City of Edina, Minnesota
Accelerating Marketing for 15 Small Businesses in Edina, Minnesota
The pandemic sucker-punched the world in the face. One of the communities most impacted was small businesses. Many relied on foot traffic to foot the bills. Suddenly, they’d disappeared. This rough patch sent small businesses reeling everywhere. The City of Edina decided to invest part of their federal CARES Act aid funding into their community members during this trying time. They gave 15 local companies roughly $10,000 worth of marketing time. The businesses could pick what projects they needed help with, and our agency would help them accomplish them.
Marketing Analysis & Planning
The first step was getting to know the companies. Our marketing team conducted in-depth interviews. During these, we discovered their history, goals, and areas to work on. We created a marketing analysis and plan for each business. These gave us a direction to go with each business and gave each business clear insights into our process and the entire project.
Digital, Web, SEO
Each business had different needs. For some, we revamped their website and added online shopping capabilities. For others, we created digital ad campaigns. For a few, we even assisted with social media and content creation. Whatever the company needed help with, we rose to the challenge. Our priority was helping each place bring in more customers and understand marketing better.
How-to Consulting Guides & Webinar
Based on our initial interviews and analysis, we created Marketing Consulting guides. Each business received one completely custom to them. It was filled with information about the company, their team, their needs, and where we suggested they focus their future marketing efforts. These guides acted as a map for our work but also gave each team a path to follow once our collaboration concluded. To add more value, we also hosted an educational webinar focused on relevant marketing topics.
Results
Each business now has a marketing plan, a social media guide, and professional marketing recommendations. Some businesses have taken our plans and run with them on their own, and others continue to partner with us. Thanks to the investment by The City of Edina and their federal CARES Act aid funding, their local businesses survived the pandemic, and many are flourishing.
