Many small business owners make the mistake of believing just having an online presence is enough to gain visibility and attract customers. However, any business that has been online long enough will know that it takes much more hard work than simply having a website. That’s where digital marketing comes in, allowing you to boost the prospects of your small business online.
Online marketing done the right way can have a profound impact on your small business. Amazingly, digital marketing is something you can do yourself and boost your brand awareness and attract customers.
In this article, we will look at the top tips for digitally marketing a small business in 2020. Before that, it is also worth noting that you could use a digital marketing agency to help drive impact and customers. Again, you can digitally market your business yourself by following the tips below, but a professional marketing agency can give you optimum outcomes.
What Is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing (or online marketing) involves specific marketing techniques specific to the internet that you use on digital devices. There are various strategies that fall under the umbrella of digital marketing, including:
- Content Creation and Marketing
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
- Email Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Social Media Marketing (SMM)
- Affiliate Marketing
Importantly for small business owners, most of the best digital marketing techniques are completely free. All you need is a clear strategy and a willingness to put in hard work to reach customers. Alternatively, you could use a digital marketing agency to do all the heavy lifting for you without compromising results.
Top reasons why Digital Marketing is important in 2002
Digital marketing is a great unifier and gives equal opportunity
Not only major organizations can make the most of online marketing. Perhaps the best thing about digital marketing is that it allows your small business to compete evenly against much larger competitors in your niche. Most digital marketing techniques are free at best and very affordable at worst, so no-one will out-compete your business in terms of budget.
A cost-effective way of reaching customers
The biggest challenge for any business is reaching customers. For small businesses, this challenge is greater because of a lack of resources. Digital marketing is an essential tool that can help you reach customers without having to make much of a financial investment.
Helps you to target a customer base
Digital marketing has become preferred over traditional advertising for small businesses because it provides a direct line to customers. For example, if your small business has a target demographic of people aged 20 to 35, you can tailor your digital marketing output to directly reach potential customers in that defined group.
Reach people on the device they use
Gone are the days when people were living their digital lives on a PC. These days, users are engaging with websites and social media on smartphones. Digital marketing allows you to optimize your advertising to reach customers on mobile, whether through social media or a mobile-friendly website.
Direct line to social media
Over three billion people around the world use social media services like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Digital marketing goes hand-in-hand with social media. In fact, social media has become a significant venue for focusing a digital marketing campaign for many small businesses.
Increase revenue
When a digital marketing campaign is successful, your small business will receive more conversions. This means more people will redirect to your business platforms, such as a social media profile, web store, or website. While conversions don’t necessarily mean more customers, higher conversion rates almost always result in generating more business.
Boost your brand
While the overall goal of an online marketing strategy should be to boost conversions, sales, and revenue, there are ancillary benefits. At the very least, your digital marketing should focus on boosting your brand name. Your company advertising reaching more people inherently means more people will know more about your brand and what you offer.
Results are measurable
The digital space is a marketer’s dream because it gives concise feedback information. You can measure how your advertising is working through various metrics. Small businesses can see how many conversions their strategy is generating and how many of those conversions are transitioning to customers.
While the list above is an excellent starter pack for why digital marketing is important, it is only scratching the surface. There are many more reasons why digital marketing is something you absolutely should do as a small business owner. It is important you start your digital marketing strategy today and make the most of your business online.