Digital marketing has changed the way small businesses operate forever and now, it’s never been so easy to reach people all over the world. We all know that big businesses can afford to spend big money on marketing, whether it’s the traditional route or the digital route. So, do small businesses need digital marketing? In this blog, we’ll discuss in-depth what digital marketing means and how it can benefit small businesses and startups on a tight budget.
What is digital marketing?
Digital marketing is a form of marketing that uses digital technologies such as the internet, mobile phones, advertisement platforms and other digital media to promote services or products. It’s become an essential tool for small businesses, as it allows them to reach more customers faster and more cost-effectively than traditional methods.
Here are some examples of what digital marketing could mean for your business:
- Content Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Google Ads
- Influencer Marketing
- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
- Social Media Marketing
Why do small businesses need digital marketing?
Digital marketing is a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes, but it can be especially beneficial to small businesses. Small businesses have unique needs when it comes to marketing as they often work with smaller budgets and any type of investment can seem like a higher risk.
Small businesses will need to find ways to advertise their businesses using cost-effective methods that reach their target audiences quickly and they must be able to quantify their success immediately.
Digital marketing provides small businesses with the opportunity to do just that, allowing you to target your audience more precisely and even test out different campaigns at a low cost. You can also measure the success of each campaign quickly, allowing you to make changes or adjust your strategy on the go.
Here are the main benefits of digital marketing for small businesses:
Reach
Digital marketing gives small businesses access to a much wider potential customer base than traditional methods. With over 5.16 billion people using the internet, digital marketing now allows you to reach potential customers from all over the world at the click of a button.
Saving on costs
Starting a new business involves considerable risk, which only increases when investing in traditional marketing. With digital marketing, however, you can start small and scale up as your business grows. For small businesses, digital marketing costs can start from as little as a few pounds a day, making it extremely cost-effective and giving you more control over your budget.
Targeting the right audience at the right time
As well as having a larger reach overall, digital marketing allows you to target your potential customers at the right time and with the right message. This helps ensure that your message reaches the target audience that is likely to be interested in your products or services or better yet, those who are in a “ready-to-buy” mindset.
You can get even more specific with who you target with geo-location targeting and demographic targeting. By segmenting your audiences into spending behaviours, interests, age and location you can easily keep advertising costs even lower.
Tracking and measuring performance
One benefit of digital marketing is it comprises tools and analytics to measure performance and efficiency. With digital marketing tools, you can identify the impressions, clicks, and likes on a post or website to determine profitability and success. A/B testing, conversion rate optimisation and the ability to track campaigns allow for constant improvement and optimisation of strategies to find what really works for you as every business is different.
Control
Digital marketing tools and strategies offer real-time insights, allowing small businesses to tweak marketing campaigns and improve performance, providing better control and flexibility to avoid sunk costs and increase efficiency.
Reputation and legitimacy
In today’s world, customers rely heavily on reviews and referrals when it comes to making decisions. Digital marketing tools such as a functioning website, social media channels and email marketing allow small businesses to cultivate a strong customer base that can help build reputation, trust and loyalty in the long run.
Digital marketing for small businesses: in-house, outsourced, or agency?
When it comes to digital marketing for small businesses, there are a few options you have to choose from. You can either handle digital marketing yourself (in-house), work with a freelancer (outsource) or hire an agency.
In-house:
If you’re comfortable with technology and have experience in managing campaigns, you should be able to take care of some simple digital marketing tasks yourself until you can afford to have an in-house marketing team (part-time or full-time workers under your business) to help you. However, you should be aware that taking on digital marketing without the proper experience can be time-consuming and costly when your time could be better spent elsewhere.
Things that can be done in-house include:
- Simple social media management
- Social media content
- Basic blog content
Outsourced:
If you’re looking to spend your time better elsewhere and need some extra help here and there, working with freelancers is a good option. With freelance platforms like Fiverr or Upwork, you can find specialised freelancers to help with tasks such as content creation, SEO & digital marketing services, design needs and more.
Things that can be outsourced include:
- Social media marketing
- Social media content creation
- Blog content (SEO optimised)
- SEO and technical SEO
- Google and Facebook ads
- Copywriting
- Graphic design & animators
Agency:
Hiring an agency is the best option if you want to make sure your digital marketing efforts are on point, without having to invest a lot of time and energy into it. Agencies have the experience and expertise to effectively create, manage and optimise campaigns to get the best possible results.
Things that an agency can do for you include:
- Social media marketing on multiple social media platforms
- Social media strategy
- Social media content creation
- Influencer or affiliate marketing
- Managing blog content (SEO optimised)
- SEO and technical SEO for your website (to help you reach the top of Google search results)
- Local SEO
- Managing campaigns for Google and Facebook ads
- Setting up tracking pixels
- Monthly analytics and site crawls
- Digital strategy
- Consultancy
Digital marketing agencies can be costly, but there are some budget-friendly agencies out there that can help small businesses specifically with digital marketing services from just £1000 per month.
Conclusion - is small business digital marketing important? Yes!
Digital marketing for small businesses is essential for gaining visibility and staying competitive in today’s market. With the right tools and strategies, you can leverage digital marketing to target audiences more effectively, measure performance more accurately and enjoy better control over your campaigns.
When it comes to executing digital marketing for your business, you have three options – handling it in-house, outsourcing it or hiring an agency. Which option you choose depends on your resources, budget and goals. Knowing the pros and cons of each will help ensure that you make the right decision for your business.
Roku Agency - The best budget digital marketing agency London has to offer
At Roku Agency, we craft dynamic and efficient digital marketing strategies that help you hit your small business goals on a tight budget with all the same value. We’re the go-to small business marketing agency looking to make a real difference and we know what digital marketing tactics work so you can focus on putting the money where it matters most.
Visit our website for a free consultation on your very own tailored digital marketing strategy.
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