Understanding the importance of digital marketing can be critical for small businesses who want to reach and grow their audience. With the UK internet penetration rate standing at 97.8% of the total population at the beginning of 2023 having a strong digital presence is even more important than ever. Whilst traditional marketing methods such as print and out-of-home advertising are still important to consider, with over 3.5 billion daily UK searches happening on Google alone, having a strong digital marketing strategy at the core of your business is vital.
Not only does digital marketing help companies attract potential customers faster and easier than ever before, but by leveraging a wide range of digital platforms businesses are able to build stronger relationships with existing customers while reaching new ones. So, if you’re looking to boost your company’s visibility online, reach new customers and stay ahead of the competition, let's explore why digital marketing is so crucial for small businesses and how to achieve success.
Impact of Digital Marketing on Small Businesses
Digital marketing, if approached correctly, can have a profound impact on small businesses, providing a cost-effective means to reaching your target audience. Needing to be ahead of the competition is important for a business of any size and being seen in the right place by the right people is paramount. But for small businesses standing out from the crowd can be harder, as often resources to do so aren’t as readily available.
One key factor to getting your digital marketing strategy correct is understanding your Unique Selling Point(USP), the one thing that sets you apart from competitors. As a small business, with fewer stakeholders to consult and viewpoints to consider, this part should be straightforward. However, in reality this is often the easiest part to get wrong. Sometimes seeing the wood for the trees is not easy, and knowing what you are now, as opposed to what you want to become, can cloud your vision. And once you start heading down the wrong track it can take time, courage and sometimes more money to undo what went wrong.
Another overlooked area when looking to progress your digital marketing is understanding your target audience. Getting under their skin, understanding their pain points and knowing how to convince them you are the right fit is really important for small businesses. From here, knowing how to reach them becomes the next path to navigate.
Once you have got the foundations right and worked to create a sound digital strategy and plan of action, the impact of digital marketing for a small business can be immense.
As exposure grows and the right people are noticing your business you should start to see increased business activity. Be this more increased brand awareness in the form of visitors to your website or social media platforms, more leads being generated, greater number of online sales, or more people through your door.
Utilising the right tools to analyse and measure the success of your digital marketing strategy is also important. Analytics tools, such as Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console are vital in understanding the impact of your digital efforts. Enabling other data and insight applications, such as HotJar can offer further insights into user behaviour.
What can Digital Marketing Partners do for your Business?
As we’ve explored, having a strong online presence is important for the success of any small business. However, resourcing that marketing activity can be the biggest hurdle for a small business. Recruitment can be expensive and time-consuming, and for a small business there’s the added pressure of getting the right skillset for the right salary figure and being able to create enough work to justify having another person on payroll. That's where digital marketing partners come into play. These experts can help your business develop without the hassle of recruitment and in-house training. Effectively they’re a ‘pickup and run’ solution. The right digital marketing agency will be able to plan and execute a tailored online marketing strategy that will effectively promote your business’ product or service USP to your target audience.
Digital marketing partners have a wealth of up-to-date knowledge and skills when it comes to marketing. As an agency of skilled individuals and teams, they’ll have extensive working experience of a variety of sectors and industries. This insight means they’ll be perfectly placed to support the growth of your small business. They’ll be able to guide you in what digital platforms are right for your business, develop robust performance tracking and analytics, support the wider business in developing systems and processes, as well as carrying out the day-to-day management of the plan.
Working with a marketing partner allows your business the freedom to concentrate on developing your core business while having the comfort in knowing that your digital marketing is being expertly led and executed.
How to choose the right Digital Agency for your Business
When it comes to choosing the right digital agency for your business, there are many things to consider. A great digital agency can help you effectively reach your target audience while being cost-effective and saving you time. But how do you choose the right one? Firstly, look for an agency that has expertise in the areas you need to focus on, whether that be specifically working with small businesses or start-ups, web design, social media management or search engine optimisation. Secondly, check that the agency has a proven track record of delivering results for their clients, take a look at any case studies or testimonials they have on their website. Finally, ensure that they take the time to understand your goals and tailor a digital marketing campaign specifically for your business.
In conclusion, when it comes to digital marketing for small businesses, there is a lot of power in executing a well-rounded and structured online strategy. Digital marketing agencies can help advance your business’ visibility, reach, and engagement to audiences you never thought were possible. When selecting the right agency for your goals, research their portfolio and reviews extensively so you can feel confident that they will deliver exactly what you need. Ultimately, if done well the opportunities and ROI are much greater than you could have ever perceived.
Here at Thing or Two, we know what it takes to get small, and not so small businesses, an online presence that gets results. Feel free to take a look at why we consider ourselves to be the perfect choice of digital marketing agency.
