7 winning digital marketing tips for your small business
1. Learn by example
Like any aspect of running a small business, digital marketing is all about effort – the more you put in, the better the results will be. You don't necessarily need a huge budget, but you do need the drive and desire to try new things and learn from the results.
One of the best ways to start is by looking at the digital marketing strategies of companies that are already doing well, to see what you can learn.
Investigate companies in your industry and those with brands you admire – Apple is a popular choice, for good reason. Also look at companies that have a strong, loyal, online following, because they must be doing something right.
2. Understand your audience
Digital marketing is like conventional marketing in some ways. The goal is to get your potential customers to engage with your brand, so that you can sell your product or service to them.
You can't do that without understanding the people you're trying to sell to. So take the time to do it by:
- Asking for feedback on your products or services – and make it easy for people to respond.
- Engaging with your customers wherever they are: in discussion forums, social media and via email or blog comments.
- Embracing complaints – our guide ‘How to handle customer complaints’ offers valuable insight into what you could be doing better.
- Conducting market research to learn more about your customers' needs and wishes.
Armed with all this information you'll be able to run targeted digital marketing campaigns with a high chance of success.
3. Communicate with your customers
Different methods of digital marketing work well with different audiences. For example, younger customers tend to prefer mobile apps with 'push notification'. This is where you send information about new offers to a customer without a specific request from them. Older customers are more likely to prefer email – but not the unsolicited kind. Here are some tips for making the best use of different communication methods:
- 75 percent of adults online say that email is their preferred marketing method, so this should be a fundamental part of your digital marketing strategy. Think carefully about the structure of your emails, from the subject line – which should be a strong call to action – to the content and the design.
- Blog
- You could have a blog on its own, or as part of your website. Either way it's a useful digital marketing tool because it offers a personal insight into your business, making it feel more human and approachable. It can also provide a platform for feedback from your customers, helping them feel more emotionally engaged.
- Apps
- It costs money to have an app written for your business, but perhaps not as much as you might expect. Smaller businesses often have apps, which they use to send special offers and updates to their customers.
- Social media
- A presence on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and other social networks will help raise your profile. It can also help you engage with your potential customers and learn from their feedback. It can be time-consuming work though, so begin with one or two networks. Don't spread yourself too thinly and start by going where your customers already are.
- Viral campaigns
- A viral marketing campaign is where a small marketing project spreads far further than its intended audience. Some companies try to force their campaigns to 'go viral' but this is a risky business. If the wrong message goes viral it can hurt the company, so be careful.
Use tools such as as Hootsuite, Sprinklr and Sprout Social to monitor responses to your social media and other online activity. And keep at it – a Twitter feed or Facebook presence that starts busy and then tails off into silence is not a good advertisement for your business.