As a business owner who has seen a few things in my 13+ years running a local marketing agency, here are my top tips for weathering an ever-changing economic landscape.
Budget friendly marketing tips
1. SEO
SEO is not dead! Right now, people are searching for your products or services online via Google, other search engines, and AI platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini. If your website is not optimized for SEO with the most up-to-date AI schema, your expensive website is virtually useless. Your competitors who invest in SEO are discoverable and are gaining those customers, not you.
Investment: SEO is a very affordable investment for any business looking to boost their online discoverability and their business. With pricing starting below $2,000, can you afford not to invest in SEO? Tell me more about SEO for my business.
2. Social media strategy
You know you should be using social media to grow your brand and build trust with your audience, but you don’t know how to make it work. We get it. We hear from clients and people in our network every day “does it even matter if we invest in social media?” Our answer is an unequivitable “yes”! If you are ready to leave ineffective social media marketing behind, it’s time for a social media strategy.
Investing in a custom strategy can pay dividends by removing the guesswork and upskilling your team so they are more focused and efficient deploying your brand’s social media.
We created the Social Media Strategy Success Kit, designed to help solve your critical questions of what, when, and how to post on social media so that it works for YOUR brand!
Investment: A few hours of your time + $3,900 for a six-week engagement for us to get to know your brand and develop content and themes that align with your business goals, yielding you a custom social strategy that works for your brand.
No budget marketing tips to strengthen your business in Northern Virginia
1. Networking
Sure, the mood has been weird lately and I have personally not been feeling social, I make myself attend regular business events! Hiding at home is not going to help you grow your business. Keep in mind that networking does not mean you meet someone and close a deal – it takes sustained effort to build relationships and trust – but the dividends are potentially huge.
While we are partial to networking at your local chamber events, there are plenty of other networking opportunities that are free or low-cost. Check out your local small business development center or economic development office for resources on business networking events.
Here are some fantastic upcoming networking opportunities:
Arlington Chamber Breakfast Connection with the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce
September 11 | 8 – 9:30 AM
Falls Church Chamber Networking Mixer
September 23 | 5:30 – 7:00 PM
Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce Discover the Chamber Event
September 11 | 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Savor the Night…Hispanic Heritage Celebration
September 24 | 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
List of local chambers
- Arlington Chamber of Commerce
- Falls Church Chamber of Commerce
- Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce
- The Chamber ALX
- Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Marketing investments to make when planning for the future
1. Brand strategy
Brand loyalty can be the difference between drowning and weathering the storm in a softening economy. If you want to invest in your business for the future, now is a great time to dive into brand strategy and messaging. Knowing who you are and your target audience is key to developing messaging that speaks to that audience and, in turn, helps you stand out and retain (or gain) customers in a softening economy.
Investment: Brand strategy involves an in-depth review and analysis of who you are as a business, how you show up, and reconciling those factors to develop one cohesive brand. After the initial brand work, we develop custom messaging to resonate with your target audience. Clients who have invested in brand strategy find they are better able to attract the right clients with their marketing and waste less time and money attracting individuals who are not the right fit for them. Reach out to discuss our fees for custom brand strategy engagements.
2. Outsource your marketing
Especially if your team is small, and you are using people to do marketing who – bluntly put – aren’t marketers. Augmenting your capacity with an outsourced marketing team frees you and your team to do what you can do best. With engagements as focused as just digital marketing (paid and organic), or as broad as full, omni-channel brand management, an agency can staff your business with the experts and capacity that your business needs to go to the next level.
Investment: Retainer engagements from 20 hours a month to 100+ are customized for your brand’s goals and budget. Reach out to discuss our fees for outsourced marketing. We can be a better bang for your buck compared to a full time marketing hire, and you’d get the decades of marketing expertise that you simply can not get with a single person in-house.
