If you’re a small business owner, you should find ways to level the playing ground with bigger brands. They may have larger marketing budgets, but you shouldn’t splurge to get visibility online. Luckily, there are many budget-friendly digital marketing services for small business sucess.
At tiny Lever, we offer content marketing, SEO services, and online reputation management to meet your goals. Our strategies are based on generating quality content, link acquisition, and analyzing data to obtain the desired outcomes. We can help you build a positive brand image, target the right consumers, and achieve a better ROI.
As digital marketing experts, we’ve compiled the best digital marketing services for small business growth. We’ll help you get your website to the top of Google search results, develop great content, leverage influencer marketing, use social media advertising effectively, and more.
Let’s dive in!
9 Affordable Digital Marketing Services To Implement
Digital marketing services for small business growth are strategies that help companies with limited budgets. These services often include SEO, social media management, content marketing, email marketing, and targeted ads to create cost-effective marketing campaigns. In short, it promotes brands to connect with customers through digital communication.
1. Social Media Management
Businesses focusing on their core operations can outsource social media management. In this service, you can work with social media managers. They can help post engaging content, schedule posts at the right time, and respond to followers.
Here are five budget-friendly tools to use in social media marketing for small businesses:
- LYFE Marketing: Offers tailored content creation, designs social media posts that align with your brand's voice, and provides daily social media account management.
- $99 Social: Delivers affordable social media marketing services and basic reporting to track the performance of posts and gauge engagement.
- Buffer: A free tool that offers content scheduling and analytics to track the performance of your posts. Paid plans are available for those who need more features.
- Sendible: Supports Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Its key features include content scheduling, post management, and analytics.
- SocialBee: Its content categorization system organizes posts by themes or campaigns. Other features include evergreen content recycling, which helps reshare top-performing posts.
2. Content Marketing
Content marketing involves creating high-quality, in-depth posts that address the pain points of your target customers. Post content of around 1,500 to 2,000 words. Longer blog posts tend to rank better in search engines. Focus on relevant topics and tackle them comprehensively to gain more readers.
Leveraging Video Content
Videos are popular and can help reach your target audience. You don't need to spend thousands of dollars or shoot a movie to create effective videos. Even a simple capture from a smartphone can be valuable if the information shared is useful. Consider creating:
- Step-by-step guides that showcase your product or service offerings.
- Behind-the-scenes footage explaining your business operations.
- Storytelling videos, such as customer success stories or testimonials.
- Easily digestible videos of quick tips or hacks related to your products or services.
Utilizing Freelancers and Content Marketplaces
If you don't have the time or expertise to create content, you can seek services from freelancers or content marketing companies. They are experts in producing high-quality content; you won’t need to hire in-house staff. However, you must state clear guidelines and expectations to maintain the standards and brand image.
Creating Evergreen Content for Lasting Value
Evergreen content remains relevant and valuable long after it's published. It can be cost-effective as it provides ongoing returns on your initial investment. To maximize the value of your evergreen content, consider the following:
- Choose Timeless Topics: Select subjects that will remain relevant and valuable for years. For example, "How to build a capsule wardrobe," if you’re in the fashion industry.
- Update Periodically: Refresh your blog posts regularly to keep them accurate and updated.
- Promote Regularly: To attract new customers, share evergreen pieces on social media platforms and in email newsletters.
3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is the process of refining a website to rank higher in the SERPs, which increases its chances of being found by potential buyers. Unlike search engine marketing, SEO can increase website visits without paid ads.
Developing a viable SEO plan requires several components: content writing, mobile and voice search, user experience, and site crawlability. Here's how to implement affordable SEO tactics:
Local SEO Strategies
Local SEO can help small businesses reach customers nearby. One of the most important aspects of local SEO is optimizing your Google My Business (GMB) profile:
- Claim and Verify Your Google My Business (GMB) Listing: List your business on Google and verify ownership.
- Provide Detailed Information: Add accurate details such as your business name, address, phone number (NAP), and hours of operation.
- Add High-Quality Images: Upload professional photos of your storefront, products, or services to make your profile more appealing.
- Encourage and Respond to Reviews: Ask customers for feedback and reply to their reviews.
Budget-Friendly Keyword Research Tools
Small businesses can stay competitive with the right keyword research tools. Here are a few great options to consider:
- Google Keyword Planner: A free tool offering keyword suggestions, search volume data, competition analysis, and CPC estimates. This tool is great for aligning SEO efforts with paid search campaigns.
- Ubersuggest: Provides low-cost access to search volume, difficulty metrics, competitor keywords, and content ideas. It also includes an easy-to-understand SEO score for each keyword.
- KeywordTool.io: Generates long-tail keyword suggestions from Google Autocomplete, YouTube, and Amazon. This tool is ideal for diversifying keyword strategies across multiple platforms.
