Digital marketing is an important tool in the small business owner’s arsenal that can help transform a struggling business into one that thrives. While many small businesses still use traditional marketing campaigns to reach their audiences, those businesses that are making the most of the digital era believe that their digital marketing strategy works for them. Unfortunately, there are several challenges facing businesses that haven’t already implemented a digital marketing strategy, and the learning curve can be steep for those people not familiar with all the ins-and-outs of social media. For this reason, this article explores six tips that can help small businesses either launch their digital marketing campaign or, if they have one already, give them the boost they need to see it take off.
1. Know When Less is More
While social media is fast becoming a vital tool for marketing, a mistake that many small business owners make (and not just when it comes to marketing) is trying to do too many new things at once because someone on the internet told them to. For example, while the whole goal of social media marketing is to reach as many people on as many different platforms as possible, a person who creates ten social media accounts when they have never used eight of those platforms is guaranteed to have a hard time and can even harm their business.
One of the worst things a small business owner can do when it comes to digital marketing is to try to manage too many new social media accounts when they are first starting out. In this way, less is more. Instead of ten mediocre accounts spanning numerous platforms, businesses should focus on building a strong social media presence on one or two platforms. By focusing on just one or two accounts, and ensuring that there is consistency in terms of publishing content and engaging with people, small businesses should find more success with their social media campaigns.
2. Find Your Social Media Niche
Understanding that less is more when it comes to social media is only the first step in building an effective digital marketing campaign. The second step in the process is finding where your business fits best in the digital realm. This process may take some time, as business owners may need to run campaigns on all the platforms they have accounts on to see which performs the best in terms of audience engagement. For example, a business that has social media accounts on Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest should examine their weekly engagement levels on each platform for a month.
If one of the platforms is falling behind in engagement by the end of the first month, the business should consider leaving that platform and perhaps give another platform a try. While many people may argue that having a presence on as many social media platforms as possible is better, the reality is that if an audience isn’t engaging with your business on a platform, then staying on that platform is simply a waste of time.
3. Consider Hiring (Or Becoming) a Data Analyst
Data analytics is the process of analyzing raw data to find correlations in that data and draw conclusions about different aspects of the information. Data analytics experts can use the data gathered from social media platforms to advise businesses about an audience’s wants and expectations so that they can formulate a marketing strategy that will be most effective in their niche. While hiring an expert in this field is recommended, business owners can also consider taking a course in Data Analytics themselves to broaden their skillset while also helping their business. Click here to find out more about the importance of data analytics in marketing, how it is used in various industries, and how you can sign up for a course.
4. Tap into Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a relatively new form of digital marketing, but one that has rapidly evolved into a powerful tool for success. In basic terms, influencer marketing is a type of indirect marketing that focuses on paying individuals who have large social media followings to promote a business’s products and services to their audience. For example, a business that specializes in makeup may offer a sponsorship deal to a YouTube personality whose channel focuses on beauty.
Influencer marketing is effective because it allows businesses to connect with larger audiences than they may be capable of reaching on their own. Additionally, because influencers typically spend years building up a relationship with their audience, recommendations from influencers tend to carry more weight than recommendations from other sources such as ads or promotional content.
5. Understand that Email Isn’t Dead
While it is true that digital marketing is one of the best marketing strategies in the Age of Technology, that doesn’t mean that traditional forms of marketing are irrelevant. Email marketing, in particular, is still an effective form of marketing that businesses should consider when formulating their marketing strategy.
Email marketing can be extremely effective as it allows for targeted advertising within a business’s audience.It can also be used to increase a brand’s recognition, the results of email marketing are easily measurable, and it is still one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies available to small businesses.
6. Balancing Value with Promotion
When it comes to content and promotion, no audience wants to be constantly bombarded with promotional messages and over-hyped sales pitches. Balancing content that has value for an audience with content that is purely promotional is, therefore, something that all businesses hoping to use digital marketing effectively should do.
As a rule of thumb, a business should try to ensure that around 80% of their content offers value to an audience and the remaining 20% can focus on promoting their products or services. Content that adds value may be blog posts that contain useful information about the various uses of the products and services that a business offers, how-to videos, and other content that is unique and relevant to a business’s audience.
Creating an effective digital marketing campaign involves a lot of time and research; however, with the right strategy in place, businesses can reach larger audiences than they could with traditional marketing techniques and build their brand into something they can be proud of.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
