Quick answer: The best online marketing strategies for a small business are a fast website, a verified Google Business Profile, local SEO, reviews, email and social media, plus paid search when you can track results. Start with the channels where your customers already look and add more as budget allows.
Digital marketing lets a small business reach its target audience on an affordable budget through SEO, paid search, social media, email and content. This guide covers six strategies and how to choose between them. For help, see our SEO services, PPC consulting and social media management.
The Importance Of Online Marketing for Small Businesses
Customers now research businesses online before they buy, so word of mouth alone is rarely enough. Digital marketing helps you get your message to the people most likely to buy, whether they are down the road or across the country.
Marketing matters for every business, and it matters even more when you have limited resources. A well-planned digital strategy can increase revenue, improve customer engagement and build a reputable image.
Successful digital marketing starts with clear goals. Pick the channels that best serve those goals, and measure the results.
Some channels, such as paid search, can bring results within days. Others, such as SEO and content, take months. If one method isn’t working, review the data and adjust.
6 Online Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses
Here are six online marketing strategies a small business can use to promote itself.
A website is the foundation of your online marketing. Make sure it is secure (HTTPS), loads quickly, works on phones and shows clear contact information.
A well-designed site with interesting content will get people interested in what you offer, making them want to come back and interact with you again.
Blogging lets you share specific information about your company in a more personal way than other advertising. Keep the tone friendly and professional.
Social media lets you build profiles on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn, where you share pictures, videos and stories about your products or services.
SEO improves your rankings in unpaid search results. SEM (search engine marketing) means paying for ads in search results, for example with Google Ads.
Which Strategy Should You Start With?
- Local service business: Google Business Profile, local SEO and reviews first.
- Online store: SEO, product pages, email and paid search.
- B2B company: content, SEO and LinkedIn.
- Very small budget: a good website, a complete Google Business Profile and a steady flow of reviews.
See our digital marketing guide for small business owners and marketing budget calculator.
Choosing Your Target Market
Before you build your digital marketing strategy, be clear about your target market. Your business may sell to other businesses (B2B), to consumers (B2C), or both.
Choose the market that best fits your goals and where your business can add the most value. If you cannot decide, think about what kind of customer experience each group expects.
For example, if your goal is to sell more products online, then it’s likely that your ideal customers are shoppers who are browsing online stores.
They might be looking at things they can buy without needing any assistance from an employee and will want information delivered in easy-to-understand language.
If you want more phone enquiries, focus on attracting customers who want to talk to a person quickly.
As you think about these differences, ask yourself: Who is my target audience? What are their pain points? How do I serve them better? What kind of message do they respond well to? Do they even know I exist?
The answers to these questions will help you create a powerful brand identity that resonates with your target market. Once you’ve determined who exactly your potential customers are, it will be easier to find new ones and focus on reaching them where they spend time.
A Step-By-Step Guide To Setting Up A Website
This comprehensive guide is offered to assist you in launching your website:
- Decide what domain name you want. This is the part people see, so it needs to be catchy and relevant to your business.
- Register your domain name with a service like GoDaddy or Namecheap.
- Find a web hosting company and purchase space on their server to store your website files.
- Install WordPress on your hosting account (many hosts offer a one-click installer).
- Choose a fast, mobile-friendly theme.
- Write content for every page of your site (this will depend mainly on your business type).
- Edit the settings in your WordPress dashboard to control things like post dates, tags, categories, and more.
- Create any pages you need besides the standard homepage (for example, a Contact Us page)
- Create a professional email address on your domain.
- Promote your new site by sharing it on your social profiles, and add it to Google Business Profile and Google Search Console.
Blogging
Blogging has two main benefits for small businesses: it can increase your visibility and support your SEO. Our SEO content services can help you plan and write posts.
To increase your blog’s visibility, post new articles regularly and share them on your social media accounts. Search engines such as Google can index your posts, which supports your SEO.