- Answer the Public: Visualizes question-based keyword ideas to uncover content opportunities and understand user intent. Its creative keyword mapping inspires content topics and helps address user queries effectively.
- Serpstat: A budget-friendly all-in-one SEO platform with keyword research, backlink analysis, rank tracking, and site audits. It highlights trending keywords and tracks their performance over time.
Long-Term Benefits of Organic Search Visibility
Investing in organic SEO services can yield significant long-term benefits for small businesses:
- Sustainable Website Traffic: Organic search results provide consistent, targeted traffic over time without ongoing ad spend.
- Cost-Effectiveness: Although results take time, organic search is cheaper in the long run than paid online advertising.
- Increased Credibility: High rankings make your business appear more trustworthy and reliable to users.
- Brand Awareness: Regular visibility in search results boosts brand recognition and recall.
- Higher ROI: Organic search often brings better returns than other marketing methods.
- 24/7 Promotion: Once ranked well, your business gets constant exposure, day and night.
4. Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the most effective methods for nurturing leads and engaging customers. This technique allows you to deliver personalized content directly to your audience.
The average ROI of email marketing is $42 for every $1 spent, making it one of the most affordable and effective marketing channels.
Some of the platforms offering free or low-cost plans include the following:
- Mailchimp: Offers a free plan for up to 2,000 contacts and 10,000 emails per month. Paid plans include advanced features like audience segmentation, behavioral targeting, and A/B testing. Mailchimp also provides built-in analytics and integrations with popular platforms like Shopify and WordPress.
- Constant Contact: It offers a 60-day free trial to explore its features, which include customizable templates, list-building tools, and social media integration. Paid plans offer features like real-time email tracking, automation, and tools to improve email delivery.
Examples of Impactful Email Campaigns
Email marketing communications should be relevant, interesting, and persuasive for the intended target market. Here are the most common types:
- Newsletters: Regularly share updates, insights, and valuable content to keep your audience informed and engaged. Newsletters nurture a consistent relationship with subscribers while keeping your brand top-of-mind.
- Welcome Emails: Create a strong first impression by making new subscribers feel appreciated. A well-crafted welcome email should briefly introduce your brand, explain how you can benefit the consumer, and provide them with the next steps they should take.
- Promotional Campaigns: Announce special offers, new products, or limited-time deals to drive urgency and conversions. These emails capture attention and encourage immediate action to boost sales.
- Re-engagement Emails: Reconnect with inactive subscribers using personalized content and incentives. These types of campaigns help revive dormant lists with special offers.
5. Pay-Per-Click Advertising Services
PPC advertising is a digital marketing solution that can accurately target a given market segment with accuracy. It leverages a combination of keyword, demographic, and geographic targeting, and more. Here’s how to implement PPC on a budget:
- Cost Control and Budget Management: Businesses can start with small budgets. For example, you can set a daily budget of $10 to avoid overspending.
- Targeted Digital Advertising: PPC lets you connect with ideal customers on platforms like Google Ads, which targets users based on search intent, and Facebook Ads, which uses custom and lookalike audiences to find people similar to your current customers.
- Performance Tracking: Tracking CTR, CPC, and conversion rate can help you identify which campaigns deliver value. This allows you to spend wisely and save on underperforming social media ads.
To improve your PPC campaigns, focus on smart spending with A/B testing and accurate audience targeting. Here are some tips to help you improve:
- A/B Testing for PPC: A/B testing means trying two versions of an ad, like different headlines or images, to see which works better. For example, you can test two headlines to determine which gets more clicks. This helps you improve your ads based on what your audience likes.
- Precise Audience Targeting: Audience targeting helps show your ads to the right people, like those searching for certain keywords or matching specific interests. It can show ads at specific times when your audience is most active. For example, a restaurant can run ads during lunch or dinner hours.
6. Graphic Design Services
Professional graphic design helps create a consistent look for your brand across all online platforms. Using the same colors, fonts, and web design styles can make your brand easily recognizable. Customers will trust your brand, leading to more interactions and sales.
Here are some of the affordable ways to improve your brand’s visual branding:
- DIY Design Platforms: Canva is an easy-to-use design tool that creates professional-looking graphics even without advanced design skills. It offers various templates, fonts, and images.
- Freelance Marketplaces: Websites like Fiverr and Upwork connect you with skilled graphic designers at affordable prices, allowing you to find the right fit for your needs.
- Subscription-Based Services: Services like Penji and ManyPixels offer unlimited design work for a monthly fee. They cover various design needs, including logos, social media graphics, and online marketing materials.
The Importance of Brand Consistency
Using the same style across all platforms helps customers recognize your brand. Here are the benefits of maintaining a brand consistency:
- Enhanced Brand Recognition and Recall: Consistent branding helps customers easily recognize and remember your brand. For example, Google’s simple logo across all services makes it instantly recognizable.
