‍Kayla Elliott: Marketing Changes in Small Businesses Post-Pandemic

The pandemic hit many businesses hard, with many having to reevaluate how they market their products and services entirely. You often hear about all the large companies and how they have made it work online, but what about those small-town businesses? The ones that only have a shop on the high street and no online presence. It would be interesting to know how they adapted to the changes the pandemic has brought us.

Luckily, we could speak to Kayla Elliott, a marketing specialist who focuses on helping businesses based in small towns. Her perspective of the happenings during the pandemic allowed us to delve into what small businesses have done to stay afloat. Most small businesses have no website or form of social media, so Kayla told us how they made changes.

In today’s Rediscover Marketing article, we’ll have a closer look at how small businesses can strengthen their brand in a time where most things are online. Similarly, we’ll evaluate what this means for their futures. 

Meeting Kayla Elliott

Kayla Elliott is the former VP of Marketing for PC Matic and also the founder of Ell Consulting. She started working in the marketing realm around ten years ago. When she first started out, she was working at a substance abuse facility as an intake clinician. However, she decided she wanted something less emotionally heavy and was taken under the marketing director’s wing. After that, she got her MBA and from there continued to venture into marketing. She then moved to PC Matic for five years. She started at an entry-level position marketing position and made her way up. 

Since Kayla grew up in a small town in Nebraska, she likes to work with small communities where their village’s livelihood is their main street. She does what she can to help sustain their main streets, which is why she set up Ell Consulting. Her main focus is to help them with growth strategy and brand awareness. 

The Power of Digital Platforms

Working with small businesses, Kayla has become accustomed to traditional methods of marketing. However, most of the marketing relies on word of mouth at gatherings and events, which isn’t happening during the pandemic. Kayla believes that going outside the box is the new norm and can be done by using digital platforms. 

According to Kayla, maintaining relationships and building new ones through technological platforms is needed for small businesses to grow during and post-pandemic. She told us that it’s good to have these platforms to utilize relationships. Basically, optimization of technology is the way to go. 

Another aspect of digital platforms that Kayla believes is of utmost importance when it comes to small businesses is e-commerce. Since most small businesses she works with are purely brick and mortar on the main street, a huge concern for them is how they can stay in business when you can’t go outside your house. She believes that you can reduce this concern by making your business available online. You won’t be limited to only foot traffic and a smaller radius; you can now expand to anywhere. 

Although there are these options to use the power of digital platforms to enhance your business now and in the future, some small businesses find it overwhelming. Kayla encourages everyone to at least consider it. They may decide not to go online in the end, but it’s worth the thought. 

Creating Valuable Content 

When discussing data with Kayla, she believes that people get too wrapped up in vanity metrics. Instead, she stresses is to look at insights on each social media platform. You should look at what drives engagement and what posts are creating the most engagement. Doing this will allow you to make decisions about content making in the future. 

You shouldn’t post on social media just for the sake of it, instead, look at your data and see how you can use it for valuable content in the future. Understanding what your audience is telling you by how much interaction you get on one post is incredibly important for making other content they’ll want to see. The end result of what you do with your data is what matters the most. 

Ending the interview, we asked Kayla if she had any other key points to share with you all. She elaborated on her small business advice by saying that you should still be searchable even if you don’t want to go down the e-commerce route. Make sure you have your business listed on Google somehow so someone looking for your product or service can find you.