Why Digital Marketing is Key for Small Businesses [2021]

Introduction

Introduction - Small Business Digital Marketing

You may be wondering what the best strategy for promoting your small business is, right? Well, you have come to the right place.

Although some business owners prefer to invest in traditional methods of marketing–in the current age of technology and digitalization, it would be a mistake to not take the next step of getting into digital marketing.

It is undeniable that digital marketing is key for small businesses in 2020. This post, brought to you by Stiddle, will outline the top factors that contribute to the need for online marketing.

What is digital marketing?

Digital marketing takes a business’s marketing needs and places it through an online format for prospective and continuing customers to view.

Digital marketing provides a whole new marketplace for small business owners to increase brand awareness and grow their customer base. According to Retail Dive, 87% of consumers start their shopping searches online before they make a purchase. Meaning, if your business is not active online, it lowers your ability to expand your clientele.

You may be wondering what some examples of digital marketing are. Below, we will list some common forms typically used:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO is used to create greater visibility through search engines for businesses. In other words, SEO makes the navigation to your website very simple for customers through the filtration of media your business makes online.
Content Marketing: Content marketing is the process of distributing business/brand-related content for your audience. Blogging is an example of content marketing that is used to promote your business while simultaneously provoking interest in the ideas that you share for viewers.
Social Media Marketing: Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram contribute heavily to the digital marketing game. Having a social media presence is crucial since it shows your viewers that your brand is active and can be used for connecting with your audience in a way that you likely would not be able to through just having a business website.
Email Marketing: Many digital marketers utilize email marketing in the expansion of their marketing needs. A digital marketing strategy that many use is implementing personalization through the emails they send out to increase the likelihood that a viewer will be interested.
Etc.

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Your Customers are Online

If you are a small business that has never utilized online marketing in the past and are wondering why it is necessary now, it is because your prospective customers are online–which means you should be too.

Statista reported that as of April 2020, there were 4.57 billion active internet users–and this number will only increase as time continues. This is significant because it opens up doors that you likely wouldn’t have if you purely ran your marketing tactics through traditional methods. For instance, digital marketing allows you to reach customers who may live on the other side of the country and wouldn’t have heard about your business unless they saw you online.

Furthermore, having an online presence allows your business to be easily accessible to consumers.

Therefore, creating an opportunity for those interested in your product/service to quickly search through the internet for more information grows your brand's audience and accessibility.

Finding Your Target Customers

One of the factors that make digital marketing extremely valuable to marketers is how fast it helps businesses find their target audience. “How?” you may ask–with digital marketing tools.

There are many insight tools such as Google Analytics that assist marketers to understand who they need to be focusing their time and money on. Analytics tools use data from users' searches and records that place people into demographic categories that contribute to determining what type of customer a business needs to prioritize.

Additionally, many social media platforms such as the Facebook Business Page include breakdowns of the fundamental components of each individual that visits one's sites.

Understanding who is interested in your business’s products/services is a major determinant for who your audience is and is a game-changer within the marketing realm.

Digital Advertising

Traditional advertising methods such as marketing through TV and billboards may have been effective in the years prior to the digital era of today; however, advertising through digital media is what is most efficient now.

Digital advertising has surpassed traditional advertising due to the media industry constantly growing and with that growth, leads to the future–digitalization.

Almost every social media platform offers marketing plans through them to assist in the expansion of a business’s needs. Therefore, well-executed digital advertising can be the key component that leads to the expansion of your business’s viewer reach.

Additionally, for further expansion in your personal ads, Stiddle is the way to go! Stiddle’s goal is to help small businesses like yourself run pre-targeted ads to fit your target customer using artificial intelligence. Utilization of Stiddle will provide you a way to personalize your customer experience with the simple click of a button. If you are interested in a FREE TRIAL, Click Here.

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Competitors

Your competitors are likely plugged into digital marketing; however, if they aren’t this can be used for your business’s advantage.

For instance, imagine that two businesses were competing for the same clientele: Business A and Business B. When prospective customers went to compare which brand to choose, they made a Google search and found that only Business B had an online presence–leading them to have greater trust in Business B and choose them. Cases as such demonstrate the greater credibility a business creates by establishing themselves online.

Ultimately, using online marketing makes you more reliable.