Even though small businesses are considered the backbone of the American economy, accounting for 48% of all jobs in the country, they still face an uphill battle when it comes to securing traditional funding from banks and other financial institutions. The COVID-19 pandemic also created a great deal of uncertainty for small businesses, many of which have had to pivot and reevaluate their entire business model to stay open and continue to grow.
By utilizing effective digital marketing ideas for small business, business owners in any industry can navigate these challenges more easily by reaching new customers, building relationships, and ultimately increasing sales.
As a small business owner, you know that marketing is essential to your success. But what if you don’t have the capital to invest in marketing your business to attract new customers or you can’t get the funding you need from the SBA or a bank? That’s where alternative funding options like merchant cash advances come in. With a merchant cash advance, you can quickly access the money you need to invest in marketing and grow your business.
With a streamlined online application, shorter turnaround, and more flexible approval requirements, merchant cash advances are often ideal for financing your marketing efforts, especially if you need funding quickly or don’t meet the strict approval requirements of other lenders. Because MCAs are repaid with a percentage of your future credit card sales, they can be an excellent option for businesses that need money for marketing but don’t have the collateral or the time to qualify for a traditional bank loan.
In this post, we will discuss some of the benefits of using a merchant cash advance and how this type of funding can be used to jumpstart digital marketing for small businesses:
- Creating a dedicated marketing budget
- Investing in paid online advertising
- Hiring a social media manager
- Updating or launching a website
- Investing in content marketing
- Managing your online reputation
- Email marketing
7 Digital Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses
1. Creating a dedicated digital marketing budget
Having a marketing budget is essential for any business that wants to be successful because it allows you to track your spending and ensure that you’re getting the most bang for your marketing buck.
The first step to developing a marketing budget is to set goals. What are you trying to achieve with your marketing efforts? Do you want to increase brand awareness? Drive more traffic to your website? Generate more leads? Convert more customers? Once you know your goals, you can start to allocate your marketing budget accordingly. An MCA will provide you with the capital needed to create a marketing budget and implement your plans without putting an additional strain on your bottom line.
2. Investing in paid online advertising
Paid online advertising such as search engine ads or social media ads will help you reach potential customers who are actively searching for products or services like yours. By increasing awareness of your brand, paid ads are an effective way to attract people who have never heard of your business before, which may lead to increased sales. Paid advertising also allows you to track your results and ROI more effectively than other marketing channels, which can help you to further refine your targeting and ensure that your campaigns are as effective as possible.
Merchant cash advance funding gives you an opportunity to try out different advertising strategies and see which ones work best for your business. This can help you save money in the long run by only using the most effective methods. If you only advertise online sporadically, your results may be inconsistent, but an MCA will help ensure that you’re generating a steady stream of traffic and leads.
3. Hiring a social media manager
Hiring a social media manager can be one of the best investments you make for your business, especially if you’re just learning how to market your business online. Here are 4 reasons why:
- Time management: If you’re like most business owners, you don’t have a lot of extra time to spend on managing your social media profiles. A social media manager can take care of all the posting and engagement for you so you can focus on running your business.
- Grow your reach: Social media managers know how to reach new audiences and grow your following. They are also able to create targeted campaigns that will help you reach your specific goals, such as increasing brand awareness, generating leads, promoting new products and/or services, encouraging more purchases, and more.
- Create engaging content: A social media manager can help you create social media content that is engaging and relevant to your audience. They can also help you repurpose existing content such as blog posts or videos so that it’s more effective on social media.
- Stay up-to-date on the latest trends: Social media managers will keep up with the latest trends in social media and digital marketing for small businesses. They’ll be able to adapt your strategies so that you’re always ahead of the curve.
An MCA can provide the funds you need to hire a social media manager who can determine which platforms are most likely to result in conversions, devote their time to creating social media content that resonates with your audience, and ultimately increase your revenue.
