10 Digital Marketing Tips For Small Businesses in 2019

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Small business marketing has changed significantly in the previous decade, as consumers turn to online resources to research their purchases. A large part of remaining competitive as a small business in the digital marketing industry is learning to harness the power of the internet.

We have compiled the top 10 digital marketing tips for small businesses in 2019:

1. Implement User Experience (UX )Design Strategy

With such a large emphasis on the power of search engine optimization, it can be easy to forget about the people behind the screen.

While making your site visible to users online is important, it is equally crucial to establish a site that will keep your readers on the page and interested in what your site has to offer. Companies need to do their homework to understand their audience and learn the best practices for user experience (UX) design if they expect their site to attract returning visitors.

UX design focuses on how your users interact with your site in terms of what they are looking for and then catering your design approach to appeal to these users and improve this experience.

As well as featuring engaging, well-written site content, an important part of UX design is making your site easy and enjoyable for users to navigate. Practice effective UX design by optimizing website features such as site speed, responsive web design and any other features that would make users more inclined to visit your site.  

2. Employ organic SEO strategies

Increasing organic SEO traffic is an affordable and highly effective marketing strategy for small businesses. While there are many ways to enhance organic SEO traffic, implementing high-ranking keywords is one of the top practices. SearchEngine Journal recommend that content specialists focus on keywords’ intent to attract a relevant audience.

Google has shifted to strategically rewording content that addresses keyword intent. It is crucial to review the search engine results pages (SERPs) to evaluate how certain phrases are ranking. Be sure to implement these high-ranking keywords in an organic way so as not to jeopardize the quality of your content.

3. Optimize social media

Where does your audience spend their time? Are they on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram? As is true for any marketing strategy, a business must be visible on the social media sites where their targeted customers are spending their time. Employing the use of social media marketing is considered an engaging and affordable marketing practice for small businesses. Find out where your audience spends their time online through demographic studies and market research. Then, draft relevant and compelling posts to reach them and work to build a quality profile on those platforms.

4. Try out Facebook ads

Facebook ads are a proven winner for many companies. The ads are inexpensive, targeted and effective. Constant Contact recommends using Ads Manager as a free management tool that can help achieve better results. The benefits of using this simple tool includes access to an image library, better targeting and superior bidding capabilities.

5. Quality over quantity!

Quality is by far more important than quantity, as it relates to ranking high on search engine results as well as to keeping your audience engaged and on your site longer and more frequently. Social Media Today reports that SEO and high-quality content operate hand-in-hand to deliver the best results. By publishing relevant and well-written content in combination with effective SEO practices, your site will be more likely to attract returning visitors.

6. Introduce video content

In a competitive business landscape, you have to find a way to stand out or risk falling behind the pack, and video content might be the solution you’re looking for! Videos have the ability to elicit an emotional response from viewers and are more easily able to hold their attention for longer periods of time, causing them to spend more time on your webpage.

This allows for a much more accessible, and easy-to-consume way to convey a message that may be at risk of getting lost on your webpage otherwise. As well, more media platforms mean more reach and introducing video content is more likely to encourage social shareability. In an overly digital era, attention spans can be short; a brief but engaging video can be key to your site’s success!

7. Monitor your online reputation

More likely than not, your customers are checking you out online before they buy what you’re selling. Forbes reports that any company risks losing as much as 22 per cent of their business if there is a negative article about them on the first page of their search results. That figure climbs to a staggering 59.2 per cent if there are three negative articles. That’s why it is crucial for any business to audit their online reputation and ensure they’re doing everything they can to respond to and overturn user concerns.

8. Develop email marketing campaigns

Fundera reports that email marketing is still considered one of the most effective marketing strategies available. The reason why emailing works as a practice is because the majority of consumers and business buyers still check their email on a regular basis. By creating a monthly email newsletter, your business will be more likely to reach your prospective buyers.

When introducing email marketing for your business, avoid buying email lists and instead, strive to build your audience organically using these top 10 tips. Buying an email list puts you at risk of ruining the reputation of your business, coming across as a scammer to email recipients and likely dealing with a severely poor response rate.

9. Research competitors and differentiate yourself

The digital landscape is noisy with messages from your competitors and it can be tough to set yourself apart from the rest. Your digital voice must stand out as definitive and separate from your competitors in order for users to differentiate your services. Finding your corporate voice means conducting diligent market research to ascertain what works and what doesn’t. Research your competitors to develop unique content, campaigns and marketing strategies that will attract your targeted audience.

10. Conduct local search marketing

Local search marketing is an absolute necessity if your business hopes to compete among the rest. Whether your business is a brick and mortar retail shop or an online store, people want to do business with their local neighbours when they can. That’s why it is so important to get your business listed on Google My Business. In current times, it is critical to be able to be found on Google Maps if a business wants to compete for digital customers. Set up your free profile on Google My Business to gain higher credibility amongst customers and gain a stronger online presence.

Small business marketing strategies rely heavily on digital marketing and online visibility. Luckily, it has never been easier to reach millions of potential customers at an affordable cost than it is today; all you need to know is how to utilize the tools of the digital age!