Why Digital Marketing is Important for Small Business

Small businesses that are just getting started frequently concentrate on how to attract their first clients and use conventional advertising methods like print ads, brochures, and even outdoor advertising.

There is a better and simpler way, even though this tactic might occasionally generate some revenue. To fully utilize all of the channels at their disposal, small businesses should take into account the worldwide online marketplace and reap the benefits of combining traditional and digital marketing.

All things considered, 76% of customers research a business online before going to a store, and 45% are likely to come back after discovering a well-established online presence on a local search page, per Visual Objects research. Digital channels should be considered by all small businesses, regardless of their age or level of experience.

This blog post will examine six strategies for using internet platforms to market and expand your company.

Conduct Competitor Research

If you want your business to succeed, you must observe and take note of what your rivals are doing. To gain insight into what is and isn’t working, observe what your rivals are doing on the internet.

Conduct a competitor analysis and do your research with these types of questions in mind:

What type of content do they use (e.g. a company blog, videos or visuals, custom landing pages, original research or user-generated content?)
How do they communicate their brand and what makes them unique?
How well do they engage with the audience and how (e.g. social media channels?
Do they have influencer partnerships?

Luckily there are some great tools that can help in your research so it doesn’t become a drain on your time such as:
Semrush: great for keyword ranking and keyword traffic
Ahrefs: useful for discovering competitors’ most linked content
Moz: another platform for keyword ranking
BuzzSumo: track popular content types and influencers
Google Alerts: a tool for tracking mentions of any competitor you choose to track
Ontolo: a great tool for backlinks and content marketing
Similarweb: gives you insights on digital channels used, website traffic, keywords and social channels

Leverage SEO

A person will almost certainly use a search engine like Google to begin their search for any good or service. Even with an online presence, you may not be found if your rivals are easier to find due to their higher search engine rankings.

Therefore, in order to outrank your rivals, you must also understand the significance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in addition to developing an optimized website.

This is made possible by keywords, so be sure to investigate which long-tail and short tail keywords are best for your company. This will assist you in finding content gaps that you can fill to establish authority, identifying and retaining phrases with high search volume, and ignoring keywords with low volume.
In this case, local SEO is crucial for small businesses. While you can try to educate and market to people all over the world, local SEO can make your company more noticeable in Google search results based on queries targeted at particular regions.

Another option is to use Google Business Profile, a directory that gives you the ability to show business details on Google Maps and local searches.

Be Proactive and Reactive on Social Media

One of the most effective digital channels for small businesses is social media. According to Datareportal data, there are over 5 billion users worldwide, which equates to 62% of the world’s population. This makes it an excellent platform for promoting your brand.

Choosing which social media platform to use for your business could be a big challenge because there are so many options, each with a distinct audience and content requirements.

Choosing the appropriate social media platform or platforms for your business is the key to success on these platforms. This implies that you have to know who uses what platform and what kind of content they are interested in.

Target existing customers

Even if your email marketing list isn’t very large, it’s still beneficial to nurture members. Ultimately, they are present for a purpose, be it making a purchase or utilizing a promotional offer.

To make sure you’re safeguarding the information of your customers, keep in mind that sending emails through Google and Yahoo requires you to be aware of data protection laws and legislation.

It is a good idea to apply some structure to your email database before it becomes out of control. Divide up your clientele into segments so you can send them customized, pertinent content.

These segments could be:

⦁ GeAction (e.g. purchase or download)
⦁ nder
⦁ Age group
⦁ Location
⦁ Abandonment cart
⦁ Interests
⦁ Purchase history
⦁ Engagement

Reach out to influencers

One who has a large social media following and is regarded as an authority in a particular field is an influencer. One of the best things about using one is that they are talented and creative content creators. The correct voice may become valuable for your brand as a result.

Influencer marketing has become increasingly popular in recent years as a means of reaching out to consumers for marketers. Because influencer marketing has become so successful and well liked, according to Statista, 22% of marketers allocate between 10% and 20% of their marketing budget to it, and another 26% allocate more than 40%.

Making the right choice in influencer marketing is crucial to its effectiveness. The number of followers might not be the most crucial element for small businesses. It holds greater significance.

Types of influencer activities are:

⦁ Sponsored posts
⦁ Partnerships or collaborations
⦁ Giveaways
⦁ Brand ambassadors
⦁ Guest blogs
⦁ Event hosting
⦁ Unboxing videos