The Importance of Digital Marketing for Small Business
It goes without saying that having a digital presence is a non-negotiable element for all businesses. In fact, 60% of shoppers begin their product research online, while 30% of those shoppers complete their purchase online . With over half of potential customers conducting online research, it is essential to have a website and to be present on social media so potential customers can find you.
But is that enough? If you want to grow your business, you probably need more: more awareness, more traffic, more leads, more purchases, all leading to more revenue. How can you get more? One of the most effective, efficient, and cost-effective ways is through digital marketing.
Why is digital marketing important for small businesses?
Digital marketing is important for small businesses because it allows you to get more business by expanding your reach and increasing your revenue. It helps you compete with larger companies or focus on your local market. Depending on your goals and strategy, digital marketing can take your business to the next level.
Updating your site to follow conversion rate optimization (CRO) best practices ensures that the people landing on your site are having a pleasant, guided user experience, increasing conversion rate and therefore increasing overall performance of your website.
Implementing and maintaining a strong SEO strategy is so important for a small business to improve visibility on search engine results pages. Incorporating proper keywords, making sure you have a strong technical foundation, and having optimized content not only tells your potential customers who you are, but also informs Google about your business so they can send you more relevant traffic.
Another great way to increase your business is by utilizing paid online ads (also known as pay-per-click or PPC). PPC is an effective way to target relevant audiences and demographics while optimizing for specific goals. Incorporating PPC ads into your marketing strategy is an effective way to increase traffic, purchases, or leads.
How can digital marketing help small businesses?
Utilizing digital marketing can help small businesses in a myriad of ways. By incorporating effective SEO, PPC, and CRO strategies, businesses can increase visibility and authority, drive more traffic, and increase conversions. What else can digital marketing do to help drive your business growth?
Opportunity to scale
A strong digital marketing strategy can help businesses grow and scale. Not only can you reach new customers, but you can also increase authority and business with your current clients.
Communicate with past and future customers
A thoughtful content strategy utilizing SEO best practices will help you keep your current customers updated on your latest business news and offerings while expanding awareness to prospective customers as well.
Engage with new audiences
All elements of digital marketing help expand your reach and engage with new audiences in their own way. PPC helps drive new traffic by targeting interests, demographics, and relevant keywords. SEO works to improve rankings in the search engine results page to increase organic traffic. Once these new users hit your site, CRO ensures they are easily able to navigate it, keeping them informed and engaged during their user journey.
Increase the number of prospects to acquire new customers
Optimizing your paid strategy for your specific goals can increase traffic to your site, increasing the number of potential prospects. Retargeting non-converting visitors and utilizing proper CRO techniques can increase conversion rate and grow your customer base.
Easier to measure than traditional marketing methods
Digital marketing has easier to track KPI’s compared to traditional marketing methods. With digital marketing, you can see just how many people click, view, and interact with your ads – you can’t do that with a billboard, print, or TV commercials. This is super helpful for smaller businesses because it better identifies what is working and what isn’t and helps guide exactly where to shift focus and better allocate budgets.
What are the best digital marketing strategies that can help small businesses?
Each digital marketing strategy has its place in overall marketing strategy; however, some may be more beneficial than others based on your goals and current website set up.
Design and Conversion Rate Optimization
A fast, easy-to-navigate, mobile-friendly, and thoughtfully designed website is the first step to increase awareness of your business. Using CRO to optimize your website and make the user journey as easy as possible comes next in improving your website’s performance. With a small business, your website is essential to get people to know your business and buy your products and services. Every lift in conversion rate has wide-ranging business impacts so the time and effort spent on your website is well worth it. Think your site isn’t performing as well as it could be? Check out our Website Services .
SEO
Increasing your organic search ranking means you are capturing an audience that is already searching for your products or services. Ensuring your website content includes relevant keywords and making sure you have a strong technical base is a great way to increase organic search performance which means more users coming to your site. Want to know how to make it happen? Check out how to get started with SEO for a step-by-step guide.
Social Media
Having a strong social presence and managing your social media engagement is an easy and cost-effective way to directly connect with current and potential customers at scale, taking your digital marketing efforts to the next level.
PPC
Utilizing paid ads is a great way for small businesses to expand their reach, increase brand awareness, and optimize for a specific goal. PPC allows for very specific targeting, allowing for better management of budget, ensuring every dollar goes exactly where you need it to go. It can feel daunting to start, but you don’t have to run PPC on your own- we can help! Learn more about our paid media services .
How much should a small business spend on digital marketing?
How much a business should spend is dependent on your overall goals. It is important you choose a digital marketing agency who is the right fit for your business needs, aligned with your values, and with the expertise to help guide you.
If you’re looking for a strategic partner to help drive your growth, contact us today !
