For the uninitiated, digital marketing can be an instantly off-putting term, and many SMEs assume it’s something they can do without, particularly those that rely on a local clientele for steady trade.
But right now, it’s more important than ever to be open to new ways of working, on- and offline.
So, whether you’re transitioning towards ecommerce for the first time, or simply looking to boost your digital profiles, here are just three ways that digital marketing can help expand your customer base and stimulate growth.
1. it can help build customer relationships
Cultivating a loyal customer base requires strong relationship built over time, and certain digital marketing techniques can be the key to developing and sustaining these.
For instance, email marketing is a great way to keep in regular contact with consumers and distribute exclusive offers, discounts and deals. Meanwhile, a strong social media campaign enables your business to offer updates without bombarding your customers.
These channels also enable customers to engage with you and share feedback, and your content should actively encourage them to do so. This ensures that they feel listened to and valued and will provide you with inspiration that can shape the direction of your business, futureproofing your products and services during difficult times such as these.
2. it helps you stand out from local competition
Your competitors are already on the digital marketing train, and without it, you’ll be quickly left behind.
But it’s not enough simply to be online. You have to learn to navigate the algorithms that determine your rankings and prioritise certain sites and pages over others to provide users with the best results for the queries.
This is where SEO or search engine optimisation comes in. It’s a fantastic tool to compete not only with big businesses that dominate the market, but small local competitors as well.
Building an SEO campaign from scratch takes time, but agencies such as Maratopia Digital Marketing, based in Leeds, have extensive experience in helping businesses like yours get their online campaigns off the ground.
Optimising for search engines will boost you well up the rankings and ensure you stand out ahead of competitors.
3. it can be more cost-effective than traditional SME marketing
Digital marketing allows you to measure the success of your campaigns more accurately than traditional ‘real life’ marketing techniques.
With SEO and PPC campaigns, amongst other tools, businesses can see which channels are most successful in producing conversions – that is, site visitors taking an action such as making direct contact, signing up to a mailing list, or making a purchase from the site.
Traditional SME marketing techniques such as flyers, business cards and ads on local radio are much more difficult to measure without directly asking customers – and even then, it can be difficult to determine accuracy of responses. Digital marketing ensures that advertising expenditures are producing profitable results.
These are just three ways that digital marketing can help small businesses right now.
How has digital marketing benefitted your business? Share with us in the comments below.
