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The U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) disaster relief program is now capped at only $150,000 — a fraction of the normal limit — the New York Times reported, which portends tough times ahead for marketers whose budgets have already been bludgeoned.

More than eight million applicants are vying to borrow relief funds just to survive the pandemic. Nearly 400,000 businesses have already run into the cap, according to reports. The process is riddled with long delays, complicated processes and, worse, alleged fraudulence.

A Goldman Sachs survey of more than 1,500 small business owners found that half don’t think they’ll be able to continue operating for more than three months amid current conditions. Temporary shut downs are rampant with no end in sight, as the number of infections have spiked over the last month.

Small-business marketers can’t afford to make missteps in spending. Even in the early days of the pandemic, half of global marketing leaders said they were bracing for budget cuts, according to a CMO Council survey.

[ Related: Download CMO Council’s study, “Business Traction from Smarter SMB Interaction: Advancing Excellence in Enterprise SMB Marketing.” ]

All of which is why the CMO Council just launched a major small business post-rescue and rejuvenation campaign with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, called “Help Small Grow Tall — Go Digital, It’s Pivotal.”

The campaign will deliver thought leadership on recover strategies and intensive online training covering a range of critical best practices, such as cloud service migration, customer engagement and e-commerce. It’s funded by big brand CMO Council members serving small to medium enterprises.

They include category leaders in: CRM, office products, transportation and logistics, financial services, lending, payroll, payments, benefits, insurance, healthcare, e-commerce, among others. The CMO Council will enlist support from social media channels, television and radio networks, media groups, payment processors, community banks, and accounting and tax firms.

Despite news of the SBA’s lowered limit, there are some good signs for small businesses. More than 70 percent to small businesses in America have received financial aid, the Financial Times reported. Some $130 billion in small business aid still has not been used.

Stay tuned.

In the meantime, here are four helpful tips for small businesses trying to rebuild, courtesy of CEO Steve Clayton at NetBlaze, a small business digital marketing platform:

1. It’s essential to be listed on review sites like Yelp, Trip Advisor, Angie’s List and other industry specific sites to make it easy for customers to find you.
   
   
2. Having a social media presence allows you to stay in front of your customers and attract new ones. Post authentic and engaging content at least three times per week to regularly appear in followers’ feeds.
   
   
3. A CRM (customer relationship management) tool allows you to stay in touch with your customers through avenues like email and text to keep them engage. You can offer coupons and discounts while letting them know you’re still operating.

Continually assess your SEO (search engine optimization) by exploring things you can do to boost your Google Ranking that will allow you to be seen by those looking for a business like yours.