Limited marketing budgets make marketers think creatively to get the most out of every cent. And those who see room for business growth rather than constraint create outstanding low-budget advertising campaigns.

Surprisingly, many budget-friendly marketing ideas deliver a better return on investment than those that cost top dollar.

The proof follows.

I spoke to global experts and searched the web from top to bottom to give you a list of 20+ low-budget advertising examples and tips on how to replicate them.

Low-Budget Marketing Campaign Ideas

Understand your customer through and through to create highly-converting ads.

I know, it may sound quite obvious, but pinpointing your customers’ deepest desires or fears isn’t an easy feat. That was the case for the marketing agency Modeva.

They were tasked with optimizing existing Facebook Ads for Cashback Visa. The ads looked slick but produced almost nothing. After listening to the partners’ pain points, Modeva discovered the sticking point: Danish shop owners hated paying upfront for marketing.

Then, Modeva rebuilt the pitch around one blunt promise: “250,000 buying Danes — pay only if it works (no cure, no pay).”

“No studio shoot, just a 15-second phone video of a café owner explaining how Cashback filled empty tables, plus a static quote card. We tightened targeting to people who run a Business Page or list ‘owner/partner’ in their profile,” shares Victor André Enselmann, founder of Modeva.

“Two ad sets — video for reach, static for in-platform lead forms — ran on DKK 200/day (≈ $3,500 total over 4 weeks). We never touched the landing page,” continues Enselmann.

He also shared creatives to show how simple videos with the right messages can yield big results.

Speaking of the numbers, the campaign brought about:

• A dropped cost-per-lead (CPL) to one-sixth of the previous amount.
• ~200 qualified leads per month, many converting into long-term partnerships.

Enselmann concludes, “Don’t guess what matters to your audience. Go talk to them! And afterward, show, don’t tell.”

Pitch to global and local media outlets.

Getting press coverage for product releases and campaign launches is a good way to generate buzz at no cost. However, nailing this marketing channel will take a few press releases that will never be published.

But don’t feel discouraged! Here are five proven steps I personally use to get my articles published:

1. Think of a newsworthy story. It can be unique research, an op-ed, or a story with an element of prominence.
2. Go through media outlets and look for a pattern of published press releases. Try replicating them, but don’t copy.
3. Find relevant journalists who cover your topic. Use Prowly or BuzzStream to find their verified contacts.
4. Get straight to the point and offer a unique angle. Explain in your email Who, What, When, Where, and Why? and buff it up with a unique perspective. Make your story compelling and avoid just sharing plain technical news.
5. Engage with journalists on X or LinkedIn. Get yourself on their radar so they develop an interest in you and recognize you amidst hundreds of pitches.

Here’s an example of a simple pitch that got covered:

Source

The story was published in dozens of reputable sources, including The New York Times and CNBC.

Source

Use email marketing for consistently high ROI.

I think it’s noteworthy that 43% of B2B SaaS marketers cite email as delivering the highest ROI. The same study reported that 53% of small business owners in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia used email marketing as the most frequent strategy for finding new and retaining repeat customers.

With such a great track record, I highly recommend you implement email marketing to reach audiences if you’re on a tight budget.

But be mindful of your newsletters, product embeds, and audience segments receiving a given offer. Well-segmented emails drive 30% more opens and 50% more click-throughs than unsegmented ones.

Learn your audience preferences and behaviors and craft emails with tailored content and product offers.

I recently received a highly targeted email where marketers identified my lower back problems, perhaps by analyzing my browsing behavior on their website. The offer included a great discount and a video teaser of the program.

It took them probably five newsletters until I finally made a purchase. But what I think is great about email marketing is that you can send the same message to hundreds of prospective customers with a common behavioral pattern and zero dollars spent on advertising.

Learn how to generate buzz on social media.

Social media marketing has grown into an unstoppable selling machine for retail, ecommerce, non-profits, and even app advertising. Most marketers agree (69%) that more shopping will happen directly on social media than on brand websites or third-party marketplaces, according to our 2025 Social Media Trends Report.

Speaking of purchases, the same study discovered that 25% of consumers have bought products directly from social media in the past three months​.

There are a few surefire ways to attract new customers through social media:

• Launch an advertising campaign.
• Collaborate with influencers.
• Create viral videos.
• Post regularly on social media.

But to make any of it work, you have to create content that taps into your audience’s pain points.

For example, Luvly, an app for face yoga, has an amazing social media marketing plan where they create daily short videos of their training that deal with a specific problem (see below). Luvly posts them in Stories and Reels. This way, they nurture followers and attract new ones.

