Digital marketing is an essential part of doing business in the United States today. If you are a small business owner, it is important to understand the different digital marketing strategies that are available to you and how to use them effectively. Just because you’re only interested in local customers doesn’t mean that you can’t utilize modern digital marketing strategies.
Learn From Competitors
One of the best ways to learn about effective digital marketing strategies is to look at what your competitors are doing. If you see that a competitor is doing something well, try to replicate their success. Of course, you don’t want to copy them exactly, but this can give you a good starting point.
Especially for new businesses, ask yourself the following questions:
- Who are your top three competitors?
- What strategies do they use (e.g., SEO, PPC)?
- What platforms do they use (e.g., Facebook, Twitter)?
- What type of content do they publish (e.g., blog posts, infographics)?
- What are their conversion rates?
- How much traffic do they get?
By understanding what works well for your competitors, you could potentially fuel your own strategy.
Use Social Media Advertising
Social media is a powerful tool that can be used for marketing purposes; if you’re not using it, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. In fact, Facebook and Twitter are two of the most popular platforms in the world, with billions of users between them.
There are a lot of social media opportunities in advertising, however you may have a few options. You can use promoted posts, which are essentially ads that show up in users’ feeds, or you can use Twitter’s paid advertising platform, which allows you to target specific users with laser precision.
Grow your small business with social media advertising this year and remember to choose platforms that make the most sense for your products or services. You don’t need to be on every platform; just focus on a few that will allow you to resonate with your audience and generate leads (and sales!).
Optimize Your Website
This might sound basic, but it underpins nearly every other strategy you implement. If your website isn’t fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate, you’re going to have a hard time ranking in search engines, driving traffic, and converting leads.
Fortunately, there are plenty of resources available to help you improve your website. Google’s Search Console is a great place to start, as it provides valuable insights into how your site is performing and what you can do to improve it. If you don’t have much money, use free tools and ask family members to peruse your website and offer feedback.
Content, Content, Content
If you want your small business to succeed online, you need to be creating and sharing high-quality content regularly. This is one of the most important digital marketing strategies for small businesses, as it helps you attract and engage your target audience.
Not sure what kind of content to create? Try to think about what your target audience is interested in and what kinds of questions they have. Then, create content that addresses those topics and provides valuable information. You can share this content on your website, social media channels, and other online platforms. What’s more, you can also use what you learned from your competitor research.
Bonus Tips
To finish, we have some quickfire tips to explore as a small business:
- Micro-influencers
- Google My Business
- User-Generated Content (UGC)
- SEO
- Visual content
- Email marketing