ROUND 6 HAS NOW OPENED AND CLOSES AT 5PM ON 26th JUNE 2019. Contact BeKonstructive Marketing to find out how we can help you.
Did you know that there is a government grant that can help you pay for some of your digital marketing efforts? Things like developing a new website, creating website content or audio and visual media, upgrading your website to e-commerce as well as digital strategy development, digital planning and training for you and your employees can all be covered by the digital grants program. That’s right – you get to improve your online presence, and the government flips the bill!
Some of the services that are covered by the Small Business Digital Grant include:
- Content marketing projects
- Digital marketing projects
- Consulting and strategy
- Training and coaching
- Campaign strategy and development
- Website development
What is the Small Business Digital Grant Program?
Short Answer: It is a grant of up to $10k that is given to small and medium sized Queensland businesses to spend on digital services, assets and technologies.
Long Answer: It is an initiative by the Queensland government to help small and medium sized businesses compete in the digital sphere. It is designed to help boost our economy by providing Queensland businesses with the tools and funding that they require to bring their products and services online, enabling them to operate nationally and globally.
The grant includes matched funding of up to $10k (incl. GST), which basically means that the government will match you dollar-for-dollar for your digital marketing projects up to the value of $10,000. So you should think of it kinda like a 50% discount on any digital projects you have going on.
The grant program is run quarterly, and if you miss out in one quarter, you are allowed to re-apply the following quarter, provided you still meet the criteria.
What are the Ts&Cs of the Small Business Digital Grant?
We recommend checking the Business Queensland website for the latest info, but this is a bit of a break-down of the basics:
- The minimum grant funding amount is $1,000 – this means your project must cost a minimum of $2,000 in total and the gov will cover 50% of it.
- The maximum amount of funding is $10,000 – this means if you have a $20,000 project they will cover $10,000. If you have a $22,000 project, they will cover $10,000 and if you have a $50,000 project, they will cover $10,000. Do you see where I’m going with this?
- There are a few date cut-offs that you have to comply with – the project has to be started and completed within 3 months of successfully applying for the grant.
- You also have to take a short survey post-project.
- You will pay for the whole project up-front, and then provide proof of payment – Queensland Business will then reimburse you for their share.
- You will need to get quotes from your suppliers prior to submitting your application. If your application is successful, you will be notified and then you can start your project. You MUST apply before starting your project, and you CAN NOT apply for funding on a project that has already begun.
- You have to be a small-to-medium business; this means an annual turnover of less than 2million dollars and less than 20 staff.
How do I Apply for the Small Business Digital Grant Program?
There are a bunch of forms online that you will need fill out. You will need to justify why you need the services or products you want funding for and how they will help your business grow. Talk about how the project will enable you to employ more people, operate more efficiently, compete in new markets or develop more innovative products etc. As mentioned above, you will also need to have a formal quote from the supplier/s that you will be working with on the project.
Which BeKonstructive Services Are Covered by the Grant?
Almost all BeKonstructive Marketing services are covered by the Small Business Digital Grant. The main item that is not covered is digital advertising (so things like Google AdWords and Facebook Advertising), but the strategy and planning for an advertising campaign IS covered.
Most digital marketing projects are covered – so things like building a new website, developing a digital marketing strategy (plus many of the strategy roll-out items), and any of our consulting and training services. Furthermore, most of our content marketing services including copywriting, graphic design, video creation etc. are also allowed, provided they are projects (as opposed to on-going management or monitoring services). We can also combine several services into one project.
Some project ideas may include:
- Developing a series of informative or educational videos
- Re-developing your business website including professional copywriting
- Creating a social media strategy, including templates, tools and guidelines for you to manage internally. We can also add training sessions to up-skill your staff to manage your social media internally.
- An advertising strategy including planning, creative and landing pages.
Sign Me Up!
BeKonstructive Marketing have helped a couple of our clients successfully apply for the Digital Grant, and can help guide you through the application process. If you’re interested in this, you can register your interest with BeKonstructive Marketing at bek@bekonstructive.com.au, and we’ll let you know as soon as the next round of funding is announced.
