Operating a business has been extremely challenging over the last 18 months. Digital marketing has been an effective tool that many businesses have integrated into their business practice. In this blog we’re telling you why digital marketing is important for small businesses.
For some small businesses, the beginning of the pandemic was the first time that digital marketing had been considered. With frequent lockdowns, it became the only method of trading for some which led to it being highly relied upon.
So why is digital marketing important for small businesses?
Brand growth
Having an online presence can really accelerate your brand’s growth. Whether you’ve got a website, social media pages or both, giving potential customers the opportunity to find your business online will have a great impact. A lot of users like to do their research before they interact with a brand so offering multiple methods for this could lead to more customers. Small businesses are usually very successful with social media due to interacting in a more personal way.
Online research
Online sales have soared in the last 18 months due to various restrictions. If users know what they’re looking for but they don’t know where to purchase it from, it’s highly likely that they’re going to search the internet for businesses. Sometimes, it’s not always possible to be the number one result on the search engine results page and that’s OK. This is where businesses can conduct further research into digital marketing tools such as SEO and PPC to enhance their online presence and potentially rank higher.
Gain a further reach
Social media is a large part of digital marketing and with more and more platforms offering additional features specifically for businesses, there’s no reason why you can’t be on there. One huge benefit of social media platforms is the potential for high levels of sharing. Platforms allow you to share links directly from your website which can help to increase traffic. With more people sharing your content, more of their friends and followers will also be exposed to your products and/or services.
Multiple trading methods
The last 18 months has proved the importance of having multiple trading methods if you can. If you have a trading premises, you may not have considered utilising digital marketing before but the truth is that you don’t even need to use a website for selling products, it could just be an informative site telling users where they can go to purchase from you. However, if you do want to sell your products online, there are many options to create a professional and appealing website.
Tracking
Tracking your marketing efforts has never been easier. There are many tools that can provide valuable information that can help your business to progress. Whether you want to see your bounce rate, a heatmap of actions on certain pages or how people are browsing your website, it’s all possible with digital marketing tracking. Having access to information like this as a small business can be really helpful in guiding you to see what works and what doesn’t.
As a small business, there’s never been a more important time to invest in your digital marketing. Having an online presence can really help to excel your brand and grow your customer base.
If you need any help with your digital marketing, please don’t hesitate to contact us, we are always happy to help.