Google and Facebook Resources for Your Small Business During COVID-19

Many small businesses are facing uncertain times during the COVID-19 pandemic. Continually changing health and economic factors have made normal business functions difficult for everyone. Thankfully, many companies are offering free resources to ease the financial and technological worries small businesses are now facing. Facebook and Google are two of the companies offering grants to businesses to help offset unexpected costs.Let’s take a look at what they have to offer and how you can best access these grants.

Google’s Grants for Your Business and Community:

First, let’s review Google’s grants, credits, and financial support. The CEO of Google announced in March that the company will provide more than $800 million to support small business and crisis response. Google will release funds to support their employees, provide medical supplies, and assist schools and businesses. 

Google Grants at a Glance:

Google plans to provide aid that will benefit your community:

• Google Cloud credits for academic institutions and researches that are working on the COVID-19 pandemic
• Direct financial support to increase the production capacity for personal protective equipment (PPE) and lifesaving medical devices. 
• Grants to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In addition, Google is providing grants specific to small and medium sized businesses.

Two Grants for Your Small Business: 

We think that these grants will be the most useful to your small business to recover from financial setbacks and plan for the future. 

• Grants to NGOs and financial institutions to help provide access capital to small businesses. 
  • These grants can be used to provide for individuals and communities that have been neglected by other financial institutions.
  • Google is also providing $15 million for nonprofit businesses.
• $340 million in Google Ads credits
  • Google is offering ad credits to allow small and medium sized businesses to offset the cost of keeping in touch with customers during the pandemic. 

How to Use Google Ad Credits:

Are you wondering how if your small business is eligible for the ad credits offered? We’ve done that research for you! In order to be eligible for these ad credits, you must meet the following:

• Be a small or medium-sized business
• Have had active ad campaigns ten out of 12 months in 2019
• Have had active ad campaigns in January and/or February of 2020
• Adhere to Googles’ advertising policies

If you meet all of the above, you can expect to see the credit applied to your Google Ads account starting in late May. 

Get Help Managing Google Ads:

To read more about the credits for which you qualify and how to use them, you can read Google’s support article at https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9803410.

If you qualify for ad credits, ADVYON Business Technologies can also help with your new campaign. Our certified experts are able to assist you in running campaigns. If your business does not qualify for the grant, ADVYON has access to credit vouchers and can help you make a strategy that will benefit your business even in these challenging times. 

Facebook’s Grant for Your Small Business:

Next, let’s review the Facebook grant we think is most useful for your small business.Facebook is offering a Small Business Grant Program of $100 million in cash grants and ad credits to help during this challenging time. To be eligible for the grant, you must meet the following criteria:

• Be a for-profit company
• Have between 2 and 50 employees
• Have been in business for over a year
• Have experienced challenges from COVID-19
• Be in or near a location where Facebook operates

How to Access Facebook’s Grant:

To see if you are in an eligible location for this grant, follow these steps:

Step 1:

Visit https://www.facebook.com/business/boost/grants

Step 2:

Scroll down to the 3rd section “Who’s Eligible?”

Step 3:

Click the button “See Available Locations”

Step 4:

If you are located in an eligible area, you can proceed from there to the application process through Ureeka.

Local Areas Not Eligible for Grant and Where to Find Other Help:

The only companies with headquarters in our Tri-State area of South Carolina, North Carolina, or Georgia that are eligible for this grant are companies in Fulton County in Atlanta, Georgia. However, if you are not in an eligible area, you may be eligible for other benefits and ad credits for Facebook. 

ADVYON is a South Carolina business and we want to help our neighbors succeed in any way we can. If you are not eligible for the Facebook grant or are struggling with any other marketing decisions during the COVID-19 crisis and want to make sure you come out on top when this is all over, reach out and let ADVYON Marketing help. Call us at (843) 324-5824 or email us at [email protected].