Planning digital marketing for a small business can be overwhelming as there are so many aspects to consider. If your small business hasn’t seen the many benefits of online marketing, then it can feel hard to justify investing time into it.
Now more than ever it’s important to establish a strong online presence for small business.
Digital marketing is a multibillion-dollar industry worth a projected $1.74 billion by 2033 which is growing at CAGR of 13.6 % (link to content). Many well-established businesses have often not understood digital marketing produces business growth.
In fact, digital marketing strategies provide a valuable opportunity to retain competitiveness and restore growth to the business.
1. Reach new markets
Digital marketing is used when developing new markets. Unlike traditional marketing, where a great deal of effort is involved in establishing awareness in new regions, digital marketing can reach new target audience regardless of their location. Digital marketing offers the potential for global reach, but it also enables precise targeting at the local level. Small businesses use the power of digital marketing to reach new audiences and new markets.
2. Reach specific customer targets
Reach customers where they are. Consumers are searching the web whether it is on social media, search engines or simply watching videos. They are looking for information to answer questions, and to source products or services whether for their personal or professional lives. Digital marketing opens up all these new avenues for customer experience with your business.
3. Grow online visibility and brand awareness
Many of your customers have been to your website, and your website URL is stored in their browser to easily find you again. But if the browser memory is cleaned then that record of quick access to your website is gone.
New buyers at an existing client business will not have your URL stored in their browser, and may not know there is an existing relationship with your company. Their online search will not bring them to you. Unless of course you have established strong online visibility and brand awareness, then both existing as well as new customers won’t find your business.
Digital marketing strengthens your online visibility, ensuring your business is coming up in relevant online searches. Strong online visibility makes it easy for your customers to find your business. This reduces the likelihood they’ll reach out to a competitor, and enables your business to respond to their query, serving them better.
4. Cost effective
Digital marketing trumps traditional marketing with the cost efficiencies it delivers. Small businesses grapple with managing expenses and getting the most value from their marketing budget. The challenge of high expectations against modest budget is an ongoing task of expense management for small businesses.
The good news is that digital marketing is more affordable as compared to traditional marketing channels.
5. Generate audience engagement
Digital marketing enables your business to engage and interact with both existing customers and new potential customers often in real time. Audience engagement starts with crafting content that provides value.
When you have a strong understanding of the audience, this knowledge can help you craft content that will resonate with the audience and engage them.
Digital marketing enables small business to engage with new and existing customers in an efficient, professional manner. There are so many avenues of audience engagement. The social media platforms and social media marketing strategies are proven channels for engagement.
Creating quality content marketing with articles published on your website is a standard practice. Email marketing is highly effective for audience engagement. Google Ads can bring valuable offers with highly measurable results to produce engagement and conversions.
Digital marketing is a powerful tool to reach many interested consumers. Capturing your audience’s attention starts with understanding their pain points. This knowledge may exist in house often with the sales team, or it may require research.
Crafting quality content relevant to each audience segment requires taking the the time to understand audience demographics, buying behaviour, interests and concerns.
Deepen engagement and keep your brand top of mind by offering your audiences interactive experiences. You’ll also deepen engagement and foster a sense of connection and build brand trust. All these are hallmarks of companies who are industry leaders in the online space.
6. Stay ahead of your competitors
Now is the time to invest more in digital marketing because fewer businesses are investing in it, which means the ad rates are going to be lower. So, if you have always dreamt of capturing a larger market share, then this is time to pursue that dream.
Not many business leaders understand the potential of digital marketing for small businesses and this is where you can outperform. By hiring a specialist like Asset Digital to take care of your online marketing needs, you can very well stay ahead of your competition.
7. Grow your sales funnel & improve the buyer journey
Digital marketing provides avenues to grow your sales funnel, producing quality leads generated through these online marketing efforts. A key step in growing the sales funnel is improving the buyer’s journey. This involves a deep understanding of the buyer’s drivers at each stage in their journey: awareness, interest, decision, and action.
We use analytics to understand customer behavior and identify any bottlenecks in the sales funnel or buyer’s journey. The insights gained through analytics will enable you to make the necessary improvements, optimizing the journey and improving conversion rates.
Managing a growing sales funnel is a continuous process of enhancing and improving your buyer’s journey. The reward of increased sales and customer loyalty are well worth the investment.
8. Gain insights and improved customer feedback
The ultimate customer service challenge is to solve the issues of the more difficult customers. They may be reluctant to express their degree of satisfaction, making it impossible to make another sale but not knowing why. On the other hand, some customers will take to online channels to air their frustrations, leaving a business vulnerable.
Digital marketing provides the tools and channels to stay on top of customer feedback, to respond quickly to any issue, and to get early warnings about issues with product quality, sales processes, or other vulnerable customer-facing areas of your business. These improved means for gaining customer insights as well as responding to feedback translate into increased trust and credibility.
People buy from people, and your audiences will see your prompt deft handling even of the crankiest and most difficult customers. (and your willingness and capacity to respond quickly online will translated into more revenue per customer.
9. Build your brand’s reputation
A great deal of effort has been invested in establishing your brand reputation. Traditionally strong brand reputation may translate into new customers earned through word of mouth marketing. When customers believe in your brand, they will continue to see your business as reliable and trustworthy.
In today’s online world, digital marketing is essential to build and strengthen your brand’s reputation. Others will develop an opinion of your brand based on social proof. Using digital channels to share testimonials and stories enables your business to build and grow your brand’s online reputation.
The Final Word
Online marketing is far more than a tools and processes for large national brands. In fact, small businesses and especially niche businesses have the most to gain from digital marketing. With the right digital marketing strategy, the small business owner can not only increase their sales but also lower their overall customer acquisition costs.
At Asset Digital, we are experts in helping businesses unleash the power of online marketing. Request a consultation to learn how we can help your business.