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Importance of Digital Marketing for Small Businesses

1. Reach Your Customers

Do you know that customers worldwide spend an average of 145 minutes per day on social media alone?
It excludes the time spent searching for products or services on the internet. When the audience spends so much time online, it's evident that the digital platform is the best place to reach them. Help them discover your business by being online.
As a small business, placing ads on the television or the print media for an extended time is not feasible. Also, you cannot be sure of reaching your customers. That's because traditional marketing methods are pretty much one-way communication channels.
How can you be 100 percent sure that your business attracts people who are more likely to buy the products you offer?
Digital marketing provides a comprehensive solution.

2. Be Visible on the Internet

You ought to be found by your target audience if you want them to come to your business. And the best way to be visible to them is through the internet. Yes, we agree that it's not easy with so much competition. But it's still a suitable medium to be visible to users across several countries.
When a person hears the name of a business, the first thing they do is to search for it online. They want to know if your business has a website, a social media account and if you sell the products online. Users read reviews by other customers. They make their decisions based on your online activity.
Your small business should be visible on internet searches if you want new customers to come your way.

3. Let Customers Reach You with a Message

Having a two-way communication channel open has become necessary for businesses. Customers want to interact with the business before and after buying a product.
Several ways of digital communication are possible-

  • Forms
  • Surveys
  • Questionnaires
  • Website chat
  • Social media comments
  • Direct messages
  • Emails, etc.

Of course, you will have to be active and respond to the messages as soon as possible. But providing them the opportunity to interact with you any time will make it easy for the target audience to believe in your brand. Essential details like your business name, address, number, email id, etc., are crucial to establishing the connection.

4. Your Competitors Are Active on the Internet

Yes, they are. Your competitors are generating sales through their websites. They share posts on Facebook and Instagram, respond to comments, and urge the followers to buy. They run giveaways and share limited period offers to attract more users.
Have you looked at the ad on Google's search result page?
Does it look like one of your competitors?
There are various ways to make your presence felt on the internet, and each business has a digital marketing strategy it follows. By staying away from this active space, you'll miss the opportunities your competitors are using to expand their business. Study your competitors' digital marketing strategy to get a better idea and contact an agency to work on yours.

5. Build Brand Authority

Who said that a small business could not have a worthy digital presence? It all starts with showing users that your business is legitimate. Naturally, it doesn't mean that every business with a website is legitimate.
However, it means that the website and social media accounts can prove that you have a well-established business. It shows your plan to stay in the market for a long time.
Create a Google My Business (GMB) profile and validate your account by adding the NAP details (Name, Address, & Phone number). Include a few pictures of your store or warehouse for authenticity. Talk about your products on social media and explain how you are different from your competitors. Link the business website to your social media accounts and use the WhatsApp business account.

6. Understand Your Target Audience Better

As we mentioned above, digital platforms allow you to interact with users easily. It helps understand their likes, dislikes, preferences, etc.
Share posts on social media asking followers what they like about the product or what they want from it. Send survey forms through emails and SMS messages and ask for their opinion. Get feedback from customers who recently bought your products.
For example, if you run an online jewelry store, you can share pictures of your designs and ask users what kind of jewelry they prefer. Would they like a collection of charm bracelets? What kind of earrings or neckpieces do they use every day? Ask, interact, and analyze.

7. Digital Marketing Gives Higher ROI

The biggest advantage of digital marketing is the higher return on investment. It is when compared to traditional marketing methods. SEO is a long-term process and needs only a limited amount every month. Unless you place ads on social media or search engines, you don't need to spend a lot of money at once.
Digital marketing doesn't demand higher budgets. You can market and boost your business without shelling out more than what you can afford. And gradually, you can increase the budget. The sooner you begin, the higher the returns will be, as it takes some time to establish your presence on the internet.
Your family and friends can help you get a head start by sharing the links with their friends.

8. Increase the Conversion Rate

Conversion rate is the percentage of users who convert into customers and bring sales. The website traffic and the conversion rate are equally important when it comes to small businesses. The average conversion rate is around 2% to 5%, which is a sign of a good business. If your business gets more day-to-day sales after optimizing the website and promoting it on social media, it means that your conversion rate has improved.
Digital marketing helps you generate leads who are more likely to buy your products. If you can escalate the conversion rate by 0.5%, it's excellent news for your business and shows that you are going in the right direction.

