Digital marketing. As you’ve grown your small business, you’ve probably heard that digital marketing is something you need to invest in. The world keeps becoming more and more digitally-oriented, so it makes sense. But what exactly is digital marketing? And how do you do it? At The Get Smart Group, we understand small businesses have unique challenges when it comes to digital marketing because you just may not have the people or time to dedicate to it. That’s why we’ve created this Digital Marketing 101 for Small Businesses to help get you on the right track with the time you have.
What is Digital Marketing?
When you think of marketing, what do you think of? TV commercials? Billboards? People coming to your door trying to sell something? Maybe those Facebook ads that you swear just overheard your conversation (especially because you’ve never looked that up before)? Marketing is really just getting the word out about your business and doesn’t even necessarily have to be a creepy Facebook ad (though those are a highly effective form of digital marketing for certain businesses).
Digital marketing includes things you wouldn’t even think of as marketing, like your website. To you, it may just be something you have to have, but to your potential leads, it’s how they’re going to learn about your business. According to GE Capital Retail Bank, 81% of customers research a product or business online before going to the store to buy. As a small business, your goal with digital marketing is to use the internet to reach your potential customers. At the moment, you may just have a basic website and a Facebook page you occasionally post on. That’s great, because that’s how potential customers will determine if you’re a real business and if they want to give you a chance. But, if they don’t already know about your business, how are they going to find your website or Facebook page if you aren’t promoting it actively online? That is where other digital marketing strategies come in.
Show Up On Search Engines
As we’ve established, you most likely at least have a website for your business (if you don’t, you need one). But, just having a website isn’t enough to show high in the Google search results. Why does showing high in the search results matter? Think about it: when you’re googling something, how far into the search results do you go before giving up? The average reader never goes beyond the 5th result on Google Page One (according to Advanced Web Rankings). In other words, if you’re number 11, even on Google Page One, you’ll never be seen by most people. The truth is – attention spans are getting shorter and people expect information to be readily available to them. They’re not going to keep searching for your business, even if you are truly the perfect fit. You need to make sure they can find you easily.
Optimize Your Web Pages
While just having a website isn’t enough to get your business to show in search results, optimizing your web pages boosts your ranking quickly. This is what the digital marketing industry refers to as search engine optimization, or SEO. Basically, SEO involves working a keyword or phrase into your content so the search engines know what your content is about. I like to think about keywords in terms of search terms. When you’re writing your content, think about what you would Google if you were looking for that information.
For example, if you are a customer looking to buy a hot tub, you might search for “hot tubs in St. Louis”, or wherever you are located. So, on your web page or blog, you’d want to include a phrase like, “If you’re looking for the best hot tubs in St. Louis, look no further than…”
SEO is only as complicated as you make it. But, if you still aren’t sure, we can help you crush your SEO strategy.
Keep Your Content Fresh
Let’s keep thinking like a customer. If you’re searching for something and you find an article from 2018, are you going to read it or look for something more recent? Even though 2018 was only 3 years ago, with all of the information we have today, you’re going to keep looking. And search engines know this.
A great way to keep your content fresh is to post blogs. Blogs help you appear in more search results, keep fresh content on your website, and improve your SEO. Plus, these don’t affect any landing pages on your website. This is great because even though search engines like new content, they don’t like new landing pages as much (confusing, we know).
Gather Some Leads
Digital marketing isn’t just a way to get potential leads to see your website; it’s also a great way to gather leads so you can follow up with them later.
It starts when they get to your website. This may sound kind of weird, but you are able to track a user’s activity on your website? By doing this, you’re able to remarket to them later. For example, if they go to your hot tubs landing page but don’t do anything, you can give them targeted ads in a few months to get them back to your site.
Another way to gather leads is by using lead magnets. Have you ever wondered why a website wants you to give them your email address just to download something for free? It’s so they can get your contact information, and you can do the same thing with your leads. Offer a free quote, a free brochure, or something else that will get leads to enter their contact information. This free item essentially attracts leads like a magnet, which is why they’re called lead magnets. Then, since you have their contact information and know they’re interested, you can follow up with an e-blast or a nurture email campaign to stay in contact with them and hopefully convert them to a customer.
We know that even with our Digital Marketing 101 for small businesses, digital marketing can be overwhelming. At The Get Smart Group, we specialize in hot tub store marketing, as well as other at-home recreation marketing. If you’re looking to sell more hot tubs without doing the digital marketing yourself, schedule a free 30-minute consultation. We’ll go through your goals and how The Get Smart Group can help.
