Businesses are often challenged to do more with less. In a small company, your marketing and creative budget often dictates wearing several hats. Dividing time between design, database marketing, social media or other important marketing function is just standard operating procedure for creatives in a small business.
Creative Teams with Low Budgets
What’s a creative team with a low (or no!) budget to do? The good news is that the web is full of low or no-cost resources that your creative gurus can use, even if your budget is el zippo. Check out these ideas:
El Cheapo Design Programs
Canva is cool. While it is a little like “Designing for Dummies,” we still think it has a decent, robust package of ideas to draw upon. With more than a million graphics, and templates for social media, presentations, posters, blogs, and more, Canva is a great site for the novice graphic designer with a low budget.
Royalty Free Stock Photos
The following sites have adoped the CC0 creative commons licensing approach. You can modify and distribute their photos without asking permission or buying a license. You can sign up and have the latest and greatest new pics sent to your inbox each week. The sites are also easy to search if you’re looking for something specific. These are not your Grandpa’s graphics: The content is interesting and different from the standard stock graphics you’ll find on some of the older, more established sites.
Free Social Media
Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are all still free for businesses. Blogging on your website remains one of the best, inexpensive ways to build street cred with an audience. But if a tree falls in the forest… Posting on social media is just the first step. Gauging who is really reading it will help you hone your content.
Those clever Google-ites know that savvy marketers need a way to organize and manage social media campaigns on the cheap. If you have a gmail address, you can use Google docs as a way to organize, create, and do some of the heavy lifting required to get marketing campaigns off the ground. Don’t count out Instagram for pushing visual content out as well. Get more tips for using free social media tools here.
While free and groovy sites spring up all the time, you can trust the team at Artisan Talent to have the right people with the scoop on top tools for cash-strapped businesses seeking to make a big creative splash. Contact us to find out how we can find the perfect addition to help your small business make a large impact.
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