Additional research shows that at least 97% of consumers look for local businesses online.
If you’re selling products or services online, the likelihood is that your target audience will be shopping online at some point within any day or week. If you’re not selling anything online, your customers are still likely to be on the internet at some point during the day.
Still think digital marketing won’t help you to grow your small business?
Let’s have a look at the impact of digital marketing on small businesses, how it can help you grow your small business and where you can get started.
What is the impact of digital marketing for small businesses? Why is it so important?
You may be wondering why digital marketing is so important for small businesses.
It is predicted that, by 2026, the digital advertising and marketing market will reach $786.2 billion. With so many businesses due to continue investing in digital marketing over the next few years, it’s more important than ever to have a digital marketing strategy in place and make sure your business is heard above the noise.
Customers are searching online now more than ever. So, as a small business, you need to make sure you’re there when they’re actively looking for your product or service.
According to research, 81% of consumers go online to find information and answer their questions before they go out to a shop to buy.
When searching online, consumers are most likely to choose the business that provides them with the best experience. Even something as simple as showing your opening hours, prices, special offers, location and being easily contactable can make a difference.
If potential customers can’t find the information they need about your business or on your website, they’re probably going to buy from one of your competitors. A competitor that does provide this information.
As you can see, digital marketing is crucial if you want to connect with your potential customers and build relationships. It’s also an affordable and measurable way to get your business out there.
Learn more about the benefits of digital marketing for your business in our blog: Link to benefits of digital marketing post
How can digital marketing help your small business?
Here’s a quick rundown of how digital marketing can help you grow your small business…
- It will help you grow your business - a tailored and effective digital marketing strategy will focus your limited time, energy and resources on activities that will drive leads and convert customers.
- It will help you to reach your target audience - one of the biggest advantages of digital marketing is being able to target a highly specific audience and see the customers who are engaging with your brand. Once you know this, you can create campaigns that are highly likely to resonate with your target audience.
- It’s cost-effective - as a small business, you probably have a limited budget. Digital marketing provides one of the most cost-effective ways to reach your target audience.
- It will help you build relationships with your target audience - digital marketing provides a great way to build realtiosships with potential customers, and fast! It allows you to build rapport and build trust which is essential for small businesses when you’re competing with bigger players on customer service and price.
How can you do digital marketing as a small business?
When you’re just getting started and you’re a small business owner, digital marketing can seem intimidating. There are so many different platforms and so much jargon to get to grips with, which can make it all seem more confusing than it really is.
Here are a few tips on where you can get started with digital marketing to make sure you’re building a presence online.
- Create a small, basic website
- Create social media profiles
- Create a Google My Business profile
- Get to know your target audience and customers wel
These are just a few of the steps we recommend taking to get started with digital marketing. Spending a day or two on these activities is highly worthwhile and will ensure your business is online. You can then start to build your online presence from here.
If you’d like to know more about how to get started, read our blog: How to implement a digital marketing strategy: Top 8 digital marketing tips for small businesses.
There’s no point trying to do everything at once so start small and grow from there to keep things manageable.
Key takeaways
There’s no doubt that digital marketing is essential for small businesses in today’s competitive market.
And we hope this blog has helped you to see not only how important it is for your business, but that it doesn’t have to be complicated or only suitable for larger businesses.
Read our blog on the costs of digital marketing if you want to know more about what you might need to spend: How much does digital marketing cost for small businesses?
Digital marketing will help you to build an online presence and start to reach your potential customers when they’re browsing online. It will take patience but small steps will help you to get there.
We offer two digital marketing packages. They’re based on results we’ve driven for small businesses like yours in the past. We’ve found a formula that works and we want as many small businesses to dip their toes into digital marketing as possible.
These packages will help you to get your strategy off the ground and start driving results for your business.
If you’d like a digital marketing package that works for you, take a look at our exclusive small business digital marketing packages.
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