The world of digital marketing is huge; there are so many factors to consider, and it’s always changing with new technology. This makes it difficult to keep track of all the moving pieces, and it’s an art to do so.
Not only has digital marketing shown to be a dependable and cost-effective method for raising brand recognition, but it has also proven to be a successful tool for converting leads into paying consumers. Online marketing, online shopping capabilities, and social networking are more important than ever for small businesses. Customers are online, rivals are online, and your brand must be online as well.
It is far less expensive than traditional marketing, allowing you to compete with larger companies, which was not the case with traditional marketing. You may locate your consumers almost everywhere online if you use a multichannel strategy to digital marketing. It’s also more measurable than traditional marketing, so you can immediately analyse the outcomes of your efforts and adjust your strategy if necessary. Another thing to keep in mind is that the digital marketing function needs to be maintained on a regular basis. Websites must be maintained and optimised, and material must be updated on a regular basis.
You’ll have to consider how digital marketing will fit into your entire marketing plan as a small business owner. This course will teach you the basics of digital marketing so you can run successful online marketing campaigns for your company.
Creating a website
No business, big or little, can afford to be without a digital presence. Whether you’re selling items online or simply want to give information about your company, you need a website. Before you start building a website, you should have a clear idea of what you want it to do. Investigating what your rivals are up to might give you a good indication of what would work best for you.
You may either construct your own website or hire a web developer to do it for you. There are several website builders you may use if you decide to construct your own website, including:
- WordPress
- Weebly
- Joomla
- Wix
WordPress is the most popular website-building platform on the planet. According to a report conducted by Netcraft, there are around 1.3 billion active websites in the globe, which indicates that around 455,000,000 websites are now utilising WordPress. If you’re new to internet company, having someone else construct your website is a fantastic option. A skilled web developer can help you construct your site fast and provide you advice on how to make it seem good. Hiring a professional is especially beneficial if you want to open an online store or provide other services through your website.
You should also make sure that your website is accessible from mobile devices. Because people are continually on their phones, having a mobile-friendly website is essential. The typical individual spends 5 hours each day on their phones, and mobile devices account for about 53% of all web traffic. A responsive website allows you to reach a larger audience; It promotes internet sharing and is an excellent technique to improve search engine rankings.
Branding
Because branding is one of the first things customers see about your company, it is important. It’s how you set yourself out from the competition and informs them what you have to offer. Your brand is what your company stands for and how you want to be known. Advertising, logo, reputation, goods, and customer service are just a few of the factors that go into branding. These aspects come together to form a distinct brand that will appeal to customers. Sprout Social, Google Analytics, and Rebrandly are just a few of the fantastic tools available to help you improve your brand.
Branding may affect how people see your company, as well as bring in new customers and raise brand recognition. Branding can also benefit your firm in the following ways:
- Obtain greater recognition
- Increase the value of your company
- Find new consumers
- Boost employee satisfaction
Social media strategy and management
Businesses used to post their material on social media to drive traffic to their websites and (hopefully) create revenue. Businesses nowadays utilise social media for more than just publishing pictures. With the use of social media tools, businesses can now monitor social media conversations, reply to important comments, and evaluate reach, engagement, and online sales. There are plenty of tools available to help you optimize your social media such as:
- Hootsuite
- Native Analytics
- Canva
- Semrush
- It’s important to take full use of your social media channels. You may connect with your consumers through social media. Social media platforms also allow you to reply to consumers more quickly and personally, and it’s a wonderful method to learn about their preferences. If you don’t have enough time to use social media effectively to advertise your small business, consider hiring a social media manager.
- Create a social media strategy and plan aligned with your business objectives
- Curate and manage content regularly
- Monitor and report performance
Email marketing strategy
Email marketing is a type of direct marketing in which your company’s products and services are promoted via email. It’s also a good method to keep track of your client connections and improve engagement. Because email is such a direct and personalised communication, it is one of the greatest methods to build genuine and long-term connections with your customers and prospects.
You must remain current with email marketing best practises in order to execute successful email marketing campaigns. You can automate your email marketing campaign, track your performance, and send more emails using email marketing software, which will help you develop stronger relationships with your visitors.
