Dan ScalcoAs a small business it can be hard to navigate the digital world.
What social media channel should you be on? How should you optimize your website for search engines? When should you blog?
Not only are these questions hard to answer for non-marketing experts, the landscape of digital marketing is always changing.
If you are looking to increase leads while saving time for doing what you do best, running your business, than a digital marketing company might be just what you’re looking for.
Below are the top 4 ways a digital marketing company can help grow your small business…
1. Digital marketing is more cost effective.
Time and time again studies have shown that digital marketing is more cost effective than traditional marketing channels.
Why? Let me ask you…
When was the last time you opened up junk mail and responded to their offer? I’m going to guess never.
When was the last time you searched for a local business or restaurant in your town and later purchased something from one of those businesses? If you’re like me, almost every day!
The internet, and search engines in particular, allow us to make better informed buying decisions than traditional marketing does. Over years of companies “pushing” advertisements on us, we have programed our minds to literally block them out. Whereas digital marketing fit more natural into our behaviors – SEO helps your website be more visible when individuals are looking for your site, social media helps build relationships with customers and potential customers, email marketing qualifies leads, etc.
2. Hiring a digital marketing company will free up your time.
Imagine flicking a switch and the leads start pouring into your business. Well, you don’t have to imagine any more. The whole job of a digital marketing company is to generate traffic to your website and convert that traffic to leads. Of course the process isn’t as simple as “flicking a switch” but, you get the point. So instead of worrying about responding to tweets, blogging, or making sure your website is SEO optimized, you can get back to doing what you do best – running your business.
3. Digital marketing can easily be scaled.
“Scaling” is a big buzzword in the tech industry but gets little to no love when it comes to small businesses. What I mean by scaling is the ability to automate certain elements of the marketing process that allow it to run 100% on its own.
One of the best examples I can think of is email marketing.
Say for a minute you run a local gym. Someone comes to your website as they are researching other gyms in the area to join. On your website they see a call to action that reads, “How To Lose 10lbs in 2 Weeks – Download our free ebook now by entering your email below!” The visitor is intrigued since he/she is looking to get in better shape anyway and the offer is free. They download the ebook by giving away their email address.
Now the fun begins…
Once they enter their email address, they are automatically sent the ebook. Then, their email address is added to a list of queued emails in an email marketing software that soft sells them on the gym for the next two weeks. In the final few emails, after having read the ebook and the previous emails, a final offer is made – “Redeem this exclusive coupon to receive your first month of membership free!” You hit them with the marketing trifecta – free ebook, informative follow-up emails, and an exclusive coupon… Now why wouldn’t they want to sign up for your gym?
This is only one small example of how automation can be applied to a digital marketing channel. The possibilities, based on industry and location, are endless.
4. You can track every step of the way.
If you buy an ad in a local newspaper, you have to go on the word of the newspapers sales team on how many people the paper reaches. When you hire a digital marketing company, you know exactly how many people came to your website and, as a result, became a lead by contacting you (or converted by making a purchase).
Not only does digital marketing allow you to track where traffic and leads are coming from, it allows you to understand where to allocate more time and resource. For example, if you see that 90% of your leads are coming from organic search results (SEO) and only 10% or coming from Pay Per Click campaigns, it might be best to invest the money you were spending on Pay Per Click on improving your SEO.
Wrapping up…
Digital marketing levels the playing field between small, mid, and large businesses. No longer do you have to have a $ 20,000/month budget to hyper-target your leads. From doctors offices to construction companies, there are marketing strategies to fit every type of business.
If new leads have been slowing down or you feel overwhelmed trying to understand how different digital channels fit into your marketing strategy, hiring a digital marketing company could be the best decision you ever make for your business.
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