Personally, I hate most commercials. They annoy me to no end (I’m looking at you Jack in the Box, pretty much any bank and At&T), aren’t that clever and some are just downright ridiculous.

But, every once in a while, a company will put out a beaming ray of hope – a commercial that makes me laugh or pay attention! Just recently, Dodge did just that. Their new Challenger commercial is phenomenal in so many ways. Not only is it beautiful in it’s cinematography, but the messaging, the imagery, everything about it was perfect. They captured the feeling of American better than I have ever seen – and did it with class and a bit of humor. I loved it.

What is your favorite ad campaign running right now?

Marketing itself is free – word of mouth, meeting new people, talking about what you do – there is no inherent cost. But, creating a strong marketing strategy, tools you can use and creative you can hand out does have a cost. And that cost varies greatly depending on who you are, how you plan to market and what audience you are reaching.

Small companies with targeted audiences can get away with smaller marketing budgets because their audience is usually easier to reach in less expensive ways. Whereas a company like Coca Cola wouldn’t survive without a huge marketing budget because their audience is, well, everyone!

So, as the small business owner with a small marketing budget, what tools and techniques can you use to optimize the money you can spend?

1. Brand yourself the right way. Having a strong branding and good marketing pieces to back you up will make everything easier and more successful, which leads to a return on your investment
2. Use twitter, facebook, and your blog. Online marketing is much less expensive than traditional marketing strategies. Using these tools effectively can create conversation which enables your marketing to be more effective.
3. Attend networking events. These events are usually $5-10 to attend, but can generate some serious business. If you combine attending these with a strong social media strategy, you will already have small introductions to many of the attendees.
4. Ask for referrals. Great clients are hard to find, but when you do, make sure you really appreciate them. And, when they are at their happiest after a project, as for them to pass your name along! Free word of mouth from someone else.
5. Sponsorships. Find local events that your ideal audience will be attending and create something memorable as a sponsorship. Give away something that is valuable, but doesn’t have a high out of pocket cost. Time is always a good one…

If you can find ways to use your money more effectively in marketing, you will soon realize you have a larger budget and more to spend on the tools that work.

What other ways can you market on a budget?

AdWeek is a great resource for anyone in marketing. They cover what is going on in the industries, new trends, new successes and new failures. They are also great for some articles that make you laugh and nod your head. This was an article that I had bookmarked a couple months ago, and just stumbled upon again – The 5 worst (and best) ad songs of all time. The judges for this one are dead on.

In the worst category: The Wendy’s one drives me the most crazy.

In the best: I definitely loved the old school Nike Ad.

Take a look, remember the ads, and let us know which ones you like (or can’t stand)