Leverage user-generated content.

Encourage your customers to create and share content related to your brand. User-generated content (UGC) not only promotes your brand but also builds trust and credibility.

Take a look at Kustceramics’ UGC example. Students share their ceramic art on their profiles, and the school picks them up and boosts them in their Stories. If you’re somewhat in love with DIY, you’ll definitely ask your friend about the class.

Tory Bullock, YouTube marketing manager at HubSpot, says, “As brands look for new ways to extend their reach in a rapidly growing digital space, UGC is becoming a more viable and cost-effective marketing strategy than ever… People trust people.”

Run contests, social media challenges, or ask for testimonials and reviews to encourage user-generated content creation. I like his approach because it is not only cost-effective but also helps in building a strong community around your brand.

Use AI-powered, affordable marketing tools to optimize campaign work.

Get started with HubSpot’s Campaign Assistant

Software comes in handy when you’re running campaigns on a tight budget. Tools like HubSpot’s Campaign Assistant can help you generate content for campaigns ranging from emails to landing pages under one roof.

For example, I took on the role of owner at a sustainable travel bag store and created different forms of ads to celebrate Earth Month.

I started by drafting a newsletter.

Campaign Assistant prompted me to summarize the campaign, list key factors people should know about, decide on a call-to-action, and choose a writing style. In seconds, I got ready-to-use copy and customizable email modules.

The whole process took me about 10-15 minutes, including figuring out the tool. Honestly, I was quite impressed with the quality of the copy, which needed just a few minor edits. I next went to generate Google Ads and Facebook Ads copy suggestions, and received amazing results in one click.

Check it out for yourself.

Another budget-friendly marketing tool is HubSpot’s AI Content Writer, which helps you generate any copy in a pinch. While Campaign Assistant is designed specifically for campaigns, AI Content Writer casts a wider net. I recommend playing around with both tools.

AI software is not the only tool at your disposal. You can also leverage HubSpot’s Branding Kit, which contains free templates.

Get comfortable with hosting online events.

In-person events are often costly. Virtual events, on the other hand, are a smart and cost-effective way to get people to interact with your brand on a personal level.

“The dirty little secret of in-person events is you’re all competing for the biggest number — but the bigger the number, the worse the experience for the attendees,” said Bob Bejan, Microsoft’s VP of global events, in a past interview with HubSpot.

“The power and effectiveness of virtual events is just so convincing from a data perspective that it’s hard to imagine they’re ever going away,” Bejan explained. “Virtual events in every dimension are so much more effective than in-person events.”

So, what should you host to make a virtual event your lead generation machine?

I strongly recommend trying webinars (B2B) and live streams (B2C). The latter often happens on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, or Amazon Live.

Surveyed marketers confirmed high conversion rates between 9% and 30% after customers had attended live streams. In comparison, the usual conversion rates for ecommerce sites are 2-3%.

Create viral videos and share them across social media.

Did you know that 37% of TikTok users in the United States made purchases either through links on the app or directly on TikTok?

Since B2C purchases are widely made through social media or largely influenced by it in the user journey, you’ve got to get comfortable with shooting 30-second videos for TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Reels, etc.

I’ve been there, too.

I was skeptical about this tactic, but a few years ago, I was deeply into power yoga and even got certified as a trainer. I wanted to test it as my side gig for soul, and I enrolled in a TikTok Viral course to learn how to get free traffic.

To my surprise, I went viral with my second video filmed during the course. And I got 10 paid training sessions right after that.

What’s more, I didn’t have a fancy camera or settings. I used my iPhone 14 and my living room with no additional light. Authenticity worked out for me.

Note: Virality doesn’t come by chance. You’ve got to follow a set of rules to make your video viral — from the scenario to different posting times and an initial engagement boost.

I’m dropping a good read on TikTok viral videos here so you can replicate the strategy.

Take your local business onto Google Maps.

Every time I need a new hairdresser, a restaurant, a flower shop, or any other imaginable service, I open Google Maps.

It’s so convenient to find new businesses there because they all have photos, reviews, phone numbers, and hours, in addition to the location.

Moreover, 97% of people search online to find nearby stores, with 28% of those local searches ending in a purchase.

So, Google My Business (or Google Business Profile) is your bare minimum for low-budget marketing campaigns for local businesses.

How to get started?

My colleague Aja Frost wrote an extensive guide on how to market on GMB that I definitely recommend reading.

