With COVID-19 quarantines ongoing, more people are having to close up shop. If you don’t have a strategy for marketing your small business online, you could lose customers. With digital marketing, you can give your business the boost it needs.
Over 85% of Canada’s population is already online. With Coronavirus lockdowns still underway, they’re spending more time online than ever before.
Are you reaching those digital consumers? With digital marketing services and a strategy, you can expand your reach. In addition to boosting brand awareness, you can increase site traffic and conversions.
Still on the fence? Here are 10 ways a digital business marketing strategy can benefit your business for the long-term!
1. Accomplish Your Goals
Before you start creating marketing plans, it’s important to consider your goals. Are you trying to:
- Generate brand awareness
- Build brand trust and loyalty
- Attract repeat buyers
- Become a thought leader
- Increase website traffic
- Boost leads and conversions
- Improve your ROI
There are different digital marketing strategies you can choose from to accomplish these goals. Start by making a list of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-Driven, Timely) goals for your business. You can track these SMART goals with key performance indicators (KPIs).
For example, maybe you want to increase sales for Product X by 20% during the third quarter.
Once you list your goals, you can determine which strategies will help you accomplish those goals. To increase sales, you can create a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaign. Your digital ads can direct consumers to that product page.
Other essential strategies for marketing your small business online include:
- Website design and development
- Content creation
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Email marketing
- Instant message/mobile marketing
- Social media marketing
- Brand development
These strategies can work together to help you accomplish your overall goals.
2. Precise Targeting
Is your goal this year to reach and engage more customers than before? A well-devised digital marketing plan can help.
First, it’s important to determine who your customers are. What problems are they experiencing? How can you help?
If you’re targeting a broad audience, you can separate them into smaller buyer personas. Then, you can start creating marketing plans to reach each group. Personas make it easier to personalize your marketing messages.
One of the benefits of digital advertising and marketing is precise targeting. The more you know about your customers, the more likely you’ll reach them online. You won’t have to waste time with low-quality leads anymore.
Instead, you can appear in front of consumers who are already interested in your business. Leveraging their existing interest can help you generate more leads!
3. Boost Your Brand
What do people know about your business? What do you stand for? Why should consumers choose your brand over another?
You’ll fail to successfully market your small business online without brand awareness. In fact, it takes five to seven impressions to build even a little awareness. To turn that awareness into recognition, you’ll need to keep your brand consistent.
A digital advertising and marketing company can help you develop brand guidelines. That way, your brand remains consistent across all marketing channels.
Consistency can improve revenue by up to 23%.
Use content marketing to educate your audience. Show them you’re a knowledgeable resource in your industry. Become a thought leader they can turn to.
In time, they’ll come to trust you. You can turn trust into loyalty to retain long-term customers.
4. Remain Competitive
Many small businesses are struggling to compete with huge corporations. With digital marketing, you can level the playing field.
Strategies like search engine optimization don’t care about how much money you spend. Instead, Google determines your ranking by using its algorithm and machine learning. Google looks for EAT (Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness).
Improving your search engine ranking will help you appear in front of more consumers as they search for your business. It can also position you ahead of bigger competitors.
Consumers don’t want to click through 10 pages of a search. Instead, they look for the companies at the top of the page. By creating unique, informative content with SEO, you can boost your ranking.
As you reach those customers and generate more leads, you can get ahead of the competition.
5. Reach On-the-Go Customers
Consumers who have a negative experience on your mobile website are 62% less likely to make a purchase in the future. Even a one-second delay in load times can impact conversions by 20%. Mobile optimization can have a major impact on your SEO and PPC strategies, too.
In fact, Google looks at the mobile version of your website first to determine where you rank online. After all, consumers expect you to have an easy-to-use site.
Mobile marketing can help you expand your reach. Have you tried geotargeting and geofencing yet? Do you have a local marketing strategy?
Over 75% of the people who search on their phones visit a relevant business within a day. In fact, about 30% of mobile searches are related to location. A mobile marketing strategy can help you reach those customers while they’re looking for you.
That way, you can maximize every opportunity you have to reach and engage customers.
6. Improve Your Customer Service
Strategies like SEO and social media marketing can help you improve your customer service strategy.
SEO requires posting high-quality, informative content on your blog. You’ll use audience and keyword research to determine what questions your customers are asking. Then, you can provide them with helpful, actionable advice.
Posting blog posts gives you a chance to showcase your expertise. Customers will see you know all about your product and industry. As you develop brand authority and credibility, consumers will come to you for help.
SEO can also help you build brand awareness and recognition can help you stay top-of-mind. The next time consumers need your product or service, they’ll remember your brand.
Social media is another great way to respond to your customer’s needs. Try to improve your response time as people start sending you messages. Social listening can also help you determine what problems your customers are facing when it comes to your product.
As you make changes, your customers will recognize you’re eager to help.
7. Be Where Your Customers Are
Chances are your target audience is spending a few hours each day on social media. Using social media is a great way to connect with your customers.
Don’t use social media as a way to make sales. Instead, use it to answer questions and connect with your customers. Respond to their comments and questions when you can.
Show consumers you’re listening. Social media can help you improve your customer service and online reputation.
You can also use social media to share your blog posts and other forms of content. Don’t forget a witty caption to go with it!
8. Improve the User Experience
A strong, easy-to-use website can act as the backbone for your entire digital marketing strategy. You can direct buyers to your website through email marketing, social media, SEO, and PPC.
Improving your website with the latest user experience (UX) design trends will ensure it’s fast and easy-to-use. A better online experience will encourage people to stay around. Then, they’ll explore your content and learn more about your product or service.
Consider turning to minimalistic design trends to improve usability. Give customers different ways to convert into leads, such as contact form or mailing list. As you acquire new leads, you can grow your business.
9. Inspire Action
A strong call-to-action (CTA) in your posts can inspire customers to take action. With digital advertising, you can make it easier for consumers to convert. They can call your business, fill out a form, or buy your product online.
Consumers might forget your business name or URL after seeing a billboard. Digital strategies, on the other hand, put the opportunity is right in front of them. Make sure your CTA is impactful, concise, and points to a specific action.
If you’re using CTA buttons on your emails, digital ads, and website, make sure they stand out. Add urgency like “Now!” or “Today!” to push consumers into becoming paying customers.
10. Improve Your ROI
Compared to outbound strategies, digital marketing methods are cost-effective. It’s also easy to get started with digital marketing right away. As you start increasing traffic to your site, you can generate more sales and conversions.
Many digital strategies support one another, too. For example, you can use PPC to increase traffic to your website. Google will take notice, which could benefit your SEO strategy.
As you boost your SEO ranking, you’ll get the chance to reach more customers and generate more traffic. This full-circle effect can help you gain leads and sales.
Unlike traditional marketing methods, digital strategies help you track your progress. You can review your KPIs to determine which tactics are generating results. Then, you can make educated changes to your less successful campaigns.
Instead of wasting your budget on a lackluster print ad that you’re stuck with, you can make more effective changes.
Digital marketing also allows you to A/B test different tactics. You can change CTAs, images, and ad language to compare different ads or emails. Once you determine what’s working, you can create a new A/B test.
Constant improvements will help you make the most of your budget!
In time, you’ll boost your ROI and start growing your business!
Start Boosting Your Business: 10 Reasons Digital Marketing is Your Secret to Success
Don’t let COVID-19 slow you down. Instead, consider these 10 reasons to start using digital marketing. With a sound strategy, you can expand your reach and generate more business than ever before.
You’re busy enough with your customers. Need help building your marketing plan? Contact us today to get started.
