If you are marketing and advertising in this day and age, you are likely using content marketing. Normally, more than 30 percent of marketing budgets are committed to this form of marketing. Luckily, it is easy to outsource this task.

For just a couple pennies per word, you can get great posts and blogs written from online content providers. If you find the right company you will get great, affordable content.

Three affordable marketing tools for your business

#1 Update Your Email Marketing

With the advent of social media many businesses have moved away from email marketing. This is done within the belief that it's not at all effective. As it so happens, though, 91 percent of Americans actually desire promotional emails from businesses they do business with.

Fortunately, there are lots of email marketing platforms out there that charge as little as $20 to $50 a month. Better yet, there are free tools out there if your email list is not too large. This is an extraordinarily low expenditure that can really be worth it.

#2 Generate Facebook Ads

Facebook's intense attempts at getting local business owners to advertise may create the illusion that their ads are costly. After all, if they were cost-effective, everyone would rely on them, right? Fortunately, they are affordable.

For just a few bucks a month you can promote your most well liked content. This helps to ensure that, even if you have a small following, people find their way to you. Even better, you can target specific groups in your own community.

#3 Focus on Content Marketing

Content marketing is a crucial aspect of any modern promotional campaign. In fact, over 30 percent of marketing finances now go towards creating content. Luckily, it's easy to outsource this work.

For just $0.01 to 0.02 per word, you can get 500 word content articles written for you online. Simply find the correct company to work with, and your content can be completely affordable.

Profitable marketing does not always mean spending most of your revenue on additional promotion. So long as you are properly utilizing the right techniques, you can market your business for pennies on the dollar.

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When a business puts out content constantly, they are bound to strike gold once in awhile. This conveniently puts into view just why inbound marketing methods, which include content marketing, garner 54% more leads than traditional methods.

So why should you relegate a once-great piece of content to the history books? When small businesses put out an attention-grabbing blog post, they should basically spin it into a video.

Related: Offline Marketing Techniques that Actually Get the Job Done

How about memes that get shared in all places? They can be reposted periodically and get that attention rolling in again. Do not think of great content as a single-use entity. It paid once before, so go ahead and use it again.

Small Business Advertising and marketing Plans That Will Not Break the Bank

Recycle Great Content

Every business that engages in content marketing has intermittent great pieces of content that basically get noticed. This can explain why inbound marketing strategies,such as content marketing, net 54% more leads than their outgoing counterparts.

So if you have had a fantastic piece of content treat you right before, why not bring it back around? If a small business creates a great blog post that gets attention, why not spin the content into a great video? Did a meme acquire more attention in a day than most posts get in a week? Why not repost it every now and then to get the same attention? Great content is not remanded to a single-use existence. If it worked once, be successful again.

Related: Inexpensive Ways to Market your Small Business

Mail Out Weekly Emails

People are fickle creatures. When we're not frequently reminded of something, we'll often forget. Understanding that, send out weekly messages to your email list. When doing so, however, ensure you have something crucial that you say. Sending a ‘when will we see you again?' email is simply inappropriate. Something should always be going on.

Hold a Class or Event

There are some people who find themselves simply unlikely to walk into a small company they don't know. After all, this would change if they saw a future event or class they were interested in. Restaurants could hold cooking classes. Sporting shops could host an archery competition.

Whatever the business, there is some event that can get individuals in the door. Additionally, community announcement boards should have no problem with posted flyers for these events.

Go big or go home works in a few marketing situations, but it is not just a steadfast rule. Be certain you don't allow simple yet promising ideas fall through the cracks.

Blogs, articles, and whitepapers are some of the most powerful pieces of content but that does not mean that you should avoid other platforms. Videos are also highly effective marketing tools, and depending on your audience, you may even get value from podcasts and slide presentations. Regardless of anything else, do not neglect video which is predicted to dominate 64 percent of all marketers' strategies one day.