Collaborate with micro-influencers to give your products a boost.

According to our research, 21% of social media users have made a social media purchase influenced by influencer content in the past three months.

This, in my opinion, is the tactic you can’t miss out on. It works with both B2C and B2B at a relatively low cost.

Let’s go through a case study.

My friend and a senior paid ads marketing specialist, Andrii Kolmykov from Quarks Tech, launched a series of barter-based collaborations with micro-influencers for his client, a personal climate products store.

The goal was to amplify both paid and organic traffic performance.

He shares, “We ran a campaign on Instagram, selecting creators with smaller (10k–50k followers) but highly engaged and loyal audiences. By offering free products in exchange for authentic content, we were able to drive a noticeable lift in conversions from paid campaigns and to improve organic visibility. The strategy also led to a significant boost in branded search traffic during seasonal peaks — without any additional media spend.”

On the screenshot below, you can see a high lift in purchases during the month the campaign was active.

For influencer campaigns, you can also use discounts, free subscriptions, or other giveaways.

Recommended read: How to Master Instagram Influencer Marketing for Your Brand

Launch an employee advocacy campaign.

Employees’ networks are, on average, 10 times larger than a company’s follower base. Content shared by employees receives 2x the click-through rate compared to the same content shared by the company, explained a LinkedIn study.

Translation: It’s a goldmine of opportunities to reach new audiences for free if you work in B2B.

In fact, Lemlist made everyone on its team post on social media to attract new customers. It worked magic with branded traffic and sales grew x10+, as the founder, Guillaume Moubeche, shared in his book The $150M Secret.

To make this tactic work for your company, read through LinkedIn’s ebook: “How to Maximize Reach and Engagement by Empowering Employees to Share Content.”

Go offline with your advertising.

While it may sound expensive, it’s not when done right. It’s as simple as brainstorming local businesses you can partner with and special offers to encourage people to stop by your business.

For example, say I’m a local sourdough bakery and my goal is to increase foot traffic during slower weekends.

What can I do to go analog?

First, I’d think about non-competing local partners, like local libraries, yoga studios, coworking spaces, etc. Then, I’d print flyers with a QR code for a free coffee when paired with any pastry before 10 AM on weekends.

I could use Canva for a quick design or the Reve AI image generator to make this part free.

Just look at what Reve created with a single prompt:

I would deliver flyers myself to create an emotional bond with partnering business owners or staff. This way, they would be more likely to advertise to their clients.

Plus, I could also host a free Saturday masterclass on sourdough starters in my shop and offer a discount on pastries to every cup of coffee bought.

Host small niche gatherings, and then grow.

In his best-selling book on the importance of building your network, Never Eat Alone, Keith Ferrazzi emphasizes the ultimate power of hosting intimate, niche gatherings as a strategic, low-budget marketing tactic to build authentic relationships and expand one’s network.

Why do you need it?

It opens doors to new clients for free.

All you have to do is find a place and spread the word about your event — on your social media, through your friends and acquaintances, etc.

The gathering can be in the form of dinner or breakfast, but with limited seats, so people must book in advance by reaching out to your assistant. I suggest making it free to bring in more people.

Introduce a referral program.

“Invite your friend and get discounts,” “Earn 15% from each referral,” and the like are widespread, and for good reason. Customers who discover a brand through word-of-mouth are 31%–57% more likely to introduce others, as we found out.

So if you haven’t launched it yet, start strategizing your referral program.

Even giants like Payoneer don’t hesitate to remind me here and there to recommend Payoneer to my circles and get quite a sound reward.

Make friends with social selling.

Whether you are B2C or B2B, you will benefit from social selling a ton. For instance, I quit a full-time job and started as a freelance marketing and sales writer three years ago. I never promoted my services anywhere except for LinkedIn.

With no real advertising but with thoughtful and practical content, I quickly grew a relevant following of over 4,000 people and received more than 50 leads. Obviously, I didn’t have the capacity to work with even 10%, so I slowed down on social media, but leads are still coming my way through referrals or natively.

For social selling, I’ve found that working with genuine content is most effective. For example:

• Practical tips on topics you’re an expert in.
• Expert round-ups.
• Your findings and highlights.
• Your behind-the-scenes life.
• Success and failure stories.
• Customer testimonials.

The format can be anything from text-based copies to carousels to videos. Experiment to discover what appeals most to your audience.

Become a podcast guest.

Reach out to podcasters in your niche and offer to be a guest, or find a podcast booker agency to help you get started.

