By Warner Dowlearn
There are many resources available to us today that enable us to connect with our target audience, attract new customers, provide value, and drive sales. Thanks to digital marketing, we can successfully hit these goals easier than ever. If you’re not familiar with digital marketing or worry that you need to be a marketing expert to understand these terms, we promise it is simpler than it seems. In fact, you might be more familiar with these strategies and tools than you realize. Here’s a brief introduction to digital marketing and 3 digital marketing tools for small business that you can start using today.
What is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is the use of online tools and strategies to connect with current customers and acquire new ones. Examples include media channels such as search engines, social media, email, and content creation. Traditional advertising through print ads, billboards, etc. is still a great way to reach and connect with a very large audience. Digital marketing simply allows to reach an even greater audience and communicate with them differently, more interactively, and in real time.
Benefits of Digital Marketing
1 – Increased Reach and Targeted Audiences
By leveraging the internet, hashtags, ads, and search engine optimization, you can connect to an audience (local or worldwide) more targeted to your business. You can utilize aspects such as demographics, spending behaviors, and interests to direct your marketing efforts to the right recipients exactly where they are. You also don’t have to worry about potential customers only seeing your message if they happen to drive by your sign, tune into a channel at the right time, or pick up the right magazine where your ad is placed, which are limits of traditional ads.
2 – Cost-efficiency
You can spend as much or as little on digital marketing efforts as you wish, depending on your company’s marketing budget and yearly goals. Digital strategies do not hold the same pricing structure as traditional channels, like TV commercials, which are often too expensive for small businesses. In fact, many digital marketing tools, like social media, are free. Plus, by reaching a more targeted audience, you will typically get more value out of your marketing efforts.
3 – Enhanced data analytics
Digital marketing allows you to analyze the performance and success of your marketing efforts. Platforms such as HubSpot and Google Analytics make it simple to measure click-through rates, open rates and conversion rates of emails, social media posts, etc. You can then learn from these results to refine your marketing strategies and better connect with your audiences.
3 Digital Marketing Tools for Small Business
Email marketing
Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective digital services. It allows you to directly target a list of your current and potential customers and even enables custom messaging to segments of your audience. By building brand awareness and loyalty, email marketing has proven to track conversions and increase sales. Mailchimp, Hubspot, and ConvertKit are great email marketing tools for growing your business.
Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.)
As the number of users on social media continues to grow, it’s more important than ever for businesses to create and maintain a social media presence. Plus, it is free to create a social media account and share content, making it a very cost-effective digital marketing solution. Social media marketing is a fun and interactive way to attract new customers, maintain relationships with current ones, and engage with them in real time via comments and messages.
If you are curious about how to leverage social media for your business, look up your competitors or even favorite brands and see what they do. View the content they share, the way they interact with their followers, and the products/services they are able to sell directly on these channels. Other great resources to help you plan your content calendars, utilize hashtags, and inspire creative content include Hootsuite, Co-Schedule, and Planoly.
E-commerce
According to the National Retail Federation, e-commerce is growing three times faster than traditional retail. Brick-and-mortar businesses are transitioning to online sales to expand reach beyond foot-traffic. It also provides smaller online businesses the opportunity to be on the same playing field as more established competitors, without incurring high overhead expenses.
The ability to list your products/services online enables you to provide customers with details at their fingertips. It also helps automate processes that can be tedious, such as inventory or customer payment details, and gives you the ability to analyze data and discover insights quickly. There are numerous platforms you can use to set up and grow your online business, such as Shopify and WooCommerce.
With today’s technology, it’s easier than ever to implement digital tools and strategies to help your business thrive. So why not get started today?