‘Tis the Season: How Giving Leads to Growing

‘Tis the season of giving, but for your small business, that might be easier said than done. After all, if you’re intent on growing your business, you need to save all the money you can, right?

Actually, in some cases, this may not be the best maneuver.

Turns out, being philanthropic with your business can actually lend itself quite nicely to promoting your brand and growing your consumer base.

And how? Check out these quick tips on how giving back this holiday season can actually grow your business later on.

Giving showcases your brand

First and foremost, giving to local charities in your community showcases your business brand in a positive light. Whether it’s sponsoring a local sporting event, donating to a nonprofit organization or volunteering your time, giving allows your business to give back while showing off… just a little.

When your business is out and involved in the community in a positive way, it draws consumers to your image, and shows them you’re a company that cares. Consider giving as a significant return on investment.

Your business invests in helping others, and you get free publicity in return. Sounds like a great deal to grow your brand name.

Giving is tax deductible

That’s right, supporting a charity is often a tax deductible endeavor for your business. Donations which are often tax deductible include sponsorships of local charities or events, inventory or services donations and of course, cash donations.

Generally, your business can benefit from deductions on charitable donations of up to 50 percent of your Adjusted Gross Income. Of course, before jumping into the giving season, be sure to check on what is tax deductible in your community and how this would fit into your business tax plan.

Giving motivates employees

If your business wants to boost employee morale and encourage involvement, try giving back to the community. In the last few years, employee perks have escalated to new heights, and community involvement is often something the most qualified employees look for in their company search.

By offering volunteering opportunities and encouraging giving as part of your business mission statement, your company will be able to attract the right employees who not only work hard, but have giving hearts. Gain and retain more employees by giving back in your community.

Giving gains customers

Most importantly, customers are more attracted to companies who show they care for the community. Your business can do some research in the local community to find what causes are most attractive to the population, then show your involvement by giving back.

Not only will customers like your philanthropic side, but they’ll feel more comfortable trusting an organization they’ve already seen in the community. Giving not only builds stronger relationships with current customers, but it helps attract new customers as well.

This holiday season, get your business in on the action by giving back to charitable efforts in your community. Plant the seed for your small business now and watch as it grows your company even more later on.

Using #Hashtags to market your business

If you’ve been online at all within the last 5 years, then you’ve probably heard of the very popular #hashtag.

A hashtag is the numerical pound sign # followed by a word or series of words, which groups together an idea based on the subject of a social media post.

For example, if someone were to post a picture of their pet dog, the hashtags associated could be #dog or #ILoveMyDog. These hashtags are saved and tracked by social media platforms, so later a person can click on the hashtag and see all of the posts related to the topic.

So, how can your company get in on the action? By using hashtags to market your brand, of course! Check out these useful tips on how your business can use hashtags to its advantage.

Brand Hashtags

First and foremost, think of a brand hashtag for your small business to incorporate in its social media posts.Think of a brand hashtag as a signature for your company. It should be short and concise, but still reflect your image. Many businesses use their name or slogan if it’s simple and easy enough.

One thing to recognize is hashtags don’t work when combined with symbols like the -hyphen- or apostrophe’, so if these are part of your brand, think of a way to work around them in the hashtag. With brand hashtags, your users will see a clear image presented by your business, and show solidarity later on by using it in their own posts.

Campaign Hashtags

Campaign hashtags can be used alongside brand hashtags for your business’s sales and promotional campaigns. Think of something clever and easy for people to remember, so customers can post about your business by using your campaign hashtag.

Then, promote your campaign hashtag on your own social networking sites or encourage people to use it in your store to increase brand awareness and market your product or service.

Trending Hashtags

Trending hashtags are popular tags used by a lot of people within a short period of time. For example, #TheOscars would be a trending hashtag because it’s a popular topic trending among a massive populous.

Your business can use its social media to look up what hashtags are currently trending, and then get in on the action by posting to these trends.

For example, “Are you excited about #TheOscars? So are we! Stop in today to see how we can help you prepare for the event!” Using trending hashtags makes your post more likely to get views, likes, favorites and retweets, which increases its visibility and promotes your business.

Content Hashtags

Finally, the classic: content hashtags. These are hashtags your business can use which simply pertain to the physical content included in your social media posts.

For example, a clothing company many post about a new line of jewelry they just received in store: “We’re excited about all the beautiful jewelry we have in stock! Come check us out today! #jewelry #necklaces #bracelets #beautiful”.

Your business can even do research to see what content hashtags receive the most views, and then incorporate these in your posts to increase visibility. While too many hashtags on a post can seem overwhelming to some viewers, don’t be afraid to have at least a couple to give your post more variety and versatility.

