Free marketing ideas are a dream. Although it can work for some products and companies, it generally is not the easiest offline advertising tool to make effective.

Companies do not like to spend too much money on advertising because it is one of the few things in a budget for which you cannot quantify the return. Yes, you may bring in more people in the aftermath of an advertising campaign, but how many of them were motivated by the offline marketing and how many just stumbled across the company? Because it is often difficult to make any sense of free marketing returns, and unless you really know a technique will work, it is unwise to commit too much money to it.

So what is the solution? Can you advertise for free? The answer is yes, to an extent. You don’t need to spend money advertising your company, but money makes it a lot easier. If you want to advertise your company without spending a lot of money in doing so, then you will need to have a very good strategy.

You can use word of mouth marketing, getting members of staff to sell the company to friends and family, but those friends and family may already be customers through loyalty to their loved one. You can get yourself in the public eye by participating in community events while wearing your company logo, but this is a hit-and-miss strategy at the best of times.

If you want to market yourself and avoid spending too much by doing so, then your best approach is probably to demonstrate your value to the community by offering special deals to schools and offices, showing your community spirit. In a way this might cost you money, but if it creates new business it is sound marketing.

Community events are good for offline advertising, but word of mouth is probably the most critical free marketing tool!