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We all know digital marketing today and how it works. But not many are aware of the implications and importance of digital marketing for small businesses. In this blog, we are going to quickly walk you through the reasons why you need it if you are a small business.

Consumer behavior has changed drastically today. As?

• People prefer to shop online, from everyday items like vegetables and milk to the most expensive items like electronics.
• The time spent daily on social media platforms is increasing, especially since Covid-19.
• Google has become the most popular search engine for consumers to get answers to every possible query.

(Source: data portal)

With such a drastic change in consumer behavior, businesses also need to get up to speed on the latest developments. You can no longer achieve the same results using traditional methods today.

Therefore, in order to meet the latest consumer demands, small businesses need to adopt digital marketing. There are different digital marketing skills and each skill has a different purpose.

When used optimally, they all help to produce great results. So it’s no secret that the Benefits of digital marketing are abundant.

Let’s look at some of the factors that are driving the rise of digital marketing for small businesses:

7 reasons why digital marketing is important for small businesses

# Reach the right audience

One of the main reasons digital marketing is used immensely by small businesses is because it enables them to reach the right potential customers. At first, it was difficult for small businesses to reach the right people.

That led to a lot of wasted resources. And that’s something a small business can’t afford. So, with digital marketing, you can meet the people who are best suited for your product / service and thus increase your chances of conversion.

And since the pandemic, people of all ages have adapted to the internet and spend a lot of time there. This is your cue to move your resources online as you need to keep track of where your customers are moving.

(Source: michaelaclandking)

# Personalized communication

One of the revolutions that went hand in hand with digital marketing is the high level of personalization in the marketing approach. The same messages or advertisements used to be broadcast that were expected to appeal to all types of people.

Digital marketing has shown how different groups of people need different approaches that appeal to them very much. And that’s exactly why a small company is needed. When you start targeting different parts of your audience through messages that appeal to them the most, you will be at the top of the charts from the start.

With digital marketing, you can run ads and strategies that make a consumer feel like the brand is talking to them directly. It helps you to increase your conversion rate immensely.

# Compete with equal opportunities

In digital marketing, almost every company, large or small, is on an equal footing. It offers equal opportunities and thus the competitive ground is leveled.

The only difference is the available budget. But don’t worry. If you place your money correctly and diversify your budget across different channels, you can achieve similar results and compete. This is one of the most motivating factors why small businesses often choose digital marketing over traditional marketing.

# Cost efficient

From the above points it is already clear that digital marketing is a very inexpensive method compared to the results it helps you. It’s a cheaper method, and at the same time it opens doors to a global audience.

Therefore, the scope that traditional methods would require for global alignment can be done much less with digital methods.

# Higher returns

Let’s say you have a product worth INR 65,000. And in the last few days you have noticed that some customers have visited this product page very often but have not yet purchased.

You can run remarketing campaigns from as little as 500 INR and address these people with a highly personalized message. In addition, you can offer a discount / incentive to get them to buy. For example, of the 6-7 people you sold the remarketing to, 3 made the purchase.

Now you can already calculate the return on your INR 500 investment! Isn’t that amazing? This proves that it is an affordable method with the best returns that makes a great combination for small businesses.

# Build brand reputation

When everyone is present on the internet today, they see what they believe out there. Hence, it is very important that you build a strong online presence. If you are absent from social media platforms, your competitors will eat up your share of the audience.

Hence, you need to have a presence online and build a good reputation for yourself. With digital marketing, it has become relatively easy to get your brand exactly how you want it to be in the minds of your consumers. But you have to work hard all the time. Here’s a course to help you build – Reputation Management Online Course.

# Trackable results

Yes that’s right! Running a digital marketing campaign is only half the job. Tracking the results and evaluating your returns is the second important step. Measuring your results has never been easier with amazing tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics.

Why is that important? Because it tells you exactly what worked for you and what didn’t and thus your future campaigns may depend on it. This is especially beneficial for small businesses as they don’t waste their resources on things that don’t work for them.

These are pretty much the general reasons why digital marketing is growing in importance for small businesses. If you dive deeper, you will understand that digital marketing has immense potential and benefits.

For anyone who is convinced that digital marketing is the way to go, this is where you can get started.

How do I integrate digital marketing for small businesses?

Keep in mind that a small business doesn’t want to start investing directly in an expensive digital marketing agency. Here’s what you can do instead.

Do in-house digital marketing for the first few years. As? You have to start learning. Digital marketing is a line that experiences maximum development and change. Every time you think you know, there is always something new that you don’t know.

So never stop learning. Start with that Online digital marketing course that is taught by professionals who work in the industry and do what they teach. Hence, you can expect plenty of off-curriculum sessions, tips, and hacks.

Learn for yourself or register your best teammate to do the digital marketing. Another popular method is corporate training. You can train your entire workforce in digital marketing skills based on your business and find solutions. Check this out Corporate training in digital marketing to understand more of what it offers.

You can also read blogs on it Digital marketing strategies for startups to learn how to use digital marketing with some techniques and tricks.

Once you start practicing digital marketing there will be rounds of trial and error that are inevitable, so learn from them and move on. After you are completely sure how it works, you can hire a digital marketing agency as the business grows.

We hope this blog has helped you in some ways and provided some clarity.

Author biography

Karan Shah

Founder and CEO of IIDE

An “edupreneur” and founder of IIDE – Indian Institute of Digital Education.

He has been a passionate speaker and teacher for over 10 years. He has trained over 100,000+ students and 25+ companies in digital marketing through online and offline channels. He is a Harvard alumnus who specializes in e-commerce. He is TEDx spokesperson and visiting professor at India’s top management institutes such as the IIMs.