Many blogs are built on WordPress, which is free software, and there are many tutorials online for setting one up.
Building a dedicated readership for your blog requires consistent, high-quality material updates.
Social Media Campaigns
Social media matters for small businesses because many customers spend time there. Start with the platforms your customers use. If you don’t have a Facebook or Instagram account yet, set one up, and consider LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube too. Before you post, decide what content you want to share and keep your target audience in mind.
Post consistently and test different times to see when your audience engages most.
Remember- every customer is unique, so it’s worth experimenting until you find out what works best for yours.
Another way to gain more followers on social media is by joining groups related to your industry/business niche and engaging in conversations as much as possible! Commenting, liking, and sharing posts are great ways to connect with new potential customers.
Make sure to respond to people who like or remark on your postings. Remember that this interaction is mutual; if people interact with you, they should feel valued. Don’t forget to add photos and videos of your products to engage your following base!
Email Marketing
Another digital marketing technique worth mentioning is email marketing. Emails are an easy way to reach your customers with company updates and offer them a chance to subscribe to your newsletter or buy a new product. Only email people who have agreed to hear from you, and include an unsubscribe link.
You can offer subscribers discounts or useful content to encourage sign-ups and grow your contact list.
The key here is consistency. Determine when your clientele is most likely to be online and send out your messages at that time every week or month.
Sending out too many emails too quickly can cause consumers to unsubscribe from your list.
Basic SEO Tactics
Supported by search engine optimization, a website or webpage can increase its visibility in the search engine’s unpaid results, often known as the “natural,” “organic,” or “earned” rankings.
SEO includes using keywords in content and page titles, writing clear meta descriptions, adding alt text to images, building quality links, and making sure your site is fast and mobile-friendly. Learn more about keyword research, technical SEO and local SEO.
There is a lot of information about digital marketing, so start with the basics. SEO is the foundation.
People need to find you through search engines. By following these basic SEO steps, a small business can build steady visibility over time.
Basic SEM Tactics
SEO and SEM work well together. SEM (search engine marketing) means paying for ads that appear in search results, usually through Google Ads or Microsoft Advertising.
SEM can drive traffic quickly, but you pay for each click.
PPC campaigns can be complex and expensive, so small businesses on tight budgets should start small and track results. See our PPC consulting service.
When launching an SEM campaign, it’s important to remember a few key points.
● Focus on relevance: advertise to the specific audience likely to want your offer, and bid on keywords that match your business. Check the competition first, because high-demand keywords cost more.
● Second, target potential customers by location. When deciding where to advertise your product or service, you want to be sure that potential customers are aware of it, so targeting specific areas will help.
● Thirdly, remember time zones when designing time-sensitive campaigns: take into account where people live and work worldwide and ensure they have enough time to view your ad before they miss out!
● Fourth, use negative keywords: these tell search engines not to display your advertisement when people type in phrases like free or cheap.
● Lastly: learn from your mistakes: after every advertising campaign, analyze data and make changes accordingly!
Conclusion
Small businesses depend on digital marketing more than ever. Some of the most effective channels for local companies are:
● Social media: a strong presence on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn helps expand your reach and bring visitors to your website.
● SEO: Search engine optimization is a potent tool for local businesses to increase their digital presence.
● Great website content: You need content that answers customer questions and provides valuable information about your products or services. Content also needs to be updated regularly so customers will return often. The easiest way is through blogging, but a well-done newsletter can work well.
● Email marketing: Emails should include calls-to-action with links to buy products or visit the company website.
In conclusion, many different digital marketing tactics may suit a small business better depending on its specific goals. If you want help choosing and running the right mix, see our SEO services, PPC consulting and social media marketing services.
Where we work
GreatInflux runs SEO, Google Ads, social media and web development for businesses in the United States, United Kingdomand United Arab Emirates. Campaigns are planned market by market: local search, currency, ad platforms and compliance differ, so a plan built for Dallas is not the plan we would run in Dubai.
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