Small businesses are unique entities that often rely on marketing cues that they take from bigger companies or organizations. Leaders in the business industry work from a substantial client list, but with the resources available to them, those types of marketing strategies might not always work for small businesses.
One way to focus your audience’s attention on your business through digital marketing is to hone in on storytelling. When you take the time to craft narratives that are relevant to your audience’s own goals and interests, you enable yourself to piece the veil of noise and foster connections that bolster customer loyalty.
But, where should small businesses focus their digital marketing strategies? In this article, we will discuss the some strategies to master in digital marketing and some ideal places in which you can focus your efforts to make the most of these strategies.
Master Web Site Building
You want to start off by making sure you have a web page or site set up. This may seem like a big step, but anyone who searches for you will also check to see if you have a webpage, even if you aren’t planning to use an eCommerce strategy.
Not only will you need a web page, but you will also need to make sure that it looks professional and inviting. It should include all the pertinent information that customers will need to know about your business and services. You may also want to include an About Us page that tells a personal story about the “why” of your business. This provides a warm touch that customers respond well to.
Making your business and team seem relatable is an important focus in marketing, but it is one that is sometimes overlooked in favor of pushing the products or services. However, if you make this effort, you will find it is easier to generate sales.
Master Social Media Marketing
Following up on the personal aspect of an About Us page on your web site, social media offers a boon of interactive, engaging, and immersive marketing elements to enable you to reach out to your customers.
When you are a small business, you need to master the social media strategy on your own, without the advantage of hiring someone trained especially in the best ways to reach a wider audience. Be sure to have someone monitoring your social media posts to address and answer any customer questions or feedback. Social media gives you another great way to bolster your customer relationships and maintain a personable presence, while maintaining professional boundaries.
Master Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
With a well-designed social media strategy and a well-developed website, you now need to focus on tying it all together with a powerful SEO strategy. Mastering this angle will direct people to your content, products, and services, drive organic traffic, improve visibility, and boost conversions.
It’s important to understand the basics of SEO to get started; the fundamentals of which include keyword research, on-page optimization, technical SEO, and user experience optimization. For example, search engine optimization is the process of creating a strategy that optimizes a website to improve its visibility so it climbs up in the google rankings. This generates search results and increases traffic to your site.
You can also use backlinks from authoritative websites in your industry to improve your website’s authority and rankings. Another strategy is to use targeted pay-per-click advertising campaigns on Google search and display networks that also boosts your site in search results.
SEO is a crucial part of the digital marketing strategy. Mastering this process and driving organic traffic to your website will improve search visibility, and drive more leads, sales, and conversions to your business.
Master Email Marketing
In the era of digital marketing, it is important to stand out from the crowd so you don’t get lost in the digital milieu. You can’t count on a customer doing some research and finding your product, when there are many similar ones to choose from. You have to be the one to cut through the digital clutter.
As you build your customer base, they will turn into steady and repeat customers who keep your business going. Include your current customers on emails for any sales coming up. Use email marketing to send personalized emails to your customers. Your goal is to nurture these subscribers to drive sales and continue building customer loyalty.
Create email newsletters, promotional campaigns and call to action emails that allow your business to forge those personal connections and stay in touch with your audience. When you take the time to craft relevant content, you will drive conversions through that level of personal communication.
Bonus Strategy: Master Digital Catalogs
Now you have learned about the four best ways to master digital marketing strategies. A secret weapon to employ is the bonus strategy of using digital catalogs to tie your digital marketing processes together.
Digital catalogs are powerful tools in digital marketing. They allow you to showcase your products and services in a visually appealing, immersive, and interactive way. With the right product catalog software, you can create an intensely personalized digital catalog that enhances your audience’s experience.
Best of all, you can actually create an eCommerce environment within the digital catalog itself. This creates a seamless shopping experience that allows customers to browse, shop, and add items from the catalog directly to their cart for purchase. Digital catalogs are also able to be easily shared across multiple channels, such as embedded on your website, shared on social media, or shared as a link. This multi-channel distribution enables you to reach a wider audience, increase visibility, and drive traffic to your site.
Conclusion
Customers want to make connections, have conversations, and be heard. Mastering digital marketing strategies for small businesses can be a feat that seems daunting at first, but following the steps outlined here will surely help you be successful.
Focus your efforts on mastering your website content, investing in social media marketing, conquering SEO, and becoming adept at targeted email campaigns. As a bonus, utilize a digital catalog to tie together all of your digital marketing strategies.