As the owner of a boutique digital marketing company serving small and mid-size metro areas in southwest Florida and western North Carolina, I get to work with a wonderful variety of clients. I do serve large, well-established businesses that, for one reason or another, need to refresh or revamp their existing website design or social media presence. That usually means troubleshooting and streamlining established online presences and brands.
But one of my absolute passions is working with small businesses, community groups, and nonprofit organizations that have never dabbled in digital marketing before. It’s a clean slate for all of us!
Of course, in this day and age, everyone needs an online presence. So the first step is showing people who’ve been holding out just how powerful digital marketing can be—and how easy it is to get started.
What is Small Business Digital Marketing?
You might associate the word “marketing” with “advertising.” But digital marketing goes well beyond purchasing ads and hoping people see them.
Digital marketing for small businesses includes website design and management, social media posts and identity, direct emails and e-newsletters, and yes, targeted ads that appear in front of the people who are most likely to become your customers. All of these areas of your company’s online presence include many different facets, options and nuances.
Digital marketing also includes monitoring the performance of all of these areas via a variety of metrics.
What Can Digital Marketing Do for My Sales Right Now?
This is a great question, and one we want to ask before we do anything else. How do you get new customers? How do you retain existing customers? Who is your target audience? And how do people find you?
Even if your company has existed for years without digital marketing, these are all questions that easily translate to strategies for the online world. After all, virtually every person in the U.S. is online every single day. It’s a great place to get people’s immediate attention.
So whether you need to generate leads for your salespeople, connect with contractors to make new partnerships, sell products or make appointments on your website, or just put your brand info directly in front of prospective customers, your digital marketing package can be tailored to your company’s unique sales needs.
What Can Digital Marketing Do for My Business in the Long-Term?
Two words: brand recognition.
Digital marketing is great for generating immediate business. But it also allows your brand to become a recognizable online presence—which, for local small businesses, is the same as being an established member of the community.
As they say, “Out of sight, out of mind.” And if you’re not online, then you’re predominantly “out of sight.”
But the “Worldwide Web” is still a phenomenon built around local interactions. And with digital marketing, your company will “always be there” for the people of Bradenton or Boone because they will see your website and your social media whenever they go on their computer or scroll through their phone. That’s comforting, and that’s how you build trust and lasting relationships.
And lasting relationships is how you build longevity and future business.
Small Businesses in Small Towns Still Need Digital Marketing
There’s no such thing as “too small to be online.” Not anymore.
It doesn’t matter how small your business or how tiny your town. More customers will see you online than will ever drive past your storefront, or your billboard, or see your ad in a local paper or magazine. Your small business may be strictly, geographically limited to Parrish, in Manatee County, Florida or Boone, in Watauga County, North Carolina; you still can’t reach everyone in your town through practical marketing techniques alone.
And you certainly can’t count on traditional marketing to put your company in front of the people who need your services, when they need them. In fact, search engines and targeted online ads can connect you with the people who need your services faster than radio spots, paper flyers, and word of mouth ever could.
Intimidated? There’s no need. That’s why a boutique service like mine is here to work with you, learn what your business needs, and make it happen for you.
So if you or someone you know still hasn’t made the leap for a small business website or social media presence, now’s the time to get immersed.
Come on in, the internet is fine.
