Big and small businesses everywhere have had to get creative over the last year to deal with the dip inactivity and the different restrictions imposed on businesses and human activity. One of the ways they’ve adapted is by turning to digital marketing.
According to a recent report by SCORE, published by Yahoo! Finance, 91% of small business owners are considering using digital marketing in some capacity this year. It will become increasingly important as events are still heavily curtailed and many obstacles to face-to-face interaction remain. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons for this shift.
Digital Marketing is More Accessible
Digital marketing remains the most accessible form of marketing available to small business owners. It isn’t as involved as media campaigns and not as tentative as other mediums such as print. Business owners can start their own campaigns from scratch, and for free in many cases.
It’s also highly scalable. Once a business owner has reached the limits of free methods, they can reach an expert team to work on things such as on and off-page optimization. There are also all sorts of different techniques, methods, and approaches that can be used.
Some might be better served through PPC ads that give them added visibility on search engines while only paying for click-throughs. Others might have better results with email marketing or SEO. The versatility, low barrier of entry, and measurability are three of the things that make digital marketing a great option for businesses of any size.
Lack of Events
Fewer events mean that there are fewer opportunities for advertising and sponsorships. But some sectors rely heavily on events for brand awareness and marketing, such as B2B businesses, for instance. Many of these are relying on networking, events, and trade shows to spread brand awareness and get new clients, and digital marketing is the only way for them to maintain that connection.
Mobile Access
Customers are also spending more time on their smartphones than ever, and you might be invisible to a large portion of your potential customer base if you don’t have a strong digital marketing strategy. The only way to do this is to focus heavily on online marketing. Methods like SMS marketing are one way that you can reach this audience but having a sound local SEO strategy can also help.
That’s because a large number of searches conducted through mobile are local. Not only that, but research has shown that these are much more likely to result in an in-store visit. More businesses are realizing that and are spending more time on building their local presence. Some are also using new techniques like geofencing to grab people’s attention whether they’re passing near their store or at a specific location.
Digital marketing offers a way for businesses to keep competing in these dire times. It’s cost-effective, versatile, and highly efficient, making it a perfect tool to target this current generation of buyers.