5 Effective Marketing Strategies That Are NOT Social Media

Social media marketing is absolutely a powerful tool for small businesses looking to grow their consumer base – but it’s not the only option. If you are feeling burnt out or simply want to diversify your marketing efforts, here are 5 marketing strategies that are not related to social media.

Can Social Media Marketing Really Help My Small Business?

Before we talk about different marketing strategies, let’s clarify some things. We are absolutely not saying that social media marketing is bad or a waste of time. On the contrary, it can be a powerful marketing tool for small businesses – but that does not mean that it is right for YOUR small business. Finding marketing initiatives that connect with your target audience is the key to finding what works for your business when it comes to marketing. 

We also want to point out that social media marketing is NOT free. Sure, it does not cost you money, but it still costs you time and effort – things that are scarce for small businesses. There are other marketing initiatives that are free or low cost for you to consider if you are struggling with social media marketing.

1. Marketing Strategies: Sponsorships

   Sponsorships are probably one of our favorite marketing strategies. They can be cost effective, get you in front of your target audience, and they demonstrate your commitment to your community. 

How Are Sponsorships Cost Effective?

Let me guess – you’ve had a big festival or event reach out to your small business about being a sponsor, but the lowest sponsorship level started at $1000? The great thing about sponsorships is you can likely find a more budget friendly option that will get your business in front of potential customers. You just need to think outside the box.

Let’s say you’re a car insurance agent. Finding a way to sponsor the local highschool can help you get in front of new drivers looking for car insurance. These sponsorships are also likely to start at a lower price point. Our local high school has sponsorship opportunities from $250 to $2,500 for the school year. 

 Learn more about sponsorships by checking out our past article about it!

Is Community Really That Important?

For small businesses, community is your secret weapon. Your local community WANTS to see you succeed – but they need to know about you first. Finding a way to reach your niche audience is the key to marketing, and is easier to do with sponsorships. Sponsorships allow you to niche down and focus on people who are aligned with what you are sponsoring. (This only works if you are picking sponsorships that are relevant and align with your small business. Random sponsorships are not going to be effective.)

2. Marketing Strategies: Community Specific Opportunities

Since we just talked about the importance of community for small businesses, let’s discuss how community based opportunities can be powerful marketing initiatives.

Vivian and I grew up as “military brats”. Our father was in the Air Force, so we moved a lot and had a very different childhood than others. The military community is close knit and unique to others. The bases we lived on had their own gyms, schools, parks, newsletters, grocery stores, and more. It was its own ecosystem. 

Many communities have their own ecosystems. They focus on ways to promote their group and lift each other up. It is likely they have newsletters you can advertise in or other such marketing opportunities. Focusing on communities relating to your small business (or in location with your storefront) can help you grow and increase your sales.

3. Does Networking Actually Work?

I know, as a small business owner you are probably tired of hearing about networking and how it can “help your small business grow”. The truth is…it can! 

That may not be the answer you wanted, but networking is still effective – no matter how old school it may seem.

Connecting with people online is great, and helps you get in touch with businesses you may never be able to connect with otherwise. However, nothing beats meeting someone face to face. We suggest participating in at least 5 networking events a year. (That’s less than once a month, you can do it.) 

Networking is an effective marketing strategy when you remind yourself that it is a long term game. Like most marketing strategies, you will not see immediate results. However, if you stay consistent and nurture those relationships, it’s easy to build strong connections with people who can become your brand evangelists.

What is a brand evangelist? These are the people who openly share their support for your small business. They are the ones that talk about your small business to others unprompted, simply because they believe in your brand and want to share it with others.

4. Why Public Relations is Important For Your Marketing

Public relations (PR) has evolved over the years, and yet many small businesses still look at this marketing strategy in a very black and white setting.

Yes, PR includes getting on the news. If you can get on the news that’s an amazing opportunity, but your PR options have grown over the years. For our podcast, Small Owned Business (S.O.B.) Marketing, we love to invite small business owners to talk with us about their experiences with marketing their businesses and finding success. That’s PR. 

 Think about it. You are not spending money, but instead communicating (in this case being a guest on a podcast) your message to an audience you might not have had access to originally without this third party. This is just PR.

So before you write off PR as a marketing strategy for your small business, think outside the box. Can you guest star on a podcast or YouTube channel? Is there a small, local magazine you could share some news or information with? Finding a local blogger in your community and reaching out to them to write a guest piece on their blog is a great opportunity to reach a new audience – and it’s a form of PR.

Want to be in the Small Owned Business (S.O.B.) Marketing podcast? Email us at Help@TheSeasonedMarketer about your small business and we might be able to schedule an interview.

5. Marketing Strategies: Why Email Marketing Is Important

If you’ve been a part of the S.O.B. community, you know we are big proponents of email marketing. This is probably one of the most effective marketing strategies that so many businesses try to ignore. Here is a quote from Statista about the state of email marketing in 2025:

“By 2025, the number of global e-mail users is expected to reach a total of 4.6 billion – an approximate six hundred thousand increase in users, up from 4 billion in 2020. Not only that, when it comes to online advertising e-mail has seen higher click-through-rates than on social media.”

If that doesn’t convince you to give email marketing a chance, let’s talk about the TikTok ban.

“Chelsea, TikTok was unbanned. What does this have to do with email marketing?”

TikTok was technically unbanned (although it is not available to download on app stores, so if you don’t already have it – tough luck). However, for those couple of hours that it was gone, small businesses lost contact with their followers and audience on that platform. 

Email marketing gives you the opportunity to bring potential customers into your stratosphere. You are the one in charge on the backend of your email list. YOU are in charge of sending out emails and interacting with your audience. There is no way for another platform to take away your access to communicating with this audience.

Finding ways to bring people off of other platforms and into your email list can help you not only have access to them that cannot be taken away (unless they unsubscribe. Don’t be shady.), but can also help you segment your audience.

Why Should I Bother With Email Segmenting? 

When you segment your email list, you are giving your audience a more personalized experience. This in turn will help them feel more connected to your brand, and more willing to make a purchase. 

What do we mean by email segmentation?

Let’s say you’re a boutique store. You sell both candles and jewelry. Sarah comes into your store and buys candles, but does not even take a second look at your jewelry. She decides to join your email list.

Now that you have the ability to email her about promotions in your store, you could send her (and your entire email list) the same generic emails about your candles and jewelry promotions. OR, you could send her (and others who were solely interested in candles) an email solely about your candle selection and the promotions you have for these products. 

Which email is she most likely to open and click on? The one that feels personalized to what she wants. 

Side note: We understand that segmenting your email list is a lot of work. Don’t feel like you have to do everything immediately. Just know that slowly making these changes can help your conversion rate, AKA your sales.

Look. Social media marketing is a great strategy. That does NOT mean you have to do it, or that you do not have other options. If you are feeling burnt out, or simply want to diversify your marketing efforts – consider these marketing strategies.