Regardless of the size of your business, using digital marketing techniques is an important aspect of building your customer base and advertising your products and services. In today’s age of digital products and technology, it’s vital for any business, whether online or offline, to build and maintain a strong online presence in order to gain the edge over competitors. At the least, online marketing methods can help your business to gain more exposure and recognition, and at the most it helps to increase your customer base and generate a larger number of sales. Here are some digital marketing methods which every small business owner should consider in order to increase their company’s success.
Search Engine Optimization
Anybody who has used the internet will have used a search engine such as Google in order to find information online. Search engine optimization (SEO) is a crucial digital marketing method for all businesses which operate a website, regardless of the business size or industry. When users search for keywords related to your business, you will want to be as close to the top of search engine rankings as is possible. For this to be achieved, good SEO practices are crucial.
Pay Per Click Advertising
Buying advertising space on other websites and blogs can come at a significant price to a small business. However, with Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising, you can display your advertisements on other websites and keep costs to a minimum. With PPC advertising, you only pay a commission to the site owner when a click on your advertisement generates revenue for you. The percentage amount of the commission that you pay will vary, depending on the product or service which is advertised, and the keywords chosen. Choosing the right keywords is crucial for PPC advertising, which is why it is advisable to employ a PPC management company.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is a free and incredibly useful method of digital marketing which is available to small business owners. Using social media for marketing is highly effective, as it enables you to engage with your target audience and build relationships with them. For most people, social media has become a main factor of life, with the vast majority of individuals having one or more social media profiles. Facebook and Twitter are the most commonly used, although there are other social media platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest which many small business owners also use. The more social media profiles that your business has, the better, as it creates more exposure for your company.
Start a Blog
Creating interesting, engaging and informational content for your target audience to read is another free yet effective way of marketing your small business online. Starting a blog can drive traffic to your site, and with the right content, your readers will keep coming back for more. Good content will also generate more shares from your readers on their own social media accounts, which in turn will increase traffic to your blog and to your site, broadening your online presence and generating more sales.
Email Marketing
Using email for marketing is one of the oldest methods of digital marketing, and can also be very effective when done right. Unfortunately, email marketing has gotten itself a bad name due to companies spamming their mailing lists, however with the correct approach, it can produce some great results. When composing marketing emails, it’s important that you create content which is interesting to the reader and engages with them, rather than simply promoting your company and its products or services. Emails which interest readers are more likely to be read, and have a much better conversion rate, leading to an increase in sales.
SMS Marketing
With the rise of smartphones, it’s no surprise that SMS marketing is becoming a more popular and effective way of marketing for small business owners. Whether you use traditional SMS or online instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, sending SMS messages is an effective way of getting the message across to your customers instantly. However, much like email marketing, it’s important that you send marketing SMS messages to your customers without subjecting them to spam. The messages which you compose should be concise and to the point, as well as including a link to where they can access the product or service which you are promoting. When compiling an SMS mailing list, it’s important that you have permission from the owners to use their telephone number data.
Which digital marketing methods would you recommend for a small business? Let us know in the comments.
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