If you own a small business, you might have realized that it is time to start marketing it online. However, you should not hire the first online marketing firm that you can find, however. Instead, you should look for one that specializes in offering internet marketing services for small businesses. This is because the internet marketing tactics that are used for small businesses are a lot different from the ones that are used for global businesses. These are a few reasons why.
Your Audience is Different
If you are marketing a small restaurant in a small town, your audience is going to be a lot different from a company that operates online and works with customers from all over the world. A good internet marketing firm should understand that and should be able to advertise your site to a more targeted audience.
You Still Need to Build Your Brand
Big businesses are often household names already. This probably isn’t the case for your small business. This means that you need to focus on branding a little more than some other businesses do. A good internet marketing firm should be able to help you with this.
Leverage social media
If your small business isn’t using social media, it’s time to start. Social media produces almost double the marketing leads of trade shows, telemarketing or direct mail.
Because social media can be (or seem) overwhelming, choose one social media platform that your customers, prospects, and industry leaders engage with the most — be it Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+ — and start building a presence there. Once you’ve set up an account, start connecting and sharing your original content, joining discussions and engaging with the community. Keep your social efforts frequent, but above all, relevant and helpful to your audience.
Leverage automated email marketing and email reminders
Email marketing is great for engaging customers, but you’re really limiting its potential if you keep it in a silo. So be sure to integrate your email marketing campaigns with your other marketing campaigns for maximum impact, and vice versa. For example, if you’re running a Facebook contest, increase the number of people participating by notifying your email subscriber list of engaged customers. If you’re running a time-limited deal or special offer, send a reminder via email. The impact of email is undeniable.
Try PPC (Pay-per-Click) advertising
SMBs need to be as targeted with their marketing efforts and dollars as possible, especially if their product/service is location specific — and PPC ads are one way to do so. PPC ads can be a cost efficient way to dip your toe into the online marketing world and use your marketing dollars to specifically target the regions and terms that relate most to your business. Some media/marketing companies even offer automated bidding solutions that allow the SMB PPC novice to gain the same level of targeting and exposure without the heavy lifting.
Your Budget is Different
You probably don’t have as many marketing dollars to spend as a big organization. An internet marketing firm that works with small companies like yours will help you make your advertising dollars work well for you.
As you can see, as a small business owner, you need an online marketing firm that understands the needs of your smaller company.
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