6 Small Business Digital Marketing Ideas
As a small business, it can be tough to stand out in the crowd especially when you have a small team or a tight budget to work with. Here is a list of small business digital marketing ideas we put together that you can use to help get your brand’s message out there. The best part is, you don’t need a large marketing budget or an expert team of marketers for these tactics to work.
As you read through our list there are two questions you should be asking yourself:
- How will this strategy help me accomplish my business’s goals?
- How will this affect my customers at each stage of the buyer’s journey?
If your business is looking to get sales right now, you probably don’t want to allocate all of your resources towards a strategy that won’t produce tangible results in the first 12 months. You will also want to consider what part of the buyer’s journey needs the most love right now. If you are struggling with getting people to come to your site (or store), you will want to focus on a strategy that brings awareness to your brand. On the other hand, if you are struggling with getting customers to buy again you will likely focus on providing value to your customers after they made a purchase. For your convenience, we put what stage of the buyer’s journey each tactic will likely help out with the most. Here are the three stages we will be using:
Attract those who are unfamiliar with your brand to your brand.
Engage those who are already familiar with your brand.
Delight those who have already made a purchase with you.
Small Business Digital Marketing Idea #1: Post a Daily Video To Social Media (Attract/Engage)
Pull out your phone and film a one minute video sharing your expertise with your audience. If you are a plumber, share maintenance tips. If you are a clothing brand, you can share trending fashion tips. It doesn’t matter what you share as long as you provide value to your audience. These videos don’t necessarily need a call to action either, just include your branding in the video. This will turn your followers into fans. That way, when they are in the market to buy the product/service you have to offer, they’re more likely to do business with you. This tactic will work only if you are consistent with it. Don’t give up too early if you aren’t seeing results.
Small Business Digital Marketing Idea #2: Set Up Google My Business (Attract)
If you haven’t done this already, you need to get this done today. Setting up a Google My Business account will put your business on the map. Literally. That’s how Google knows which businesses are where and places them on Google Maps accordingly. Google My Business also allows your customers to leave reviews on Google Reviews. This is helpful especially for local businesses like restaurants who rely on foot traffic to their store. If you need help setting your listing up, check out Google’s help article on setting up a Google My Business listing.
Small Business Digital Marketing Idea #3: Start a Podcast (Engage)
Podcasts are more popular than ever before. The upside to podcasting is you are able to reach an entirely new audience that isn’t as likely to interact with your blog or social media content. Starting a podcast is cheaper and easier than you may think. All you need is a decent microphone ($50-$100), a podcast host ($12-$24/month), and audio editing software (free). Buzzsprout is a good podcast host for beginners. Check out their step-by-step guide on how to start a podcast. Remember that no one is going to want to listen to a 30-minute commercial for your brand. Treat each episode as a casual blog post, the purpose is to provide value to your audience rather than sell them something.
Small Business Digital Marketing Idea #4: Try Facebook Ads (Attract/Engage)
This is definitely the most expensive option so far on this list. The upside is that with Facebook ads, you will be able to see results much faster than any organic strategy you test. Facebook is a powerful advertising platform because you are able to target very specific and unique audiences. So if you don’t have a large advertising budget, you can target a very niche audience and only send ads to people who you know would be interested in your product/service. Another benefit of advertising on Facebook is that you will have access to audience data that you can learn from and apply to your other marketing efforts. If you think Facebook ads can help your business but you don’t know where to start check out our paid social page to learn more about how Set Fire Creative can help your business.
Small Business Digital Marketing Idea #5: Try Google Ads (Attract/Engage)
It seems inappropriate to talk about Facebook ads without mentioning Google ads. With Google, you have less control over the audience that you are sending your ads to, but you are able to be found exactly when someone needs you. For example, if you’re a plumber, it’s impossible to target people that have a plumbing emergency on Facebook. But if your website and phone number show up on Google when someone searches “24-hour plumber” or “plumber near me” then you have found someone who is likely in the market to hire a plumber. If you have a limited advertising budget you can get really specific with the keywords you target so your ad is only shown when someone is ready to buy. If you are ready to start advertising with Google, but don’t know how to manage a campaign, check out our paid search marketing page to see how we can help.
Small Business Digital Marketing Idea #6: Keep Your Customers Close With Email (Delight)
Last but not least on our list of small business digital marketing ideas: email marketing. Once a customer has made a purchase, you need to make them feel so good about making a purchase that they want to come back to buy more. Email marketing is an excellent tool to make this happen. In fact, 49 percent of customers want to receive promotional emails from their favorite brands. Follow up with your recent customers to see how they like the product and ask for a review. Then, periodically send them offers so that they can buy again when they are ready to.
Remember to stay customer-focused with your marketing. Keep a balance between marketing to get a sale now and investing in the future of your brand. If you want to learn more about digital marketing strategies for small businesses, feel free to schedule a call with one of Set Fire Creative’s client strategists.
Dale is a Digital Marketing Specialist at Set Fire Creative. When he isn’t making the most out of clients’ ad spend, he is recording podcasts with his friends, working on his own eCommerce brand, or hiking in the mountains with his wife and border collie puppy.
