The peculiarity of digital marketing for small business comes into focus in securing the first set of customers.
Otherwise, the business development journey may take a while if business owners follow conventional methods.
Some of the traditional marketing methods include print media, electronic media, coupon mailers, billboards, signposts, and non-digital ads.
Customers will eventually find such a business if the product or service is excellent, but you need to reach them actively.
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Moreover, one outstanding benefit of marketing small businesses online is the massive audience at their disposal.
Hence, no matter how new, the opportunity is right there in the vast online marketplace.
What is Digital Marketing for Small Business?
The online marketplace provides not only a large space but also a larger group of people at once.
This group of people always surpass the number you can reach locally or by traditional marketing strategies.
Yet, reaching this vast audience is possible through cost-effective and quantitative means.
This electronic method of securing real customers through online tools such as social media is digital marketing.
A survey proved that up to 76% of small businesses agree that digital marketing can practically help achieve their goals.
Some Reservations for Digital Marketing by Small Business Owners
Considering whether digital marketing is more beneficial than traditional marketing, you will undoubtedly need to answer some questions.
Unfortunately, using digital marketing strategies can become a bit challenging for small business owners.
In fact, 63% of small businesses are still active in print marketing strategies.
But why would you postpone using digital marketing methods to promote your small business?
As much as business owners may have some answers, those answers may be mere excuses in the long run.
Some of the common reasons some business owners give to excuse digital marketing strategies include the following:
- Small business owners think they don’t have time to manage digital marketing strategies.
- Another concern is the money to invest in digital marketing that new business owners may claim not to have. As an alternative, they may be unwilling to employ a digital marketing manager.
- Small business dreads the competition that exists in the digital marketplace.
- At times, these business owners are overwhelmed by the enormity of the digital task. Therefore, they may prefer to take things instead slowly and one step at a time.
- Some digital marketing strategies may require small business owners to have learned the fundamental principles of marketing.
- Digital marketing may not suit business owners who prefer the passive way of waiting for clients rather than actively seeking them.
- Besides, small business owners may have a little vision of only a few customers.
Why Your Business needs Digital Marketing
Contrary to the doubts about digital marketing strategies’ effectiveness, small businesses can still profit from this method.
Some of the reasons why you need to consider these digital marketing strategies for your small business include the following:
A. Your Customers are Online
The first reason why small business needs digital marketing is that customers already exists online.
And the digital marketplace is ready to connect you with those who need your products and services.
Practically speaking, these potential customers may already be looking for your brand through research.
When they search for any term, they expect to find your business brand on a website or social media handle.
Also, the first impression or encounter they have with you must be convincing enough to make them stay.
B. Your Competitors are Online
Apart from your potential customers that are your primary focus, your competitors are also online.
In other words, if the audience cannot find your business online, they will go for your competitors.
Ask yourself, what are your competitors doing that is yielding results? What can you learn from their success or failures?
What strategies are your competitors employing? How can you do it better and thus beat them to the game?
Do they run blogging, video, audio, text, image graphic ads, or a combination of all?
C. The World is Quickly Going Digital
A digital world depends on an entirely new system of marketing to make a small business flourish. You don’t want to be left out of such a wheel of profitable trends.
Furthermore, you can think of a digital marketing space as a mighty ocean that can drown your small business.
On the other hand, you can see a compartmentalized market with your own space.
How Digital Marketing Helps Small Business
Small businesses can immensely gain from the enormous opportunity that digital marketing provides.
However, according to the business stage, there are a few tricks to what small business owners need to do differently.
Nevertheless, below are some of the great benefits of online marketing to small business:
- Online or digital marketing can help a small business easily secure the attention of prospects. Also, they can learn the specific needs of these potential customers and tailor their offers to them.
- The digital marketplace can be organized into layers with specific characteristics within the larger global platform.
- Small business owners can use digital marketing strategies to reach more customers with fewer funds than traditional marketing. Consequently, marketers can also manage this budget in a way to optimize the achieved results.
- The digital marketplace is tremendously profiting for brand awareness and loyalty. In other words, a business can grow its product and service quality to impress a specific audience.
- Amazingly, these strategies allow you to track your progress in marketing campaigns and make adjustments where necessary.
How to do Digital Marketing for Small Business
Below are some essential digital marketing strategies and tips for small business owners.
Each of the simple tips below is easy to implement and promises a profitable foreseeable future.
1. Know your Audience
The first step to a successful digital marketing campaign for a small business begins with identifying your audience.
By these terms, you can identify their characteristics, including demography (gender, age, ordinary occupation, and so on), needs, and behaviour.
As you identify this audience, it helps to strategize further on reaching them and meeting these needs.
2. Set clear Business Goals
Apart from the focus that setting business goals gives, you can also measure your digital marketing efforts’ progress.
Therefore, before setting out on implementing digital marketing strategies, a small business must define what its overall goal is.
While generic goals such as increasing conversion and sales in your market niche have a more specific place.