9. Increase Sales Online and Offline

Having a robust online presence can help you generate offline sales as well. Yes, absolutely. If you own a physical store, you can focus on a local SEO strategy to attract people from the region to your business. Let them know that there's a small business they can check out that offers quality products.
Take orders through the website, Facebook direct messages, or even comments. Some small business owners run their business through WhatsApp. They take orders through status posts and private messages.
An eCommerce website streamlines sales and makes it easier for customers to place their orders anytime they want. Similarly, those in the vicinity might prefer to come to your store and buy the products.

10. Cost-Effective Investment for Limited Budgets

We've discussed that digital marketing delivers higher returns for smaller investments.
A powerful way to stay within your budget and still promote your brand online is by optimizing the website (SEO). Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses that continued SEO saw better results. Businesses that discontinued all marketing efforts had to start from first again. SEO helped them stay relevant in the market. Thanks to the lockdown restrictions, it increased sales as people relied entirely on online purchases.
We recommend hiring a digital marketing agency. It ensures that you make calculated decisions and invest where you should. Many digital marketing agencies offer their services only to small and medium businesses. They will assist you in developing a cost-effective marketing plan for the business.

11. Stay in Touch with Customers 24*7

Your customers might hesitate to call you at 11 PM, but they can send you a Facebook message or an email no matter what the time is, right?
You can respond immediately or whenever you see the message/ email and close the deal with much delay. The internet allows for 24*7 communication and can help your business if you use it wisely.
You would have noticed businesses that state 24*7 open on their Google My Business profiles. They usually set up a way to respond to messages and calls throughout the day. The website will anyway be live unless there's a server problem. Your customers can place their orders irrespective of the time of the day.

12. Get Real-Time Data Analytics

Data analytics is the key to understanding your business, the market conditions, and customers. So how do you get these analytics?
You can use the free and paid SEO tools for website analytics. Google Analytics is the best example.
Ahrefs, Screaming Frog, SEMRush, etc., offer free and paid tools to get detailed reports about your business website.
Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram offer free analytics for business profiles. You'll know which posts had the most reach, at what time users are highly active, and the demographic details of your followers and customers.
With data analytics, you don't have to guess who your followers are or what they seem to like. Actual data speaks for itself.

13. Develop an Effective Customer Relationship Model

Customer relationship models are not limited to large businesses or top brands. You should have a proper strategy to deal with your customers before starting your business or generating sales. Customers like to know that the business cares about them and their opinions.
Sending emails and SMS, providing discounts or offers for loyal customers, etc., will help expand your business. Stay in touch not only for promotions but also to wish them for birthdays, festivals, etc.
All this becomes easier when you have an online presence and integrate the website, social media profiles into the CRM system. Yes! There are CRM software applications for small businesses. Zoho CRM, Freshworks CRM, etc., are free to use and provide an array of features.

14. Plan Short-Term and Long-Term Campaigns

You have to balance getting immediate results and securing the business in the long term. Digital marketing methods help you do both at once. For example, SEO and SMM are aimed for the long term and deliver consistent results after the initial phase.

  • PPC (Pay Per Click)
  • Search engine ads
  • Social media ads, etc.

Provide short-term results by boosting the business for the duration of the campaign. If you plan a discount offer, using paid ads will bring more sales (if your ads reach the target audience). PPC and paid campaigns help increase website traffic. SEO brings organic traffic and sustains the website's rank over time. You ensure that the audience remembers your business now and even after a year.

15. Simplification of Personalized Services

Personalization is the way to go. You don't need Amazon's complex algorithm to share personalized products with customers. Something as simple as the WhatsApp Business app will help you achieve your goals.
The social media algorithm is such that if users 'like' or comment on a post, they will show them more similar posts frequently.
It means even if a user hasn't followed your business page, they will get updates on their newsfeed if they have previously 'liked' a post.
They will also get updates about someone (they regularly interact with) on their friends' list comments on your post. You can use data analytics to determine their preferences and share personalized offers with them.