Here are three content marketing mistakes you should avoid

Focusing Too Much on Yourself

It seems second nature for an organization to focus on itself when marketing to others, but this should not be the key objective when it comes to content marketing. Consumers enjoy imaginative content because it is valuable. In fact, 90 percent of prospects find custom content useful. This implies marketers must focus on providing value instead of saying “Look at us, we are great!” Rather than selling your customers, try showing your customers why the product or service will make their lives easier and they, in turn, will ask to buy it.

Leaving Out Calls to Action

Just because you are trying to give appeal more than a “Buy Me” vibe in content marketing, it doesn't mean you need to neglect your sale entirely. Once you've provided the information the purchaser values, always add a call to action at the end that would interest them given the content they read. Make certain it flows smoothly, though. “Buy Now” does not flow well from informative content.

Focusing on Only One Format

The written word is a powerful thing, but it mustn't be the only tool employed in your content marketing strategy. It is fine if most of your time is spent with blogs and articles, but don't forget videos, slide presentations, podcasts, or any other form of content that your clients may be interested in. If nothing else, at least utilize video, which is expected to dominate 64 percent of marketers' strategies in the future.

Don't let little goof ups ruin your entire marketing strategy. The good news is, the most common mistakes are often possible to avoid.

Research has shown that 66 percent of Internet users have purchased a product or service as a result of email marketing messages. This absolutely should instantly nip the notion that email is worthless in the bud. Of course, if you're not seeing a positive return on your investment, the effort is useless.

When looking at your e-mail marketing metrics, even if it is only how many people read your messages, you'll be able to see if they work effectively. Confirm your email addresses, be sure to have a simple method to opt out, and ensure that your messages are worthy of reading.

Signs that will tell you it's time to change a marketing strategy

#1 – Traffic Becomes Stable

Whether it is on social media or the company website, numbers that plateau are a sure signal it is time to revise a digital marketing strategy. The amount of Internet users leaped from 738 million back in 2000 to a monstrous 3.2 billion in 2015. Over 100 million new users are added each year, and if your reach isn't continuously growing, this implies something has gone awry in your marketing strategy.

#2 – Monthly Goals are not Being Met

One of the most telling signs that your marketing strategy is not really working is simply not meeting estimated goals. Whether it is increasing sales by 1 percent every month or adding 20 new Facebook followers weekly, something is stopping you from thriving. Of course, it is possible that hopes were just set way too high, but if goals that were once being reached are actually falling behind, you need to rethink what's going on.

A business will invariably fail if major problems are not addressed. The good news is, the same is not true for marketing strategies. Small adjustments in your strategy may very well be all you need to get your business back in line. For you, what's the best marketing strategy you've ever done?

After putting together that wonderful offer that is sure to get your business to the next level, you set up your salespage and other selling materials such as emails, landing pages, thank you pages and more.

Then you send it out, and it falls flat.

What happened?

While any or all of these can play a part to be sure, frequently the answer lies in a simpler solution. Your calls to action.

What Makes a Terrific Call to Action

One of the most true things ever said about calls to action is that if you don't make it a point to tell your reader specifically what to do next, odds are what they choose won't be what you wanted.

Strive to be very direct, and use plain language, no matter the action you are asking them to take, from a free download to a sales button.

Craft a Sense of Urgency

You want your readers to act now, so creating a cloak of urgency around your product or offer is essential. If there are limited quantities, or the sale is for a limited time, state that. If the promo pricing ends soon, highlight that. Do whatever you can to induce them to act today!

Tips for Creating Awesome Calls to Action

• Use several calls to action on the page, including one “above the fold”
• Consider using numbers as they increase user attention
• Make your offer pop by contrasting colors with the rest of the page
• Inject emotion into your calls to action whenever possible
• Be sure and stress benefits and not features

If your goal is to increase conversions as I'm confident it is, you need to make sure you test out the various elements to find the things that work best for a particular offer and audience. This is especially true of your calls to action. This is where the money is!