When times are tough or uncertain, many businesses fall into the trap of scaling back their marketing and advertising to cut costs. Though the logic is perverse: by cutting back marketing, that also theoretically cuts off finding new customers and any chance of growing the business. In fact, upping marketing during tough periods can increase sales, as evidenced by Jif peanut butter in the United States. They increased instead of decreased marketing, and sales shot up by 57% during the 1989-1991 recession. Here are some reasons why small businesses need to up their digital marketing instead of thinking about it as a “nice to have” feature.
Digital marketing evens the playing field
Before marketing went digital, you needed deep pockets to compete with corporates in the same field. Digital marketing evens the playing field, giving you the same access to customers as your competitors. According to Google, businesses make an average of $2 back for every $1 spent on pay per click (PPC) advertising – a return on investment of 100%. By using all aspects of digital marketing, such as content strategy, social media, SEO, and PPC, you can increase that return and achieve real growth.
Search engine optimisation – your secret weapon
Your website is your storefront – you attract new visitors, have them sign up to newsletters, and sell your products and services through it. Using search engine optimisation to increase your organic (non-paid) search engine ranking will help you reach more people and attract more clicks through to your website.
SEO is time and knowledge intensive. Small businesses may not have the time to invest in learning and deploying SEO on a regular basis. Having a specialist search engine optimisation company to help you with the content, backlinking, and other technical aspects can also lead to higher traffic and a greater return on investment.
If you aren’t on page one, you don’t exist
Google has 92% of the share of the search market, according to Main Street ROI. If your website doesn’t appear in the first page of search results for your business’ relevant keywords, it may as well not exist. According to Search Engine Journal, 25% of searches click on the first organic (non-ad) result. A result in position #2 will generate an average of three times as many clicks as one in position #6. Results on the second page of Google search? Less than 1%.
Social media takes time – but it’s free
Having a social media page – be it Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok – is free to set up. You can advertise through it, but a social media presence can be as easy as taking photos and updating your followers on new and exciting events or products. A little time and attention paid to social media can increase your reach and find new customers you can sell to time and time again.