Being heard on multiple podcasts can help you tap into a new audience and build your authority.

For example, Podcast Bookers has helped authors become bestsellers, siding companies get new customers, and SEO companies see an uptick in traffic and rankings.

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Partner with complementary businesses.

Collaborate with businesses that offer complementary products or services to expand your reach.

When I worked for Serpstat, I was in charge of any sort of partnership. A few strategies brought in especially great results:

• A newsletter exchange, where your partner allocates a whole issue to tell all about your product, and you do the same for them.
• Discounts and free trials for internet marketing schools.
• Guest post exchange with exclusive deals for the readers.

Here are a few other tactics that worked — or I wish we had used sooner:

• Co-branded webinars or workshops.
• Social media shoutouts.
• Lead magnet bundles. Combine your ebook, checklist, or template with your partner’s resource into one bundle. Each brand promotes it.

Showcase behind-the-scenes content.

Give your audience a glimpse into your business operations, company culture, or product development process.

I found a great example of this tactic in action from a wooden furniture firm.

Ben&Manu, woodworkers from France, create incomparable pieces of furniture with wood carving on them. All the designs look so marvelous that you can’t believe they’re handmade.

But then you see behind-the-scenes Reels, and start dreaming of fortunes you’d save to own that coffee table or a bookshelf.

Start a “Build in Public” on LinkedIn or Medium.

Who doesn’t love stories? We all do, whether it’s business or personal.

So, another great and free advertising strategy is “Build-in-Public.”

Document your journey as a maker or business owner. Share your ups and downs and your lessons. Authentic storytelling builds followers and future customers. That was the case with Lemlist, which basically turned the company from $0 to a $150M business.

They even made a show out of funding investors and declining all the following offers.

I urge you to watch an interview with its cofounder, Guillaume Moubeche, to replicate his “Build-in-Public” method.

Run a social media takeover.

Partner with another business or influencer to take over each other’s social media accounts for a day and expose your brand to a wider audience.

You can also run a livestream with your partner, borrow a few hours in Stories, or some similar exchange.

One example I remember is Goop, a wellness brand, handing over its account to Dr. Shauna Shapiro for a live “pendulate” meditation.

Low-Budget Marketing Campaign Tips

Whichever strategies you choose to try out from above, I recommend keeping these tips in mind to see success.

Be realistic.

When you have few resources, one of the worst things you can do is have unachievable expectations. You’ll have to scale them down and be realistic.

“If you’re working with a tight budget, make sure that you have clear, measurable KPIs and stop yourself from thinking of ways to grow the product from a paid perspective outside of the budget you have to spend,” says Dréa Hudson, head of new media growth at HubSpot.

She adds that this can be challenging if you’re an ideas-first person, but also a lesson in prioritizing time, resources, energy, and budget.

“Get creative with your earned and owned media, pull together a clear, concise value proposition that’s easy to share, highlighting what you’re able to offer any partner that can help you reach your goals,” Hudson explains.

Check out these budget templates to make realistic and achievable plans.

Embrace collaboration.

No one should operate in a silo — it takes teamwork to run a successful campaign.

“Identify teams you’d like to work with within your company, then brainstorm or pitch mutually beneficial collaborations that can align your work around a unified goal,” says Pam Bump, content growth team manager at HubSpot. “If your team creates text-based blog content or marketing emails, but you need videos for your campaign to work, offer the video team content promotion in your text-based content if they create media related to your campaign topic.”

She adds that cross-team collaboration is beneficial for all parties involved.

“This way, you get the content you need to drive time on page or video search, and they benefit from the views, awareness, and potential channel subscriptions that come with promotion in your content,” Bump concludes.

Outsmart, not outspend.

When you’re on a budget, your best bet is to outsmart the competition.

“Look for creative efficiencies by producing assets in waves or batches. And for brand media, find ways to outsmart, not outspend, your competition with memorable, contextual ad placements to drive outsized impact,” says Callie Wilkinson, principal brand marketing manager at HubSpot.

Get started with low-budget marketing campaigns.

You don’t need to be extremely well-funded to run a successful marketing campaign. Choose creativity over paid ads.

I did that to grow my personal brand and close contracts — and I did the same for the companies I worked for. Just like dozens of other businesses in this article.

I’d boil down getting started with budget-friendly marketing to:

• A deep understanding of your audience.
• The right AI-powered tools to cut costs on creating text and media assets.

So, once you’re done with reading, take time, and come back to the post with your notebook. Start thinking of how one or more examples can be leveraged for your company.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in November 2023 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.