Starting a new business can often feel like a money pit. Unexpected expenses pop up out of nowhere on a frighteningly regular basis, and by the time you're ready to open the doors, there's little (if anything) left over for marketing. But, the fact of the matter is that many businesses fail simply from a lack of good marketing.

Good marketing does not always mean a heavy burden on the wallet (which more often than not remains thin for SMEs). All it takes is smart thinking and playing to your strengths. Read on to see how you can put that in action:

1. Transform customer service into a marketing weapon: For most of us, customer service is a cost center. In a bid to acquire new customers, a SME probably fails to see what a gold mine of insight a customer service department can turn into. After all, they are the closest to the customer. Ask your customers these questions and use the information to evolve and optimize quickly:

What does your customer like the most about you or your service?

• What do customers dislike about your product?
• How did they come to know about you?
• Do they prefer email or social media?
• If they had to recommend your product to friends, how would they describe it?

2. Innovate and you don't have to play by the rules: If your competitor is a biggie, chances are he already has a lion's share of your target market, distribution network and advertising mediums. Whatever you do, however diligently you optimize, at the end of day you would be playing catch up. Instead, find out opportunities to outsmart your competitor.

That is exactly what Uproar -- an online game company during the '90s -- did to compete against the number one game advertiser on the web, Sony Online Games.

The team at Uproar tried to do every possible optimization under the sun for their banner advertising. They soon realized that catching up with Sony was just not possible. That is when, out of sheer desperation, they decided to play around with "widgets" of their games. These were basically banners where users could start playing games and then eventually end up at Uproar's portal. These widget based games spread virally to over 40,000 websites. Within two years they became world leaders in online games and got acquired by Vivendi Universal in 2001.

3. Content is the king!: A SME will not always have enough dollars to match up with the bigger guys on advertising. But they can surely create useful content for their consumers.

Good content + a happy consumer = Content marketing + Word of mouth in action

Mint.com is worth a mention here. When it was launched in 2006, it was up against big competition. However it took just three years to become market leader in the personal finance niche and got acquired for $170 million.

What did it do? It built a strong strategy around content on personal finance. It continuously published focused tips, roundups, slideshows, videos and, most famously, infographics. Mint was the first company to roll out a truly impressive content strategy around infographics.

4. Make social media work for you: There is a jungle out there with billions of conversations and eyeballs. To get attention from your target audience is a continuous challenge. But the approach to get success on social media is simple: Know what your customer wants and what he does when he or she logs in. Figure out what innovative ideas you can bring to life around the consumer, keeping in mind your business objectives and budget to drive more visibility, buzz and referrals.

A case in point here is the "Pay with a selfie" campaign by Urban Hilton Weiner. This almost obscure South African retailer asked its users to take a selfie of them while trying Urban Hilton Weiner merchandise and share it with their friends using a hashtag #urbanselfie. Everyone who did that was rewarded with a $10 coupon. It was a sheer success. Leveraging the selfie bandwagon, the retailer managed to get interest and word-of-mouth marketing at almost no cost.

5. Strive to achieve organic PR: - The secret to the PR industry is that remarkable things get remarked upon. That's easier said than done, but if it clicks, you might get catapulted from obscurity to limelight in days. Talk to your customers, meet influencers and network with peers, and you should start getting a pulse of what it is that your industry is ready to devour. Do things around that. Though there is no straight answer to achieve these levels of PR, I always suggest that would-be marketers read Edward De Bono's "Lateral Thinking," and take notes, bounce off a few ideas and go for the ones you think would make a kill!

Above all, read, observe, try new things and don't be afraid to fail. It's worth it. There is no bible out there for making it in the startup world.

Have questions, comments or feedback? I would love to hear back from you.

Author Bio
Aditya Singhal is the co-founder of transtutors.com, which is a leading online tutoring resource for college students. Adi and his team are currently creating a courseware platform for MBA students. They are also launching later this year an eBay style marketplace for assignments. Adi gives back to society by contributing a portion of the company's revenue toward the education of poor students in India.