contest.

Give Aways and Contests

Speaking of contests, giving away things for free is almost always a sound marketing strategy, but many businesses fail to utilize it as a tool. It’s surprising how motivated people are to connect and share information when they have the chance at winning a giveaway.

With a contest or give away you’ll gain a lot of leads and there’s a good chance the winner will be a customer for life. If cost is a concern you can always give away one of your own products or services for free.

Influencer Partnerships

These days there are bloggers and social media stars that heavily influence millions of followers. These followers are consumers that take the influencer’s recommendations seriously.

If you haven’t yet created a plan for creating influencer partnerships now’s the time. It is a golden opportunity that can cost little to no money. The trick is finding the right influencers to partner with. Spend time searching for influencers in your industry. Now check out their following to see how many people tune in and who they are. If the followers are in your target market you’ve found a potentially lucrative influencer partnership.