Marketing Your SME on a Budget: Practical Strategies for Growth

SME’s often face the challenge of growing their brand with limited marketing budgets. This practical workshop is designed to help business owners, entrepreneurs, and marketing managers learn how to maximize their impact without overspending. Participants will explore cost-effective marketing strategies, including leveraging social media, building strong customer relationships, creating engaging content, and using free or low-cost digital tools. Through real-world examples and hands-on exercises, attendees will discover how to identify their target audience, craft compelling messages, and prioritize the marketing activities that deliver the highest return on investment. The workshop will also cover how to measure results and adjust strategies to ensure continued growth. By the end of the session, participants will leave with actionable ideas, practical tools, and a simple marketing plan they can immediately apply to promote their SME effectively—even on a tight budget. Prioritize High-Impact, Low-Cost Channels Learn how to focus your limited budget on marketing activities that deliver the greatest return, such as social media, email marketing, partnerships, and word-of-mouth strategies Create Consistent, Valuable Content Discover how simple, authentic content can build trust, attract customers, and strengthen your brand without requiring expensive campaigns or large teams Measure What Works and Optimize Understand how to track key marketing metrics and use free or affordable tools to evaluate performance, refine your strategy, and continuously improve result Meet Your Presenter - Alison KnottAlison Knott is the founder of Alison K Consulting; a marketing consultancy with a commitment to supporting small but mighty teams who put good into the world get more visibility. Since 2014, Alison has been helping B2B teams market their nuanced, sensitive, or complex subject matter offerings. By addressing messaging, capacity, and technology simultaneously in her strategic work, she helps both for-profit and non-profit team members connect their marketing efforts to their sales pipeline and mission. As a queer business owner, Alison has an affinity for attracting and working with underrepresented folk in sectors such as mental health, executive training, life sciences, HR, community development, government relations, education, philanthropy, and sustainability. Startup Ecosystem Advisor Alison holds marketing advisory and mentor roles for national cohorts such as CQCC Out for Business, Business + Arts' artsvest program, Lab2Market (Founders Council), The Forum E-Series, Grow Now, and Digital Skills For Women+.