For instance, a survey identified the top 6 goals of digital marketing for companies as:
- Conversion of leads to customers
- Increase in business website traffic
- More support for their revenue generation
- Increase in brand engagement
- Creating and promoting brand awareness
- Generating qualified leads
3. Create an Online Market Brand
Creating an online brand includes what you want your potential client to think of you. No matter the size of a business, no one wants to leave that to mere chance.
Branding helps to define the product/service, your team, and external audience. And in this digital age, it doesn’t cost much to create and sustain a brand.
Digital marketing can take care of the identity of your business product or services. Branding involves the following items:
- A captivating and memorable business name
- A great designed logo that illustrates your new business
- Beautiful colour combination
- A professional website with optimum user experience through educative content
- Other promotional content that your business may need
4. Grow Website Marketing through SEO and Keyword Research
Without a website in the digital market space, your business is essentially not existing. Whereas small companies may not be able to afford their own website, there are other options.
However, an integral part of website management is Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which involves organic ranking in search engines.
SEO helps a website rank higher in search results from popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
The dynamic tactics in SEO can be tricky and lengthy, but the effort is always worth it in the long run.
SEO is also fundamentally dependent on keyword research, which are the search words and phrases your audience uses.
With time, it will attract more traffic by meeting the demands of your audience.
5. Design a Referral Program
Setting up referral programs is one of the most effective ways to grow a small business through digital marketing.
Digital marketing services and programs help track the progress of a business through referral program tools.
It also contains analytics tools with incentives to those who promote specific actions.
6. Build an Engaging Email List
Another exciting tool for affordable digital marketing promotion is by growing an email list of customer retention.
This strategy also allows you to acquire, store, manage and establish direct contact with your customers.
It really doesn’t matter your business’s size or type, whether a blog, online store, online users are available.
Moreover, email marketing can quickly help you convert leads in their droves to return to your site and take action.
7. Use Google My Business
Separating this method is deliberate because it can serve as a good start, particularly for small businesses.
Google My Business is an online directory where you can create an online presence and reach local customers more.
So, if your business cannot afford a website yet, it’s more reason to create and grow Google My Business profile.
The tool also allows you to describe your website, details of your working hours, and analytics report. Start here right away!
8. Use Social Media
We cannot overemphasize the need to build a strong social media presence even if you just thought of a business.
Therefore, social media allows direct, in-time, face-to-face communication with a pool of potential customers.
Statistics show that up to 88% of small businesses invest in social media as an integral part of digital marketing. So, why should your business be left out?
This article contains a list of social media tools that can help grow your business and bring you immense profits.
9. Video Marketing is an Awesome Tool
According to Manifest, 32% of small businesses plan to invest in video marketing as part of digital marketing campaigns.
Since digital marketing now favours mobile compatibility, the business now has better chances to convert more customers through video.
Also, video ads convert more than images and text ads, so why not take advantage of that?
Research also showed that marketing campaigns with videos improve the conversion rate by up to 90%.
Videos allow companies to communicate what the business is about in less than a minute. That’s why you perhaps get more video ads on your mobile device.
10. Let Customers Come to You
Finally, it is time to allow customers to come to you, especially after using every technically possible method.
Since digital marketing allows businesses to reach the world practically, there are no limits to marketing options.
Also, web presence with social media activity, email marketing, and other technical methods increase your chances.
As a result, customers will find you organically, and you need to be ready to meet their needs.
Cost of Digital Marketing for Small Business
As a rule, experts recommend that you plan to spend between 10-20% of expected revenue on digital revenue.
However, when you correctly implement digital marketing for a small business, it can generate up to 109% revenue.
Mind you, and digital marketing should be an ongoing strategy that improves as the business grows.
Small business owners may use in-house strategy to execute digital marketing plans or use free online tools.
This strategy may demand training a staff member or employing a social media manager to join the team.
However, advanced digital marketing features may offer premium services for an affordable fee.
On the other hand, if you need a professional digital marketer, the services may cost a minimum of $200 monthly.
However, some SEO services may cost less, and some may cost more than that value. Some of the essential areas to spend on while launching a full digital marketing campaign for small business include;
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Social Media Marketing (SMM) including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram Ads
- Pay-per-click (PPC) Advertising Costs
- Email marketing Costs
- Video Marketing Costs
- Voice Search Optimization (VSO) Costs
Final word
In conclusion, I’m glad you came this far in this full guide. By now, you can reexamine the step-by-step guide on digital marketing for your small business to thrive.
We have considered;
- What is Digital Marketing for Small Businesses?
- Some Reservations for Digital Marketing by Small Business Owners
- Why a Small Business needs Digital Marketing
- How Digital Marketing can help Businesses
- How to do Digital Marketing for Small Business
- Cost of Digital Marketing for Small Businesses
At this point, we’ll like to hear your success stories.
Which of these strategies did you try in the past?
What were your results like?
Is there a way we can also help you?
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