There are several email marketing solutions available. MailChimp, for example, is one of the most popular email marketing services, with over 1 billion emails sent every day. It’s a fantastic resource for bloggers and small companies alike. Hire a digital marketing assistant to assist you with the full marketing process:
- Campaign planning, aligned to business objectives
- Design and build email campaigns
- Measure results and report feedback
Building customer engagement and better connections with content marketing
It goes without saying that digital marketing has transformed customer relationship management (CRM). Digital platforms and social media have made it possible for brands and audiences to communicate easily and quickly. We get to know our consumers better and understand their preferences because everything digital can be tracked. As a result, we will be able to provide them with everything they desire.
To be successful in business, you must build strong client connections. As the saying goes, “it’s seven times harder to attract a new client than it is to retain an existing customer.” Building brand loyalty and trust means that your customers not only return, but also become brand ambassadors who, via word of mouth, perform your marketing for you.
An emotional connection or relationship with your consumer is represented by good customer engagement, which is generated from a positive customer experience. A good customer experience is defined as a smooth interaction at all points of contact. With your brand positioning, you can establish favourable perceptions at every touchpoint. High-quality content is the foundation of a successful consumer interaction strategy.
Inbound marketing builds trust and credibility for your business by utilising resources such as blogs, social media, email campaigns, and SEO. To build permanent and long-term connections with your consumers, it relies on the development of high-quality content. It’s information that’s intended to address issues and offer solutions. It’s the kind of material that makes it easier for people to find you since it’s content that people want to read.
You’ll need a devoted resource that is experienced in the art of writing to generate high-quality, engaging content. Good writing takes a significant amount of research, effort, and commitment.
With a well-thought-out and strong inbound marketing plan, a capable virtual digital agency can assist small businesses in maximizing consumer interaction.
Paid advertising
You must pay for advertising or ad space, as contrast to owned (your website) or earned (publicity) advertising. It may be textual, a picture, or a video, and you can distribute it on a number of venues, including social networking platforms, search engines, and display advertising (banners on popular global websites).
Paid advertising, also known as pay per click (PPC), may be even more effective when paired with a strong inbound marketing strategy, which is critical for generating quality leads. In reality, the two should complement each other. Yes, producing helpful and relevant content is a cornerstone of inbound marketing, but it may not be enough; you may need to supplement this with paid advertising.
Paid advertising allows you to segment your audience down to the last detail. This is because search engines and social media platforms have access to a wealth of demographic data from its users, as well as a big audience.
Paid advertising might appear cost prohibitive, especially if resources are tight. However, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad, so your investment is connected to traffic back to your website from someone who has expressed an active interest in your product or service.
Paid advertising experts are exactly that: experts. They have a great deal of expertise and knowledge in their field. You can start obtaining the proper ROI for the material you’ve worked so hard on if you employ someone who knows a lot about PPC platforms and best practises. A virtual digital agency can help you set up, manage, and optimise all of your online PPC traffic from sites like:
- Google Ads
- Bing Ads
- AdRoll
- Yahoo Gemini
Outsourcing your digital marketing
Small businesses, entrepreneurs, and startups searching for a flexible solution for a developing organisation can consider virtual digital marketing assistants. You may easily hire a virtual assistant without having to teach them how to do the job. Take advantage of expert assistance to get a competitive advantage and surpass your competitors.
Hiring full-time staff or teams to manage your digital marketing needs might be prohibitively expensive for small businesses. It only makes sense to outsource your digital marketing process if it is not a core area of your organisation.
You don’t have to outsource the full marketing function; you may manage the portions you’re more familiar with while outsourcing duties like content development that take more time and effort. It’s conceivable to adopt a hybrid model, where you maintain the strategy in-house but outsource the rest, or vice versa.
Small companies may now enter the realm of successful digital marketing and gain the benefits thanks to the digital universe. You cannot afford to wait any longer as a small business owner; if you haven’t already done so, now is the moment. We at Prime Pixels provide small businesses with flexible and inexpensive digital marketing solutions that are tailored to individual needs.
To learn more about FBS Digital’s social media services, call 0204 526 5195 or send an email to hello@finchleybusiness.co.uk.
