Read our blogs on our website! ...and how to afford one DO SMALL BUSINESSES NEED MARKETING TEAMS? The simple answer to that is, ABSOLUTELY. But don’t just take our word for it. Let me explain why this is a worthy investment for your business. It\'s the Information Age, so it\'s time to use it. The online world is vast, free, and sometimes, confusing. Your potential customers have questions to needs at their fingertips. Your company should be there on the other side when they press search with the answers. Digital marketing may sound intimidating to some, but it\'s anything, but when put in the right hands. You might be wondering does my small business need a marketing team? The answer is, yes. Small businesses need to take advantage of the digital space because that\'s where the customers and prospects are. It may seem wiser to wait until your business has grown, but will your company even survive if it\'s just there existing? By heading online as soon as you can and being able to be seen, you are establishing your presence and controlling your narrative. The thing is, your competition is also online, everyone is. That\'s why utilizing platforms like Facebook and Instagram are integral to your marketing and business strategy. Studies by Hubspot have shown the increase in local searches and how consumers react to the information they find about businesses online. Benefits of Marketing ✅ Establish Personal/ close customer relationships ✅ Evens the playing field with larger companies ✅ You get to choose your audience ✅ You might find out who your customers really are ✅ People can personalize your prices/operating hours to their lives instead of playing guessing games ✅ Convenience for your customer to reach out to you ✅ Greater reach on a tight budget The best benefit of implementing digital marketing for small businesses is that you can make use of free platforms like Facebook and Instagram. However, adding a budget to make your website is still a better investment. We explained previously from our blog here. We have discussed in depth the difference between just having your social media page vs establishing your website. During times like these, the digital sphere has never been more essential to small or new businesses. If you choose a team of experts, they can help you fit into the ideal company you want to become or represent. Digital marketing is an investment, but it doesn\'t have to be a costly one when you\'re with the right marketing team who can cater to your needs. They\'re an outside professional perspective on where you\'re going wrong and what you can start doing right. In Entrepreneur, they detail how this kind of marketing strategy can help guide your business from the beginning and into the long term. However, it\'s important to note that eventually, you will have to boost posts and that costs some money. Free posting by friends and family may only get you so far. But the thing is...it\'s still cheaper than other advertising routes. At the end of the day, you pay to play. An Outsider\'s Perspective Hubspot created a helpful article on the ins and outs of digital marketing. To put it simply, digital marketing is marketing but done online and with greater results. You have to meet your audience where they are, and that\'s online. The unique thing about getting in touch with a marketing team is that they give you a professional outsiders\' view. As a business owner, it\'s imperative that you put all your energy into your company. Having to worry about things like brand image, marketing, and search engine rankings should be left to the professionals. Neil Patel makes the case for what it takes to hire a team to help market your business. Not ones to toot our horns amidst a crowd of other digital marketing services, but BRIGHTSAND designs offers scalable plans to accommodate small or new businesses. It helps to know their budget and goals. There is no one solution to marketing so getting a call with an agency\'s representative is essential. Digital Marketing only becomes \"expensive\" when they present the agency with goals and deliverables that require extensive work. So they also need to set goals for what they need NOW. Digital Marketing is a 2 + 1 type of service wherein you not only get strategies but also creative ways on how to reach your audience. However, BRIGHTSAND designs fulfil most of that list. We have a dedicated team who can give insight-based opinions and advice on how to help your small business grow. Through multiple areas of expertise like social media, project management, and SEO optimization, we work tirelessly to improve your rankings online and in the marketplace. But I\'m a Start-Up, How Can I Afford This? First of all, you don\'t need the whole thing all at once. You know you\'ve got a great product; what marketing does is tell other people how great it is. Anyone can access the internet. Knowing how to use that access strategically will help you stand out from every other business. Setting yourself up online is much like building a house. It would help if you had a strong foundation, suitable materials, a plan, and a team of people work on it. Here are four things you need right now to get started: ✅ Logo and Branding ✅ Brand Guide ✅ Website ✅ Editable Templates And on these pillars sit the digital marketing commandments. These are the absolute essentials that you need to invest in for your business to succeed. Your current and future customers need to know who you are and what your brand is. These four small but fundamental pillars are vital to the ultimate growth and success of your business. Logo and Branding A company can be recognized by its logo—for example, Coca Cola. The red swoopy design is an icon on its own. A brand is the meaning behind the logo. When you say \"coke,\" you immediately relate it to a drink that can satisfy your thirst. These go together like peanut butter and jelly. You\'ve got to have the logo to represent your company and then branding to back it up. Brand Guide If the logo is your face and your brand is your personality, then a brand guide is your voice. By having a brand guide that details your company\'s mission, vision, and goals, you\'re setting the standard for the direction of where your business is going. This can be everything from the photography style you choose to use, the fonts in your ads, and the color palette you decide to use. Website A website is your company\'s personal profile about what makes you great and how you can solve your visitor\'s problems with your product. It\'s a definite requirement to have a website in today\'s digital age. It\'s both a marketing platform dedicated to you and a way to turn visitors into customers. As we\'ve pointed out before, a website can give you more benefits than only having a social media page. Editable Templates Editable templates bring uniformity to your posts, like for announcements. By having templates representing your brand, you align your page theme with one overall look. You can create them using the Adobe Experience Manager. However, it would be ideal to have all four, sometimes at the start; it\'s not possible. What you can do is, pick two and start from there. You can gradually build up to all four and then take on a digital marketing team to fine-tune the solid base you\'ve created. The good news is, marketing does bring in sales. It\'s up to you to get the ball rolling. Read our blogs on our website! About the author:

Christina is a reader, art enthusiast, and dedicated to bringing ideas to life with heart and ingenuity through words. Thanks to more than one coffee, she can pluck words out of thin air and sew them into a magical content carpet.