16. Be Found on Every Mobilephone

Do you know that only the US spent $120.4 billion on mobile marketing in 2020? In the same year, Thailand showed a growth of 46% in mobile marketing.
Many people use their smartphones and apps to search for businesses, products, and services. You must be visible on this digital platform to reach a broader range of audiences.

  • Text messages
  • WhatsApp marketing
  • Email marketing, etc.,

are effective ways to promote your small business on mobile phones. Local SEO delivers good results when the website is optimized for mobile phones. A study showed that almost 32% of smartphone users use mobile coupon codes for eCommerce purchases.
71% of teenagers watch videos on an average of three hours per day. Video marketing is a fruitful way to reach such users.

17. Multimedia Is the Way to Attract Customers' Attention

Multimedia includes images, videos, infographics, gifs, etc., to appeal to the creative and artistic side of the users. It has been analyzed that a post with an image or a visual stimulation brings more activity than a simple text post.
That's why even texts are placed on templates and posted as images. It helps start a conversation and make it easy for users to share the post and improve engagement. Many top brands share detailed videos about-

  • How to use the products,
  • What happens behind the scenes,
  • How they manage production

And other useful (& interesting) information urges users to buy the product. Multimedia and digital marketing go hand in hand.

18. Go Local to Global- Get Rid of Geographical Restrictions

A small business doesn't get many opportunities to reach a global audience. How will someone from another country across the ocean know of a tiny brick-and-mortar store in another land? Digital marketing will help you breach the global barriers and break through the geographical restrictions. It is otherwise not possible to use traditional marketing methods.
A newspaper ad will not get you, customers, from another country, right?
But a social media ad or a search engine ad can bring you users, from any country, depending on the target users you selected for the ad. Your small business doesn't have to stay limited to the region, city, state, or country.
You can expand into other markets and plan the logistics accordingly. Digital marketing is meant for the global audience and the local audience.

FAQs on Digital Marketing for Small Businesses

1. What Is Digital Marketing? Which Areas Does It Cover?

Digital marketing is an umbrella term. It covers a wide range of marketing strategies involving the internet and the World Wide Web. It includes-

  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  • SEM (Search Engine Marketing)
  • SMM (Social Media Marketing)
  • Content Writing
  • Email Marketing
  • Blogging
  • Mobile Marketing, etc.

A small business can start by combining the above marketing tactics, though SEO is compulsory if you have a website.

2. Are There Any Good Digital Marketing Strategies For Small Businesses?

Various digital marketing strategies help small businesses. But, the most important one is the building of brand image and identity. What does your business signify? Your digital marketing strategies should align with the mission and vision of your business. Social media presence is another strategy that gives good results. You can also alternate between paid and organic marketing to balance your spending and returns.

3. Is Social Media Useful For Small Businesses?

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc., are active platforms with millions of users. Being active on these sites, interacting with the users, and building a follower base will help take your small business to a wider audience. There's no need to invest in ads if your budget doesn't allow for it. Daily posts and constant interaction can help organically promote your business. Moreover, these platforms also provide free analytics.

4. Can I Do Digital Marketing For My Small Business, Or Should I Hire An Agency?

Well, you can do your digital marketing if you have the time, energy, and expertise for it. Digital marketing needs complete attention so that it gives you the necessary results. Also, you'll need to but analytical tools to understand if your efforts are fruitful or not. Hiring a digital marketing agency is a preferred and recommended choice. Some agencies cater only to small and medium-sized businesses.

5. Will Local Digital Marketing Help My Small Business?

Yes, it will. Local SEO will bring online and offline sales if you have a brick-and-mortar store in the region. Do you have an online business that caters to a specific region or geographical area? Local digital marketing will bring more customers. Understanding your target audience is vital to planning a successful digital marketing strategy for your small business. You can't afford to go wrong at times.

6. Can Digital Marketing Help Expand My Small Business?

Yes, digital marketing can help expand your small business. It can help attract new audiences from across the market. Digital marketing is the means to survival in today's conditions. If your business is not visible to internet users, you'll be losing a major share of sales and income. It's easy to go into oblivion with digital marketing to keep your brand relevant and meaningful in the audience's minds.