Digital Marketing Tips for SMEs

Every small business owner needs to include some digital marketing strategies in their business to maximize sales. A small and medium business enterprise that is not leveraging digital marketing to expand the reach of their business is leaving money on the table to their competitors.

Not only is digital marketing necessary for maximizing sales, but optimizing your online presence is also critical to your business’s overall success.

With digital marketing, your business can reach a large number of your target audience online and convince them to buy your products or services. Irrespective of your size or market value, digital marketing can help your business achieve a lot.

Not sure where to start? Here are some digital marketing tips for SMEs to get started.

1. Choose the Best Option for Your Business

Digital marketing is wide. You shouldn’t include all of them in your business. Take a look at your customers and find out their online behavior and where they spend most of their time online.

Depending on the nature of your business and your target audience, social media marketing may be the best for you. You can go with a mix of email marketing, SEO, and PPC advertising. Not all digital marketing methods will have a great impact on your business. And this is why you need to first research and choose the best option for your business.

Don’t run into paying Instagram influencers to promote your business because other businesses in your niche are doing so.

You are free to experiment with various digital marketing channels to see what works best for your business.

2. Build a Great Business Brand

Branding is one way to differentiate your business from your competitors. There are many ways to express your brand and stand out. From the eye-catching colors and fonts on your websites to the marketing message you send to your target audience.

Let’s take Apple for example. Apple is not just a company that sells electronics. They’re a luxury brand. Everything about the brand speaks of luxury, and everyone knows Apple for that.

However you want to brand your business, let it be conveyed in your marketing message and stick with it.

3. Google My Business Listing (Google Business Profile Manager)

Google My Business is one way to secure a space for your business on the web and build a great online reputation. For SMEs targeting local markets, you can take advantage of Google My Business and get your business listed on Google Maps.

This is a powerful marketing strategy that can help you get your business to appear on search pages when users search for products or information using keywords you have filled in your profile.

If your business is not listed on Google My Business, go create a profile for your business now, fill in every detail about your business and make sure you verify ownership of the business.

If you can get your business listed top 5 in your business category, you are bound to receive a huge amount of traffic to your website, which can be converted to customers.

One way to take your business up the list in your category is by directing your customers or clients to go drop a review on your page. The more reviews and ratings your business receives, the more it climbs to the top of the list.

4. Start a Blog

One of the best ways to educate your audience is through blog posts. Your content doesn’t leave your blog unless you delete it. So, if someone lands on one of your blog posts published even a year ago and finds value in it, you have won the heart of a potential customer or client.

If your business is into women’s fashion, you can write blog posts on different fashion-style trends, fashion tips like how to blend different colors, how to spot fake fabrics, how to remove strong stains from clothes, and DIY hand-sewing tips, etc.

You can as well promote your business with your blog posts, but don’t make it too much. Readers should find joy in coming to read your posts because they know they will get something new to learn. This is how you build a loyal audience and sell to them.

Another benefit of having a blog is that your posts can rank for relevant searches in Google, which can draw a lot of traffic to your site.

5. Build an Email List

While some still argue that email marketing is outdated, most small businesses are still using it to connect with their customers. It is a powerful digital marketing tool for small businesses.

Every small and medium-size business should have an email list irrespective of the type of business they run. Email marketing is very effective when it comes to enticing your subscribers to buy from you.

An email list gives you direct access to customers and potential clients. The only stress is growing your list. It takes time but it is worth it.

You can include a sign-up box on your blog to entice readers to join your list. The fastest way to build your list is to promise something of value to subscribers in exchange for their email addresses.

Instead of paying Facebook and Google for ads, with an email list of a thousand subscribers, you can continuously generate sales with a good marketing strategy.

6. Set up a Social Media Account

Social media marketing can’t be ignored. This is where the majority of your target audiences are hanging out. Why shouldn’t you be there? You just need to know which platform to pick and dominate with your business.

If you run a B2B business, you can choose between LinkedIn and Twitter, or go with the two platforms. For a B2C business, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are great options.

Don’t spread yourself too wide across so many social media platforms so you don’t lose focus. Each platform has its publishing style. So, you should stick with at least two until you can hire social media managers to handle more platforms.

Conclusion

SMEs can take advantage of these digital marketing tips to grow their business and dominate their competitors. Create a plan to incorporate these marketing tips into your business. If you have a budget for marketing, you may need to hire a digital marketing agency to handle your online marketing so you can focus more on running the business.

Visit SME SCOOP Homepage for more tips on marketing.