No matter what your target audience looks like, some marketing concepts and tools are universal. Before the Internet, before even the written word, the only way to learn something was by watching someone else do it. So here are some examples of smart marketing tactics and tips that will not only keep you technologically in the know, but keep your customers engaged as well.

Online Guerrilla Marketing

Contrary to what many SEO companies will tell you, there is a ton of opportunity to reach your audience without spending a dime. And even though it’s not nearly as easy to master this kind of marketing strategy as it is to just pay for an ad, many experts argue that it’s more effective in the long run. And it’s 100 percent free.

Instead of a big advertising budget, guerrilla marketing relies on two things: creativity and consistency. To reach your audience (and more importantly convert them to loyal customers), you need to build a rapport with your customers as well as a level of trust. How do you build trust with a large audience, most of whom you’ve never actually met in person? By consistently sharing content that your audience considers valuable and entertaining. A good rule of thumb is the 80/20 rule: 80 percent of what you post to your social media accounts should have nothing to do with selling a product.

For a great example check out LL Bean’s Facebook page. The clothing company’s posts are filled with travel tips, breathtaking photography, Labrador Retriever puppies (its signature) and inspiring quotes. Consumers buy things based off of emotion, not logic. Consistently appeal to your audience’s core values and their trust and business will be yours.

Automation Techniques

Automation can save you time, hassle and maximize your guerrilla marketing efforts. But be careful: automation tools are no substitute for a real life human being. Take Twitter, for instance. Many small businesses make the mistake of automatically sharing their Facebook content and Instagram posts to their Twitter feed. While this may seem like a time saver, you’re actually robbing your followers from seeing the content right then and there (they have to click on a link and leave Twitter to view posts like these). Furthermore, you’re telling them that it’s OK to only follow you on only one social media outlet, since all the info is the same. Having unique content on all your different social media accounts is time consuming, but it creates a rich company culture that customers respond to.

But not all automation is bad. Just look at Hootsuite’s website. The social media dashboard helps you keep up with all your different social media accounts as well as access their effectiveness. Possibly its most invaluable tool allows you to schedule your social media posts ahead of time. Not only does this save you time and keep your social media on track even if you’re on vacation in a grass hut in Bali, but it also accesses the best time of day to post different kinds of content to different social media outlets to maximize engagement.

Referral Marketing

Consumers trust their friends’ (and even strangers) opinions far more than any advertisement. Referrals and reviews give a level of confidence to consumers that can’t be bought. Just look at the success of Amway and Avon over the last few decades. Their success is proof that even before social media existed, the act of being social was a great way to build lasting relationships with customers. Two new companies that have followed that same model with incredible success are Uber and Airbnb. Uber offers referrers and referrals a $10 credit each, and Airbnb gives a $25 credit to each party. And it has worked; Uber has gained more than eight million customers in 300 cities since its launch in 2009, and Airbnb is worth an estimated 20 billion since its launch in 2008.