Tips for companies without time for marketing

Time is one of the most common reasons many small businesses aren't able to reach their full potential. Companies can have all the resources necessary, but with time being against those who can't fully explore marketing possibilities, it can cost the business money.

Businesses are beginning to explore crowdsourcing, which is proving to a be a great way to expand small business marketing when time is working against a company.

Crowdsourcing allows companies to jumpstart their social media and content marketing efforts while extending the reach of their brand and making their company more well-known through word-of-mouth marketing.

According to Terra.com, three distinct categories of crowdsourcing initiatives for marketing include content marketing, social media marketing and crowdsourcing for design. These three categories will help to spread a company's message while expanding the brand and increasing a business' growth.

The source reported that one of the easiest ways to leverage the reach of a crowd is through content marketing, which brands like The Huffington Post and American Express OPEN Forum used to grow exponentially. Both companies extended invites to experts in the industry to produce content for the businesses for free, offering free links back to their own sites and the chance to have their company and name appear in front of a larger audience that it wouldn't normally reach.

Crowdsourcing for social media marketing is also thought to be a helpful resource in expanding a company's reach. Inviting customer to pin content on their Pinterest boards, share pictures and videos through Facebook pages and utilizing Twitter to send out mass messages are some of the social media marketing tools businesses are beginning to use increasingly.

Crowdsourcing for design has also become an important marketing tool. Entrepreneurs can use websites such as Crowdspring or 99designs to get submissions from artists on a variety of different expertise levels. Instead of paying thousands for a new logo, these websites and others seek out a variety of artists who will do the design based on the amount of success a business has following the release of the new logo.

Automaker Volvo recently launched a crowdsourcing initiative also in order to create new ideas for more personalized videos. The company introduced projects through Facebook by utilizing crowdsourcing for social media marketing.