6 Ways Digital Marketing Can Help Small Businesses

Today, the customer has a bigger voice than ever before. Between social networks and review websites like Yelp, anyone can have their say on a business’s products or services. The digital era has democratised access to market information in a way that never existed before, bringing with it new demands for modern businesses. 

In this new world of constant communication, small businesses can find themselves at a significant disadvantage. They might simply not have the time or money to invest in a large-scale marketing campaign, pushing them even further down the totem pole of customer preference.

The good news is that digital marketing can provide small businesses with just as much opportunity as their bigger counterparts. With almost two-thirds of responding market leaders in this study claiming that digital marketing practices had a strong or very strong impact on their business performance, it is clear that there are many rewards for businesses that utilise digital marketing. 

By focusing on some key strategies, companies can leverage consumers’ need for information into a profitable, successful business. But exactly how do these practices help small businesses? Keep reading our expert guide to discover the key benefits of digital marketing for small businesses.

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What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is exactly what it sounds like: marketing that takes place in the digital world. Typically, this means advertising on social media or creating a website with a strong blog to market your business. But digital marketing isn’t limited to these activities. Digital marketing includes many different specialist aspects such as search engine optimisation (SEO), content marketing, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and digital outreach.

As an example, social media marketing uses platforms like Facebook and Instagram to market your goods. This typically involves creating a page for your business, gathering followers, and promoting posts through valuable content. It’s about getting in front of people where they already spend time online and getting them engaged. 

Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and others are growing quickly, and so is the potential revenue increase they offer to small businesses. In spite of this, a whopping 82% of small businesses don’t have social media accounts, meaning you could get well ahead of the competition by using this digital marketing tactic.

Related Reading: What are the Marketing Trends to Watch in 2021?

Key Benefits of Digital Marketing For Small Businesses

Digital Marketing Gets You Noticed Online

In this day and age, digital marketing is one of the most effective ways small businesses can get noticed. One way that digital marketing can help small businesses get noticed is through social media advertising. Social media platforms have millions of users who may see advertisements on the platforms. 

Businesses can create ads on these platforms to get their products in front of more users. This type of advertising is especially effective because many people are already engaged with social media, so it’s a great way for businesses to target their existing customers or spread brand awareness.

As 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine, another way that digital marketing can help small businesses get noticed is through SEO or search engine optimisation. This is the process of increasing the visibility of a website by improving its ranking on search engines like Google and Bing. 

Most users turn to these platforms to find local businesses or products that they are looking for online. By optimising their site properly, small businesses can get more traffic from their audience. 

Another way that digital marketing can help businesses get noticed online is by building your backlink profile and offering your business further key lead opportunities.

Digital Marketing Tracks Key Performance Metrics

Digital marketing is a wonderful tool for small businesses to use in order to keep track of how their business and social media efforts are performing.  Digital marketing provides businesses with insight into how well they are doing in comparison to competitors, which is extremely valuable when it comes to changing strategies and ideas. 

For example, if a company finds that its website page views are lower than another company’s webpage, the small business could use the data gathered from digital marketing to revamp its advertisement campaigns or social media posts.

Digital marketing tracks key performance metrics including: 

• How many people view your page
• How many people click through to read more of your website 
• The number of people who like your page 
• How many people engage with your posts
• The number of people who share your posts 
• How people engage with your content
• What times are the most popular to send out marketing messages that encourage engagement

Digital Marketing Strengthens Branding

Digital marketing is a powerful tool for strengthening company branding. When done right, it can help your business gain recognition and awareness. A strong brand image depends on how others view your business. The representation of that image through its digital footprints like websites, social media, and blogs is vital.

Think of your online marketing channels as an extension of your office; you wouldn’t want it to look unprofessional or run down. You want your brand image to be consistent across all online channels. This is so that customers, clients, and potential employers associate the strongest picture of your business with your company. Great digital marketing will create a memorable image of your brand in the eye of the consumer.

Related reading: How To Do Digital Marketing For Small Business

Digital Marketing Targets Your Audience Effectively

Another benefit of digital marketing for small businesses is being able to target specific customers based on demographics, interests, etc. Since it is so specific, you have the ability to have your content seen by exactly who it’s meant for.  This is the best tool that any business can have in order to branch out.

Another benefit of digital marketing is having the ability to track your customers’ behavior through analytics. Analytics are very important because they show you how your customers like to engage with your website. They also show where your traffic is coming from and how much time they’re spending on each page of your site. Utilising digital marketing allows you to see exactly what your consumers are looking for and study their online behaviours before making key business decisions.

Digital Marketing Increases Conversion Rates

Digital marketing can help small businesses by ensuring their customers have an easier experience when making purchases with them. This increases business conversion rates. It can also influence consumers in their buying decisions. 

If you’re growing an eCommerce business traffic and transactions will be vital, you can see what channels, campaigns, landing pages etc are working, or not working, and adjust accordingly. Over time these consistent incremental improvements will increase your conversion rates.

Digital strategy offers consumers information about products and brands they are interested in, which increases consumer’s willingness to buy. Many small businesses underestimate the effect of digital marketing on a customer’s willingness to buy. This is where they are making a key mistake.

Digital Marketing Boosts Your Business Cost-Effectively

Many marketers need to know how their marketing efforts are providing a good return on investment before allocating more money toward those strategies. Fortunately, digital marketing can provide a solid ROI for very little cost and time invested. 

Many small businesses take advantage of free social media sites like Facebook and Twitter as well as tools like Google Analytics. These offer quick and easy ways to reach an extensive audience with very little work.

With how effective the impact of a strong digital marketing strategy can be, investing money into a great campaign is a smart and cost-effective business decision.

Looking For Expert & Affordable Digital Marketing Services?

At Dandy Marketing, we offer expert digital marketing services for less than hiring your own marketing manager! Our services are perfect for small-and-medium-sized businesses as they allow you to boost your visibility, leads and sales without having to learn the ins and outs of digital marketing best practices yourself. Why not let us do the hard work for you?

Read More Helpful Marketing Tips over on the Dandy Blog, or Book a Free SEO Audit for Your Business and Get Started Today!