8 Tips for Small Business Digital Marketing Mastery

small business digital marketing mastery

Marketing has changed considerably since the advent of the internet. Consumers turn their attention online to make purchases. And, if you run a small business, this is where you need to be focusing your energy. 

Of course, it’s hard to stand out from the crowd. How exactly do you make people take notice of your business? 

The answer lies with digital marketing. But what is online marketing, and how can you harness its power in your business?

In this article, we’ll take a look at small business digital marketing and give you the 8 top tips for mastering online advertising. 


1. Have a Great Business Website

You can be as active as you like on social media, but you cannot overlook the need for a great company website. You should see your website as being your business's home. It is the equivalent of your store on the high street. 

Your website doesn’t have to be flash; it needs to be appealing and functional. Importantly, your site needs to be mobile-friendly and fully responsive for all devices or browsers. 


2. Invest Time and Effort in Search Engine Optimization

So you’ve got your great looking website, but how do you get people to find it. With over 1.9 billion websites online, search engines like Google have to work hard to decide on where websites sit in the rankings. That's why your site needs search engine optimization (SEO) to help it stand out in Google results and on other top search engines like Bing, Yahoo, AOL, Baidu, YouTube, DuckDuckGo, and Yandex.

Nobody wants to be on the second page of the search results page, so to get to the top of page one, you’ll need to optimize your content. 

There are several practices that you can implement to get to the top spot these include: 

  • Using the right keywords on your website
  • Getting your site linked to from other sites
  • Making sure your website works on mobile devices
  • Improving the speed that the page loads 

Search engine optimization is an ongoing task. Many businesses outsource these tasks to experts to ensure their ranking is the best it can be.


3. Invest Time and Effort into Local Search Engine Optimization 

One of the best marketing tools you can use for your small business is local search engine optimization. 

If you want to reach customers in your local area, then you should make sure that you claim your Google My Business profile. By doing this, you will be able to leapfrog to position zero in the search rankings. 

Make sure that your name, address, and phone number are all correctly listed on your Google My Business listing, and on your website. Any discrepancies in the information that you post may have a negative effect on your rankings. 


4. Use Your Google My Business Customer Reviews 

Not only will your Google My Business page ensure that you appear on Google Maps and in the map at the top of Google searches, but it will also give you a chance to get customer reviews. 

Customer reviews provide essential social proofing for your business. But you may wonder how to get more Google reviews from customers. You can do this by encouraging your customers to leave reviews and making sure that you respond to and act on all reviews, even those that are critical.


5. Leverage Social Media to Your Advantage

Seven out of ten people in the United States have social media, and it has become the number-one marketing channel for small businesses. With so many of your potential customers on social media, you should be targeting them. 

There are two ways that you should use social media. 

First, you should create a following for your brand and leverage the social sharing aspects of sites like Facebook. 

Second, you should use paid targeted marketing to have your ads appear in the feeds of people who fit the demographic of your brand or business. 

Make sure you understand where your customers are and use the right social media channel to suit your brand. 


6. Think Mobile When You Use Email Marketing 

Email marketing is a very popular way for small businesses to retarget their existing and previous customers. 

When you create an email campaign, make sure the content is laid out in a way that you will look good on a mobile device. Keep your emails as short as possible and make sure that you use a clear call to action at the end. 

You’ll need to be sure that links and buttons in emails are easy to click, so make sure there is plenty of white space. 


7. Embrace Pay-Per-Click Advertising 

Pay-per-click ads appear whenever someone does an internet search for the keywords used in the ad. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad. There are several channels that use this type of advertising, with Google being the most popular. 

Make sure that you target medium and high-volume keywords that have a low cost-per-click.


8. Use Marketing Automation 

Marketing automation software can take out a lot of the hard work from your digital marketing strategy. By automating repetitive elements of marketing, you can save yourself time and resources. 

You can use automated responses or have drip marketing campaigns that start as soon as someone fills out a new lead for.

Through automation, you can schedule your social media posts. Algorithms can be used to determine the exact social media users to target, and the best time of day to post ads and social media posts as well as when to send emails. 


What is Your Small Business Digital Marketing Strategy 

Having a small business digital marketing strategy should be essential for every company. Without these small business digital marketing tools in place, you’ll find it hard to compete or even let your customers know that you’re out there. 

Implement as many of these practices into your business as possible, or outsource the task to a specialist digital marketing firm for a great return on your investment. Small business digital marketing isn't just a smart ideas these days, it's a necessity for companies.

Official Bootstrap Business Blog Newest Posts From Mike Schiemer Partners And News Outlets