The term cost-effective is a highly relative term. What may be cost-effective to you may not be cost-effective to me. Everything depends on the profits a company makes, or the initial capital that a company has to start the business. If the capital is high, advertising strategies can ignore the cost of advertising to some extent. However, to a new business with average capital, cost-effective advertising should be such that, if not profits, at least the equilibrium between profits and losses should be maintained. Since the biggies can afford almost anything, here we'll be talking about cost-effective advertising ideas for small and new businesses. Cost-Effective Advertising Techniques for Your Business Word of Mouth Word of mouth publicity can be used as a great advertising idea for a business that is new, and with an average start up capital. This form of advertising is highly misunderstood in the world today, and the advantages greatly underestimated. There is a reason why a person with good charisma has more chances of running a business profitably. Talk about your business in all the social circles you belong to, and also to people who you think might prove to be of help. Start visiting social events that concern the sector you belong to, and don't forget to distribute your card. Social Networking Social networking is one of the best advertising tools today, as it's the only tool which is free and which makes you reach out to so many people at once that too, the world over. Start a page of your business on each of the social networking sites you know and you can also find out the ones that are mostly used. Facebook for one, is a social networking website that can be of great help, twitter being another one. You can have discussions and do business from the Internet also. Today, even the big brands such as Gucci and Maybelline are making optimum use of this tool to their benefit. Pamphlets The next best option is distribution of pamphlets or handouts. This is one of the oldest cost-effective advertising ideas I can think of for you. Print a few pamphlets and make them look great. Distribute these pamphlets at all the places that attract a lot of crowd. Grocery stores, malls, cinemas are a few options you can benefit from. You can also contact your local newspaper and ask them to distribute one pamphlet with each newspaper they sell. They might charge you for this but you'll be probably reaching out to the entire town in just one day, right to their doorstep. Crowd Targeting This is another common cost-effective advertising idea that you can surely benefit from. Print a few posters of your business and if it's cost-effective, a few standees too. Put these up at all the places that might get you business. For example, if I opened up a new DVD rental showroom, I would put these up at cinemas, auditoriums and outside college campuses. By doing this, I'm attracting the crowd that is most helpful for my business. Similarly, if I opened up a garage, I would put these up outside offices and restaurants and at fuel stations too. You can publish advertisements in magazines that belong to the same niche as your business after checking the cost-effectiveness. Offers & Discounts After reading all these ideas, there is just one more thing that you have to keep in mind to make them more profitable. When you advertise, you have to advertise for offers and discounts as well. Initially, the quality of your products or services is not known which makes it necessary for us to come up with something more, that would attract the crowd to your business. Memberships, if possible can be declared free initially. Now that you know these cost-effective advertising ideas, you can implement a few of them when you're forming your advertising and marketing strategies. Cheap advertising ideas might just gain you a lot of profits if executed properly. It is understood that advertising determines a huge share of your profits, but to invest a huge share of your capital in the same is not advisable. The least you should look for is maintaining the equilibrium so that at least you're not in a loss.