As a small business owner or startup, you might think you can’t afford marketing in your budget. The truth is, you can’t afford not to take advantage of small business marketing. Even before the COVID-19 Pandemic, an online presence was essential to boosting sales and increasing brands’ reach. Following over six months of full and partial lockdowns and other restrictions, digital marketing is vital to all brands’ success.
What is SMB Digital Marketing?
SMB marketing stands for small and mid-sized business marketing. These companies need to build their online footprint and compete with big brands, but they don’t have the same budget as the ones on the Fortune 500 list.
It doesn’t mean they’re out. Instead, these businesses need a different approach that increases their conversion rate without depleting their fiscal resources. Enter SMB digital marketing.
Choosing Content Relevant to Your Small Business
SMB marketing takes a narrower approach to branding and advertising techniques for your company. Instead of using a little of everything to bring in the crows, you narrow down the best strategies for your industry. Many proven-effective digital advertising techniques don’t require high-quality video productions, billboards, or radio spots. Many of these methods are budget-friendly.
How to Choose the Most Relevant SMB Marketing Techniques
Finding the right medium requires some studying. Many digital marketing agencies offer competitor research as part of their services. This involves:
- Finding out who the competition is
- Reviewing their products/services
- Checking out their ads
- Sampling their content strategy
- Looking at their social media profiles
- Learning their strengths and weaknesses
- Capitalizing on their weaknesses
You and your marketing team use this information to build your brands’ campaign. For example, if they have a popular blog or web page, you’ll want to duplicate the idea. Keep the length the same and match the keywords. Change all the content. It’s essential never to copy another website’s content. You’re just using their format and style to create your own unique blogs.
SEO and Local SEO
SEO is a great way to increase organic search engine traffic. There are two parts to these methods, and both use many of the same techniques to accomplish similar goals. Traditional or national SEO works through keyword research and unique digital content that’s in-depth and relevant to your brand’s industry. Other steps include high-quality backlinks and keeping your website’s load time flying.
Local SEO involves all of the above, plus a little more. You still need to complete the keyword research, but the content needs to top-notch and include locations. For example, “SEO agencies in Miami.” It has two elements, the keyword and the area of the person searching. These techniques are especially essential with local services, such as “plumbers in NY.” and “DJ services in San Diego.”
Targeted Social Media Marketing
Businesses today, no matter how big or small, need to have a social media presence. Many people search for services and other products through their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram profiles. If you don’t have one, some potential consumers will move to the next brand.
National brands and large Fortune 500 companies can appeal to a broader audience. Small- and medium-sized businesses have to narrow it down. The best way to do this is to draft buyers’ personas for your brand or brands.
Additionally, there are a few social media platforms. You don’t have to be on all of them. If you have a small budget, use the ones that are most relevant to your brand. For example, businesses looking to target local users may want to stick with casual sites like Facebook and Twitter. If you have a B2B company, consider putting your LinkedIn profile on the priority list.
Another great platform for B2C traffic and sales is Pinterest. Similarly, Instagram is an ideal site, and you can use cross-platform advertising techniques with Facebook.
Focus on High-Quality Content Across the Board
What rang true from the beginning of digital marketing until today is that content is king. You can have dozens of pages and hundreds of blogs on your website. But if it’s not high-quality and relevant to what you’re selling, visitors won’t stay, which will increase your site’s bounce rate. Worse, Google doesn’t like poor content, and they’ll rank you lower.
Don’t skip SMB digital marketing in your business plan. It’s too important to leave out. Contact Redesign.co to improve your online presence and increase your brand’s reach and digital reputation.
