Digital Marketing

Your First Steps in Digital Marketing: A Guide for Small Business

Digital marketing is a growing field as more businesses shift to online platforms. In the past, few people used computers for anything other than playing games, but now we can buy clothes, order food, talk to friends, and do our jobs from them. Every business has a website, so digital marketing is essential to any company’s advertising strategy. There are many different aspects of digital marketing – SEO/SEM (search engine optimization/search engine marketing), email campaigns, and social media strategies – each with its own rules and best practices. This article will explore what you need to know about starting your digital campaign from scratch or how to improve an existing one that isn’t getting the traction you hoped for.

What do digital marketers do?

Digital marketers manage all aspects of social media, marketing, and brand strategies online. They also develop creative content for various platforms, including blogs, websites, emails, and more. Using their strategic planning skills to analyze audience data and trends, they can increase customer engagement by fostering relationships through social networks. All told, there are many different things digital marketers are responsible for.

Digital marketing often includes, but is not limited to, the following:

  1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – often referred to as “natural,” “organic, “or “earned” results. SEO doesn’t guarantee your site will become more visible in search engine results, but implementing strategies to improve a site’s ranking can increase the odds. Many of these strategies include changing content on your website to make it more relevant to popular keyword searches and creating backlinks from other websites to yours.
  2. Social Media Marketing – Social media marketing is the process of interacting with your customers or potential customers online by encouraging them to view your social media profiles like FacebookLinkedIn, and X (Formerly Twitter); sharing interesting information through postings on your pages; facilitating contact between people who share similar interests; taking advantage of “group” features for beneficial conversations; and generally increasing awareness about your brand’s products and services.
  3. Reputation Marketing – Reputation marketing is developing, implementing, and managing an overall reputation for your organization that can attract new customers while also promoting repeat business from existing ones. This type of digital marketing includes activities such as online customer reviews, testimonials, social media marketing to build trust and influence, blogging to establish industry authority, writing press releases for exposure in search engines, and managing local listings.
  4. Email Marketing – Email marketing is a type of direct email advertising that allows marketers to send emails directly to their prospects or customers with promotional information about products or services. It can be done using an email list, such as the contacts you saved in Gmail or Outlook, or purchased from a company like MailChimp or Aweber. This type of digital marketing aims to incentivize readers to take action (such as clicking on a link or making a purchase) based on the content of your email message.
  5. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – SEM is bidding for top placement in search engines like Google and Bing, which allows you to pay each time someone clicks on one of your advertisements. It can also be known as “paid search,” “pay-per-click” (PPC), or “cost per click” (CPC). The idea behind paid advertising online is that if someone searches for a product you’re selling – such as “movies about vampires” – you can place an ad for your product, like a DVD about vampires, at the top of their results. The better you do in search engine rankings (through SEM), the more people will visit your site when they perform this type of query.
  6. Mobile Marketing—Also known as mobile advertising, this is the act of promoting your brand through the use of mobile-specific web pages. You can advertise to a specific geolocation, meaning that if someone has checked into a location on their device recently—such as at a local restaurant near your business—they may see advertisements from your company within the app they’re using to check-in.
  7. Content Marketing – Content marketing is creating and sharing relevant content with your various audiences through a variety of platforms online, including email and social media. Through email, you might send information about your latest product or service offerings to those who have opted-in to receive communications from you; if someone follows you on X, they may see tweets alerting them to current promotions; someone who likes your Facebook page may receive notifications about new blog posts or videos posted by your company; and/or if their friends like what you’re doing Instagram, they may want updates too! Content marketing is not limited to social media or emailing; it can also include blogging, creating video messages for customers, and more.
  8. Marketing Analytics—Every good digital marketing strategy involves collecting data about online activity related to your business and then analyzing that information to make decisions about future campaigns as they relate to your business’s overall progress. The tool most commonly used by digital marketers and SEO professionals is Google Analytics, an online web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic.

Why do small businesses need digital marketing?

Small businesses typically do not have unlimited funds for marketing. Most small business owners can’t afford much more than a small-scale billboard on the freeway.

Business owners rely on word of mouth and drive-by advertising to market their wares, but today’s web-savvy customers are going online to find what they want. If you’re not there, too, you’re missing an opportunity that might mean a competitor gets your customers.

It takes courage to take that first step into the unknown realm of internet promotion. However, if you do it right and plan, digital marketing for small businesses can be profitable and rewarding in ways traditional methods cannot.

It’s amazing to get new customers from every corner of the world who found your shop through an Internet search engine (or one of your social media sites).

In the right hands, digital marketing can bring in new customers you might have missed before. It also gives existing customers a chance to brag about your products or services on social media sites where their friends are, too.

Every time they mention your company online, they advertise for you since their message can be shared with hundreds of people they don’t know.

What type of digital marketing is best for small businesses?

Many small business owners and marketers struggle with this question, and the answer isn’t as simple as you might think.

Several different types of digital marketing are available to companies, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. It is important to weigh these before deciding exactly which one your company will benefit from most.

Most businesses choose to use a combination of different forms of digital marketing to achieve maximum results; however, one form, or maybe even two, may stand out as the best option for your particular business type.

Choosing the exact combination of actions for your digital marketing can be confusing, but understanding the basics will help you make an informed decision.

How much does digital marketing cost for small businesses?

The cost of hiring a digital marketing agency will vary depending on the size and needs of your business. What is convenient about hiring an agency is you can expect to pay for their professional expertise. However, agencies are still more affordable than hiring in-house employees, for whom you must offer benefits like health insurance, paid time off, etc. While some small businesses opt for free services like social media accounts with Facebook or Twitter, having someone manage these does not provide analytics that allows you to measure performance or track your results.

This can be said for most other free online avenues companies use to market themselves through internet advertising.

The most effective marketing campaigns provide measurable results, and nothing makes this easier to achieve than using programmatic platforms built specifically for digital marketing.
The cost of hiring an agency can vary depending on how much they need to do for your business.

While some agencies are better equipped to promote small businesses with just a few social media accounts, others will be more suited to larger companies with websites, e-commerce storefronts, and other services that require technical optimization to see results.

Most well-known agencies have standardized fees that are well above average, though, because they come with the notoriety you would expect from firms that invest heavily in marketing themselves.

Once you find an agency that matches your budget and needs, make sure to sign a contract that includes penalties for failing to deliver the agreed-upon results.

Hiring a digital marketing agency can be very beneficial for increasing brand awareness, customer loyalty, lead generation, and other factors that can make your small business more successful.

Wrapping It Up

Digital marketing is essential for any business looking to thrive in today’s online-driven world. Whether you’re just getting started or refining your current strategy, understanding key digital marketing components like SEO, social media, email marketing, and paid advertising will help you attract new customers and grow your brand. Small businesses, in particular, can benefit greatly from digital marketing because it provides cost-effective ways to reach a targeted audience, measure performance, and engage with customers in real time. By investing in the right strategies and staying up to date with trends, you can build a strong online presence and compete effectively in your industry. Taking the first step can feel overwhelming, but with careful planning and a commitment to learning, digital marketing can become a powerful tool for your business. Start small, test different approaches, and refine your strategy over time to achieve the best results.