Archive for the ‘Small Business’ Category

Small businesses are beloved by so many as an American staple. Small companies have the unique opportunity to connect with consumers personally, developing trust and friendship. 

However, for small businesses owners – especially during the pandemic – size can become a struggle. With the stress of financials, marketing budgets can often get lost in the shuffle. 

Below are ten low-cost marketing ideas for your small business. 

1. Instagram Reels

The short-form video has been taking over the internet. With the crazy virality of TikTok, Instagram made its video-sharing feature embedded into the app – Reels. 

Reels are a quick and easy way to engage with more users than usual. The engagement has little to do with your number of followers, allowing your brand to get a thousand views on a Reel no matter your follower count. 

If you use a trending sound and utilize text features, your Reel is sure to increase traffic. 

2. Google My Business 

With no cost, creating a Google Business will allow potential customers to find your business with ease – especially if you have a physical location. 

When local users google your services, your business can appear at the top of their page directly linked to Google maps. Your team can also improve ranking order by optimizing your Google page on the backend. 

3. LinkedIn

While social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok have usurped popularity, LinkedIn is still a low-cost necessity for businesses. 

LinkedIn goes beyond connections, use the platform to communicate with other brands, post blogs, and achievements, and get to know your target audience in community groups. 

Make sure your LinkedIn page represents your business well by utilizing the platform’s tools. 

4. Hashtags

Hashtags may seem like a no-brainer, but while many understand the power of hashtags, few know how to use them efficiently. 

Hashtag preferences are ever-changing and depend on the social media platform. Researching the preferred number, type, and specific tags is essential to increasing website traffic. 

Using websites like Hashtagify can assist your team in finding the best ways to tag. 

5. SEO

Search Engine Optimization determines where your website ranks in Google searches. 

Utilizing metatags, backlinks, and keywords can help push your website to the top of search pages, making more traffic. SEO is a challenging strategy to master, but it can reshape your business with the right team. 

6. Content Recycling 

Creating quality content takes time. So, never waste a second of content! Instead, re-edit and reuse content for all platforms. 

For example, a three-minute promotional video created for your website can be edited down to a month’s worth of social media content through countless photos and short-form videos. 

By re-editing content, it can be helpful for up to years in the future for no price at all. 

7. Great Branding 

No business can advance without great branding. From color schemes to business cards, your branding must be consistent and represent your company’s identity. 

In the 2010s, Lokai bracelets became incredibly popular for their balanced design, claiming one capsule in the bracelet contained water from Mount Everest while at the same time, the other side held mud from the Dead Sea. 

No one knows whether that claim was accurate; however, the bracelet represented more than a fun fashion accessory – a connection to the earth. This concept aligned with the brand’s overall mission to give back to environmental injustices like global warming. People bought and wore the bracelet simply due to the companies great brand messaging. 

Now a million-dollar company, Lokai proves that having a consistent brand identity costs nothing but can turn into something huge. 

8. Giveaways 

While giveaways are not entirely free of charge, donating your product or services to customers instills excitement and bond within your community. 

A recent study shows that 92.6 percent of brands run giveaways on social media, 32.5 percent run giveaways once a month. With the connection between Facebook and Instagram, you can run the same giveaway on both networks for increased engagement.

9. Website Blogs

As one of the most underrated marketing tools, blogging can help your small business skyrocket to the top of Google rankings. 

The key to blogging is appealing to your target market. What questions are your customers searching for? What writing style will best connect with your consumers?

When writing, choose a good balance of trending topics and informational articles that relate to your industry.  

10. Webinars 

Share your personal brand story with webinars. As a small business owner, you’ve had your fair share of trials and tribulations. 

Uploading on YouTube has never been easier with a simple Zoom or phone recording. Countless entrepreneurs have made informational YouTube guides for small business owners planning on webinars. 

Organizing Your Marketing 

Want to plan on marketing strategies? The team at Elevare has years of experience helping small businesses expedite their success through low-cost marketing. 

Elevare’s help will allow your business to increase profit and engagement without breaking the bank. 

Schedule your free consultation today! 

Are you looking to boost sales and bring in more customers for your small business? The piece you are missing is most likely implementing a digital marketing strategy! 

Digital technology continues to change how businesses operate. Today, agencies approach advertising campaigns in a remarkably different way than they did in the past. Gone are the days of flyers and print ads. 

Today, search engines drive around 93 percent of all website traffic, according to research by Konstruct Digital. Further, 82 percent of people use their phones to do an online search before purchasing from a store.

If your small business doesn’t have a solid online and mobile presence, you are missing out on millions (literally) of potential customers.

What Is Digital Marketing? 

Digital marketing is a broad term that utilizes mobile, online, and in-app techniques to reach clients and customers. 