4. Updating or launching a website
Having a website is one of the most important tools in your marketing arsenal. It’s how you get prospective customers to look at what you offer, and it’s also how you keep them coming back for more. Not only does a website give your business credibility, but it also helps with search engine optimization (SEO), which makes it easier for potential customers to find you online.
Merchant cash advances can provide the funds you need to build a new site or redesign and optimize your existing website, whether that means making the changes on your own, hiring a freelancer, or contracting a digital marketing agency.
5. Investing in content marketing
There are many factors that go into SEO, but one of the most important is website content. By creating keyword-rich content such as blog posts and resource guides, you can improve your site’s ranking and visibility and make it easier for potential customers to find you online. In addition, fresh, original content helps to keep visitors engaged, which can lead to more sales and conversions for your business.
Merchant cash advances can provide the funds you need to hire a content manager or a freelance writer to help you develop a strong content strategy, create high-quality content for your website, measure your results, and make necessary adjustments along the way.
6. Managing your online reputation
It’s no secret that online reviews and customer feedback can make or break a business. Creating trust is one of the most important aspects of running a successful business, but it’s not just something that customers need to feel safe or secure—it’s also how they will understand whether or not they should continue doing business with you.
One way to manage your online reputation is to monitor online reviews and customer feedback on platforms like Trustpilot or Google My Business. These platforms allow customers to leave reviews and rate their experiences with your business, which can be extremely valuable for potential new customers who are researching your company. In addition, online review sites often rank higher on search engine results pages, so having a strong presence on these platforms can help you attract even more attention from prospective customers.
If you want to make sure that you’re getting the best possible ROI out of your customer relationships, using a merchant cash advance to manage your reputation might be the best option. A merchant cash advance can help you keep your customers happy by ensuring that they’re getting the products and services they need in a timely fashion, as well as by providing you with the funds you need to resolve any issues that may arise.
7. Email marketing
Email marketing allows you to stay in touch with your customers on a regular basis, keeps them updated on what’s going on with your business, and gives them special offers and discounts that they can’t find anywhere else.
There are a number of software programs that can automate email marketing and make it easier for you to manage your email list, track your results, and more. Merchant cash advances can provide the funding you need to invest in software programs that will help you reach your target audience while still having funds for other business expenses.
The Benefits of Using a Merchant Cash Advance for Marketing
Although digital marketing for small businesses is an effective way to reach new customers and grow your business, it can also be a costly investment. Here are some of the benefits of using alternative funding to market your business online:
- You can get the funding you need quickly, which can be crucial when you are facing time-sensitive needs.
- The repayment process is flexible, which can be helpful if your sales fluctuate.
- You can use the funds for a variety of online marketing initiatives, including building a website, paid search engine and social media ads, content marketing, email marketing, and more.
- Merchant cash advances have more flexible approval requirements, making them ideal for businesses with low credit or no collateral.
- There are typically no restrictions on how you use the funds from a merchant cash advance.
Whether you decide to invest in a digital marketing agency or take matters into your own hands, with the right planning and preparation, you can use a merchant cash advance to successfully market your small business.
Get the business funding that’s right for you
The digital world has changed the way people spend money, and it’s changed the way businesses are able to market themselves. A merchant cash advance can help you invest in new digital marketing ideas for small business so you can take advantage of new opportunities to grow.
Sometimes, small businesses need funding to help fuel new marketing strategies. Traditional lenders like the SBA and banks have the lowest rates and longest terms, but they are the most difficult and time-consuming to secure. Additionally, due to their strict requirements, many applicants are rejected. Alternative lenders have more flexible requirements, allowing them to approve more small businesses faster, with funds deposited in as little as 24 hours.
Several kinds of small business funding are available from alternative lenders like Greenbox Capital®, including merchant cash advances, online invoice factoring, alternative business credit, collateral business loans, and term loans, with funding from as low as $3,000 and up to $500,000 with no restrictions on how funds are used.