• Positioning. One way to market your product without spending money is to create a brand, image or position in the marketplace. This might be as simple as pricing a product on the high end to create an air of quality, or pricing it on the low end to make it seem a good value. If you limit your product to one gender, such as selling only women’s shoes, you send a message to that gender that your product or service was made especially for them. Selling golf clubs in pro shops only, instead of big box stores, tells the public that your clubs are for serious golfers.
• Price Strategy. A small business can implement a marketing plan based on a pricing strategy. One common tactic is to become known as the price leader in the market by offering lower prices than the competition on high-demand items. An opposite strategy can be used by a company wishing to be recognized as the quality leader, as higher prices may evoke an image of reliability or expert craftsmanship. A quality pricing strategy is often accompanied by a promise of delivering superior customer service.
• Distribution Strategies. A company can develop a marketing plan based on increasing its channels of distribution. A possible strategy to accomplish this is to focus on contacting all retailers and middlemen in the market in an effort to persuade them to carry a particular product. A company can also develop alternate strategies for distributing its items, such as developing a website where customers can purchase online in addition to a brick-and-mortar location
• Product Strategies. Marketing planning can include developing product strategies. One example is to expand a successful product line by adding complementary products. A company can also add to its product mix, which is the total assortment of products it sells, by focusing on adding more product lines. Another strategy is to change a product’s packaging to make it more appealing than a competitor’s or to create the perception that the product has also been improved.
• Promotional Strategies. A marketing plan can also consist of a strategy based on heavy promotional activities to spread the word about a product or business. The company may create a multipronged advertising campaign consisting of various types of media to convey a specific message. It can also develop specific promotions aimed at increasing market share. For example, the company may saturate a market with coupons to entice consumers to try its products, with the ultimate goal of getting them to switch from a competitor on a permanent basis.
• Relationship Marketing. Many companies focus on building relationships with their customers instead of always exclusive trying to sell them something (transactional marketing). Customers who love your brand more will also spend more money with your brand. Many traditional retailers have found this to be true. Walgreens has seen that customers who buy from all of their purchasing channels (store, web, mobile, etc) buy up to six times more than the average customer that only buys in their store.
• Scarcity Marketing. In some markets it’s important to control how much product is available at one time. In many cases this is done because of the difficulty of acquiring raw materials or higher quality of the product. A company may choose to make their products accessible to only a few customers. Rolls-Royce’s release of their Chinese edition car called Phantom sold quickly. While the cost of the car was higher than most cars the scarcity drove the desire and the price.
• Cause Marketing. Finding a cause both your customers and your company cares about can create magic for your business. This requires internal knowledge about what your organization cares about and who they want to help in the world. A good example of this is Toms Shoes. Instead of doing the traditional “buy one get one free” promotion, Toms built a strong customer following and reputation for giving back by giving away a free pair of shoes to someone in need for every shoe purchase made by their customers. This is an effective way to introduce new products or services into the marketplace.
• Evangelism Marketing. Develop raving fan customers who become advocates of your brand or product, and who represent the brand as if it was part of their own identity.
• Niche Marketing. Finding a niche and filling it could be described as the secret recipe for growth in over-crowded marketplaces. Take the shoe business, for example. There is a great demand for shoes in the world and so many top companies have evolved to satisfy most of the immediate shoe needs in the marketplace. The shoe space might seem crowded, but shoe manufacturing company Vans noticed an underserved customer: the skater. By focusing on this niche market Vans has developed a thriving business.
• B2B Marketing. Business-to-business marketing is a marketing practice of individuals or organizations (including commercial businesses, governments, and other institutions). It allows businesses to sell products or services to other companies or organizations that in turn resell the same products or services, use them to augment their own products or services, or use them to support their internal operations. International Business Machines is a well known B2B marketer. IBM’s business has grown because taking a very intelligent approach at marketing their products to other business and governments around the world.
• B2C Marketing. The ultimate goal of B2C marketing (business-to-consumer marketing) is to convert shoppers into buyers as aggressively and consistently as possible. B2C marketers employ merchandising activities like coupons, displays, store fronts (both real and online) and special offers to entice the target market to buy. B2C marketing campaigns are focused on a transaction, are shorter in duration, and need to capture the customer’s interest immediately. These campaigns often offer special deals, discounts, or vouchers that can be used both online and in the store.
• Personalized Marketing. Personalized marketing (also called personalization, and sometimes called one-to-one marketing) is an extreme form of product differentiation. Whereas product differentiation tries to differentiate a product from competing ones, personalization tries to make a unique product offering for each customer. Nike ID is a popular brand that has developed a strong business around this personalization marketing concept.
• Cultural Marketing. The proposition of cult marketing holds reign upon the notion that a way to convert—ahem, excite … OK, convert—consumers is by using timeless human behavioral drives found in religious cults. Heck, fellow acolytes, nothing is more permission-, buzz- and one-to-one-based than “a central ideology with a parallel social universe rich with customs.” Cult marketing is a bright spot in the list of newfangled marketing templates, one that applies timeless social-science principles in a powerful way. To the list of newfangled marketing buzzwords, let’s add the term cult.
• Humanistic Marketing. Human needs are “a state of felt deprivation.” They distinguish between physical needs (food, shelter, safety, clothing), social needs (belonging and affection), and individual needs (knowledge, self-expression). Needs are a relatively narrow set of non-cultural states of felt deprivation.
• Diversity Marketing. Develop a customized marketing plan by analyzing different customer segments based on cultural differences including tastes, expectations, beliefs, world views, and specific needs.
• Undercover Marketing. Sometimes not telling everyone everything can become a great source of buzz. Think of a movie trailer that got you very excited to go see the movie. While not showing all the aspects of the movie, the advertiser can create enough intrigue to drive viewers to want to see more.
• Cloud Marketing. In this new form of marketing, all marketing resources and assets are brought online so customers (or affiliates) can develop, modify, use, and share them. Consider how Amazon.com gets customers to buy digital books, movies, and televisions shows in a digital library that is accessible in the customer’s online account or on their digital device like their Kindle Fire.
• Alliance Marketing. A joint venture is formed between two or more businesses to pool resources in an effort to promote and sell products and services.
• Affinity Marketing. Create strategic partnerships that are mutually beneficial by forming alliances with complementary brands. Also known as partnership marketing, with this strategy, one brands generates sales while the other creates new customers and builds brand awareness.
• Brand Lover Marketing. What builds loyalty that goes beyond reason? What makes a truly great brand stand out? It has to give customers a feeling of belonging while generating strong feelings of love for its customers. Creating loyalty beyond reason requires emotional connections that generate the highest levels of love and a sense of belonging for your brand.

Not all of these strategies will be applicable for your business but you may find your perfect strategy from these that have been used by many entrepreneurs before you.