This type of marketing involves various digital strategies by businesses to connect with customers. In even simpler words – digital marketing is marketing that is completed online. Here are some examples of digital marketing:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
• Content Marketing
• Social Media Marketing (SMM)
• Affiliate Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Inbound Marketing

So, do you have a digital marketing strategy? If you answered no, you could be missing out on a large number of potential customers! Your brand and products could be reaching hundreds or even thousands of more people. With the right digital marketing strategies put into place, you can boost your business in the blink of an eye.

6 Reasons Why Your Small Business Needs Digital Marketing

To make your life easier, we have listed the top 6 reasons your small business should invest in digital marketing. 

1. Digital Marketing Enables You to Learn More About Your Customers 

A significant challenge for small businesses is attracting and converting leads into paying customers. To succeed, a small business must first identify its target customer and detail their exact needs. Once you fully understand your ideal customer, you can fulfill those demands with precision and accuracy. 

You can use digital marketing to do this efficiently. You can use digital tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, SEMRush, SurveyMonkey, MailChimp, Ahrefs, and more to learn about customers’ behaviors and search habits. Use this data to target your customers! There is no need for guesswork. 

2. Digital Marketing Helps Small Businesses Build Lasting Relationships

With over half a million new businesses started every month in the United States, there is more competition than ever before. Thus, knowing your target audience and reaching them is essential for maintaining lasting customer relationships. And, digital marketing can be a fantastic way to keep customers coming to your door.

Unlike physical stores, digital marketing doesn’t end when the customer checks out. Instead, it goes above and beyond to ensure a buying customer becomes a loyal brand ambassador. 

Here are some ways you can use digital marketing to retain loyal customers.

1. Use digital testimonials on your website. This plays on the “word of mouth” style of marketing. You can spread these testimonials across your social media channels as well.
2. Engaging with customers on your website or social media platforms before, during, and after a purchase. Sending emails after purchasing is a great way to stay in touch and keep your brand on your customer’s minds. 
3. Remarketing and retargeting are also other ways to retain your customers. 

3. Digital Marketing Levels the Playing Field for Small Businesses

Luckily, the same tools that are available to large businesses are also available for small businesses! You don’t need a large budget to get started and run an effective campaign. Sure, you will have to pay for some things, but in general, it’s relatively cost-effective.

Often, creativity and innovation win over big marketing budgets. A great example is a Christmas ad from a small hardware store in Wales. A video filmed by the shop’s owner went viral in 2019 and racked up over 2 million views on YouTube. A huge marketing budget can’t buy views like this. 

4. Digital Marketing Is More Affordable

It’s a known fact that many small businesses can’t afford thousands of dollars for a radio advertisement or a billboard. However, many can afford digital marketing techniques. Well, just how affordable is digital marketing when compared to traditional marketing methods?

Well, free, organic search still dominates web traffic, even above paid or sponsored sites. Simply optimizing a free Google My Business Profile, for example, can boost your local SEO visibility, increase foot traffic if you have a local physical business, and boost reviews! The more positive reviews there are, the more your reputation online will improve, completely free of charge. 

Additionally, many social media platforms offer paid advertising services, for Instagram and Facebook ads start as low as $1 a day! Now that is pretty affordable. 

5. Digital Marketing Can Boost Conversions Through Multichannel Approaches 

There are so many digital platforms available for promoting your business’ products and services! From social media such as Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook (and their ad features) to SEO, there are many options available for digital marketing to impact several different directions. Forty-two percent of the world population uses social media today, according to Emersys. That is a substantial potential audience pool! 

But, you don’t need to stop at social media. Businesses can also utilize email marketing, video marketing, and so much more. 

While you will have to devote some time to each platform, the time spent will pay off as each one offers different approaches. Once strategies are built, in general, it’s relatively easy to adjust the messaging here and there to diverse audiences. 

By using digital marketing, you can find and engage with customers wherever they are online!

6. Digital Marketing Makes It Easy To Track ROI

Have you ever worked hard on a marketing campaign and then wondered how successful it was? With digital marketing, you don’t have to worry about those metrics! Unlike traditional marketing techniques, you can easily target and track who sees your ads, what is working, and… what’s not. 

This is important for businesses, especially small businesses, who need to wisely use their time and money. It’s always a great idea to see the results first, before going all-out and becoming more invested and spending more money. There are several different ways to track ROI. 

One option is to set up a landing page dedicated to capturing a specific campaign’s inbound traffic. Starting there, you can easily monitor how many people are being directed to the page, bounce rates, conversion rates, and more. All of these metrics are also free using Google Analytics! 

Get Started Today!

What are you waiting for? Even if you are not sure where to start, that’s where we come in. We offer comprehensive digital marketing services, including social media management, content marketing, email marketing, SEO, website optimization and design, and so much more.

Contact us today!