- Increased Trust and Credibility: When customers see the same message and look across all platforms, it shows professionalism and reliability of your product's quality.
- Improved Customer Experience: Consistent branding creates a smooth experience across your website, social media, or emails.
7. Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is another affordable digital marketing strategy. Companies can effectively partner with micro-influencers and local personalities to reach their target audience, which can be less expensive than celebrities.
The Value of Local Influencers
Local influencers can be particularly beneficial for small business marketing in the following ways:
- Community Connection: Local influencers often share familiar stories or events with their followers, making them feel like friends. This makes them more trustworthy.
- Targeted Reach: They can easily reach people who live in the same area, which is more effective than trying to reach a broad, nationwide audience.
- Authentic Promotion: Local influencers understand what matters to people in their community. They create content that feels real and speaks directly to their audience.
Here are some examples of budget-friendly influencer collaborations:
- Product Exchanges: Send free products to micro-influencers for honest reviews or social media posts. Alternatively, distribute products to several influencers without requiring a post. They’ll share it if they genuinely like the product.
- Small Cash Incentives: Work with influencers with smaller but highly engaged audiences. Offer them unique discount codes or links and pay a commission for any sales they generate.
- Non-Monetary Incentives: Offer influencers exclusive invitations to events or behind-the-scenes experiences with your brand. Feature them on your social media channels to grow their audience.
8. Video Marketing
Video marketing is an affordable digital strategy that uses videos to promote products, services, or brands. With smartphones and free editing software, businesses can create engaging content to reach their audience on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
Smartphone Video Production
Modern devices can capture professional-looking footage. Here are a few things business owners can use:
- Manual Camera Apps: Apps like Filmic Pro give you better control over camera settings.
- Landscape Mode: Shoot in the landscape for a cinematic appearance.
- Tripod for Stability: An inexpensive tripod ensures smooth, steady shots.
- Natural Lighting: Use sunlight for better visual quality.
- External Microphone: Improve audio clarity with a low-cost external mic.
9. Online Reputation Management
Online reputation management is a way to build trust and attract customers. Here’s how small businesses can handle it effectively:
- Review Monitoring: Monitor reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, and Facebook. For example, check weekly to see what customers say and spot any issues quickly.
- Timely Responses: Reply to reviews within 1 to 2 days. If someone leaves a complaint on Google, responding quickly shows you care about fixing the problem.
- Professional Communication: Always stay polite and professional in your replies. Thank happy customers for their reviews. If there’s negative feedback, apologize and offer a replacement or refund.
Affordable Tools for Reputation Management
Managing your online reputation can be time-consuming, but affordable tools can simplify the process for small businesses.
- Google Alerts: A free tool that notifies you via email whenever your brand, name, or chosen keywords appear online. It’s simple and cost-effective for staying updated on your online mentions.
- Social Mention: It tracks your brand across 80+ social media sites at no cost. It also provides insights into mentions and measures your online presence to better understand your reputation.
- Mention: Monitors over 1 billion online sources for specific keywords related to your brand. It also offers real-time tracking and custom alerts to stay updated on mentions as they happen.
- Grade.us: Automates review requests and aggregates customer feedback from multiple sites. It streamlines review management and helps businesses maintain their online reputation.
- Awario: Crawls billions of pages daily to track mentions and perform sentiment analysis. It helps prioritize high-impact conversations for better reputation control.
Importance of a Positive Online Presence
Here’s why positive online presence is important for businesses:
- Building Trust and Credibility: A solid online reputation helps establish trust with potential customers. Positive reviews and responses to feedback show that a business values its customers.
- Improving Search Engine Rankings: Online reviews and reputation management affect local SEO. A consistent flow of positive feedback can improve local search rankings, making it easier for potential customers to find local businesses in search engine results.
- Customer Retention: Customers who feel heard and valued are more likely to return and recommend your business.
Key Takeaway
Digital marketing solutions are essential for small businesses today, but many entrepreneurs fear it’s too expensive. With digital marketing services for small business development, you can still grow and reach your target audience. Don't underestimate the power of word-of-mouth – online reviews and reputation management can boost your brand without hefty costs. Finally, experiment with different approaches, but always track your results and adjust your strategy based on what's working.
However, remember that using the best digital marketing strategy alone won’t guarantee success. Many small business owners try to handle everything themselves or stretch their resources across too many channels, leading to inconsistent messaging and poor-quality content. The key to success is developing a holistic approach that uses your resources wisely.
Looking for a business marketing partner? Tiny Lever is an SEO marketing agency that offers digital marketing services for small business growth, including link building, SEO content creation, and content auditing. We understand the importance of a well-rounded strategy without overspending. Contact us via david@tinylevermarketing.com or complete this form to start developing a plan to achieve business growth.