When it comes to marketing for your small business, let social media do the work for you by taking advantage of hashtags to promote your product or service. Before you know it, your business will be growing and your hashtags will be #trending.

Content ideas for your next business blog

If you’re a business owner, you know how important it is to have up-to-date content throughout your website and related online networks.

Content marketing is the way of the world, and reaching out to potential clients on topics they can relate to helps build your customer base.

Whether your business already has a blog or it’s still in the works, generating content keeps it current and interesting. No matter where you are, here are content ideas for your next blog post.

1. Showcase a product/service

Take time in your business blog to showcase an important or new product or service your company is offering. Introducing your audience to the product in a non-confrontational way will invite them to take a closer look at it later on.

2. Share a customer success story

What better way to generate customers than to have other customers tell them how great your business is? Ask past customers if they would be willing to share their story on your blog and then get publishing!

3. Show inside the business

Give potential clients a look inside the company by showing them around the inner workings. Give a virtual tour, have a question and answer session or ask the President or CEO to share a more personal side of the business.

4. Interview employees

Interviewing employees about their experience with the company gives customers a look from the other side of the transaction. Ask employees what they like about the business, what they’re looking forward to or maybe even what they think can be improved upon.

5. Answer frequently asked questions

Do you have a list of frequently asked questions by customers? Answer them! Devote a blog session to going through these questions and giving thorough answers to each and every one.

6. Talk pop culture

Show that your business is current and involved by talking about today’s issues and pop culture. Can anything current relate to products or services your company supplies? How can you tie it all in together? Find out by giving it a try on your business blog.

7. Discuss future plans

What’s your business plan for the next six months? Year? Two years? You don’t have to convey too much in these types of blog posts (you don’t want your competitors knowing everything), but let your customers in on some of the future plans your company has in store for them.

8. Tell your origin story

Let customers know about you by telling your origin story as a company. When consumers see how hard you’ve worked to get where you are today, they’ll be excited about where your company is going in the future.

If your business is invested in content marketing, utilize these ideas to either jump start your current blog or start a new one.

When your blog is up-to-date and engaging, customers will be more inclined to follow, and your company will reap the benefits.

Five reasons your business should sponsor an event

When it comes to marketing for your business, there are a lot of bases to cover. Is your website content up-to-date? Do you have active social media pages?

How is your brand representing your business to the community?

But one thing which is often overlooked is event sponsorship. Whether it’s sponsoring a one-time event, a local sports team or a series of promotions, sponsorship is a great way for your company to market itself in the community.

Still not sure? Check out these five reasons your business should start sponsoring an event.

1. Media Exposure

Nothing quite gets your company’s name out there like the media, and event sponsorship is an easy way to do just that. Big companies who sponsor events like the Olympics, The World Cup and March Madness know that sponsorship works better at marketing than taking out a page ad in a local newspaper or magazine. When the news covers local events in your area, your business name is shared, and people are more likely to come in and convert to customers.

2. Positive Image

Event sponsorship promotes your business in a positive image and shows your company cares about different causes. You get the benefit of having your name and image in the limelight, with none of the worry of running the event. Not to mention, companies which sponsor events make a positive contribution overall, which customers and potential clients take due note of. You can promote your image and showcase your company in a positive light through sponsorship.

3. Affordability

Advertisements on television and in local print or radio announcements can be expensive. In a typical marketing strategy when these promotions are paired together, the overall price can wind up pretty hefty for your business, and the running time frame is often short-lived.

But with event sponsorship, you get to negotiate how much you spend. Sponsorship gives you the same amount of promotion for your business at an affordable price, and even gets it out there to a more targeted audience…

4. Targeted Audience

Sponsorship allows your company to promote itself to a specific, targeted audience which is aligned with your ideal customer. Before you sponsor an event or organization, do some research into what it stands for and who it would reach out to. If its supporters are people likely to engage with your business, take action!

You get the opportunity to reach out specifically to a set-amount of people already interested, rather than other advertisements which cast a wide net with not as much return on investment.

5. Build Relationships

Through sponsorship, your business builds relationships in the community: with other organizations, other companies and most importantly, with potential consumers. When your business builds relationship, it thrives under client leads and new customers. Promote your product or service in a friendly way by showing the softer side of your business: the sponsoring relationship side.

Marketing your product or service can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to be. When it comes to promoting your business, consider sponsoring an event or organization in your local community.

Not only does will your profits thrive, but you will encourage goodwill among those around you.

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