What Digital Marketing Channel Is Best For My Business?
- Carl Lane
- Feb 10, 2023
- 14 min read
Updated: Feb 19
Starting and running a small business can be challenging, but with the right advertising and marketing strategies, it's possible to reach your target audience, generate leads, and grow your sales and ROI. With the rise of digital ad spending, businesses need to be relevant and competitive in the digital marketplace.
More than half of all advertising spending is now online, and with COVID-19 shifting the world to be more focused online, the ability to grab more attention has increased.
To make the most of your marketing budget, it's crucial to be strategic about which types of digital marketing channels you use. In this blog post, we'll explore the top eight digital marketing platforms and help you decide which channels are best for your business.
Whether you're new to the world of digital marketing or simply need a refresher, we've got you covered!
8 Types Of Digital Marketing That Could Work For Your Small Business
As a small business owner, you need to be strategic with your advertising budget and find the most cost-effective ways to reach your target audience. Booking a 10-second TV commercial slot may not be the best solution, especially when competing against large brands with substantial advertising budgets. Instead of relying on traditional forms of advertising, such as print ads and television and radio commercials, it's time to explore alternative advertising solutions that cater to your small business needs. By finding smart and innovative ways to promote your business, you can stay ahead of the competition and reach your target audience more effectively.
Content Marketing
Adopting Content Marketing as a digital marketing strategy is crucial for businesses, large and small alike. The reason being that it acts as a driving force behind nearly all other forms of digital marketing, from email campaigns to social media management. Hence it’s spot at number one on this list (this list isn’t ranked at all - but don’t underestimate Content Marketing).
Content Marketing entails creating and sharing content that serves a purpose other than just promotion, and can be used for various objectives such as inspiring, educating, persuading or entertaining your audience.
The types of content created as part of a Content Marketing campaign can vary greatly and can include written content like blog posts and ebooks, video content, podcasts, infographics, social media posts and webinars. The kind of content you create depends on your goals and target audience.
The advantages of Content Marketing for small businesses are numerous. Firstly, it is an affordable approach that delivers a substantial return on investment. It costs 62% less than traditional outbound marketing tactics and can generate three times as many leads, according to DemandMetric. Secondly, high-quality content helps in boosting your website's SEO, leading to an increase in inbound marketing and driving more traffic to your site. Thirdly, it has a significant impact on lead generation and conversion rates, with ABG Essentials reporting that businesses experience conversion rates that are six times higher than other marketing methods.
By providing valuable content to your target audience, Content Marketing helps you build authentic connections and can influence smarter purchasing decisions. To make the most of Content Marketing, it is important to have a strategy that takes into account your goals and audience. One way to start is by creating a blog and consistently covering topics of interest to your target audience. You can also create long-form written content like ebooks and white papers to go into depth on topics that are valuable to your audience. By requiring your audience to provide their contact information before accessing the content, you can work towards building your contact list and learn more about your leads.
Website Design
A well-designed website can serve as an essential tool for your digital marketing strategy. Not only does it provide customers with accurate information about your products or services, but it also acts as a lead generation tool. To create a website, you can either hire a professional designer or utilise templates and tools offered by platforms such as WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace. However, it is worth noting that while Wix and Squarespace may be easier to use, they have limitations when it comes to SEO. In this case, it's best to opt for WordPress.
The design of your website has a significant impact on the perception of your brand. 94% of consumers form their opinions of your website based on its design, so it's crucial to ensure that it's visually appealing and easy to navigate. Visitors should have a clear understanding of your business and the value you can provide them with. For this reason, the layout and content of your site must be optimised for the user experience. The visual elements, such as logos, colours, and images, are also critical components of website design.
A user-friendly website that's easy to navigate on all devices is crucial. Clearly labeled navigation menus, internal links, and optimised content will help visitors find the information they need and make it easier for them to understand your business. To reach the growing market of mobile device users, it's essential that your website is mobile-responsive and adapts to different screens, including smartphones, tablets, and desktops.
To get the most out of your website, you should also track metrics over time to identify lead sources and determine which content resonates with your target audience. By making data-driven changes to your site, you can attract more qualified leads and improve your conversion rates.
A well-designed website is an essential aspect of a successful digital marketing strategy. From improving brand perception to boosting lead generation and conversions, investing in website design is a step in the right direction for your business.
Local Listings
Maintaining accurate and consistent information about your business on free directories such as Google My Business and Bing Places is crucial for your search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts. By adding your business name, website, images, and hours, you can take advantage of people searching for businesses in your area.
Many of the local listings on these directories are free, but some may offer paid options to increase visibility. This makes them a budget-friendly alternative to costly and time-consuming SEO tactics such as link building or maintaining regular content on your business blog. You can also find industry-specific listing sites and make the most of this SEO opportunity.
Consistent information across your business listings, social media profiles, and website is crucial for both Google and building trust among customers. Google calls these pieces of information "citations," and if they are accurate and consistent, it will strengthen your search ranking. On the other hand, inconsistencies can lead to a decrease in rankings.
To ensure accuracy, search for your business and correct any outdated information in your current listings. Keeping a record of all the sites where your business can be found will help you stay organised and make it easier to keep them updated as needed.
Consistent contact information is not just important for Google and your rankings, but also for building trust among customers. If customers see different phone numbers or addresses on your website and your listings, they may be hesitant to contact you. This highlights the importance of maintaining a consistent online footprint and making it easy for customers to get in touch.
Maintaining local listings also boosts your brand equity, which is the perceived value of your business. By showing up when customers are searching for you, you increase awareness of your business and build greater brand equity, leading to more sales. Additionally, a 2015 analysis found that 44% of clicks in Google come from the top three local listings, meaning that keeping your listings up to date can drive more traffic to your website.
Finally, local listings also allow you to collect social proof in the form of online reviews. According to a 2017 analysis by Bright Local, 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, making them critical to your business. Encourage customers to leave feedback on your various profiles instead of keeping great testimonials only on your website, which may not be ranking as high.
Here are some local listings you can try:
Google My Business
Bing Places
Yelp
118
Thomson Local
Yahoo Small Business
Facebook
LinkedIn
Search Engine Optimisation
The importance of ranking high on search engines like Google for website visibility and organic traffic is widely recognised. The key to attracting organic traffic is to create a useful and informative website that answers customers' questions and provides solutions to their problems. The more people that click onto the website, the better it will rank on Google, and backlinks from other websites can also help boost rankings.
However, obtaining organic traffic requires effort and patience, and it can take time to see results.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is an important aspect of online marketing that optimises online content to bring in more organic traffic from search engines. The process involves emphasising specific keywords and phrases in the content that align with what a consumer might search for. SEO not only improves the quantity of organic search traffic but also the quality of that traffic, by publishing content that resonates with the target audience.
With 81% of shoppers conducting online research before making a purchase, SEO is crucial for any business that wants to reach customers online. SEO is also essential for mobile users, as more Google searches are generally performed on mobile devices than on computers.
To improve SEO, businesses should focus on boosting content marketing efforts and conducting keyword research to determine what customers are searching for. However, it is important to note that keyword usage is not the only factor that Google takes into consideration when determining rankings, as factors like site design, domain authority, and link building also play a role. SEO is an ongoing process that requires attention and periodic updates to stay up to date with the latest changes in search engine algorithms.
Paid Search
Google AdWords and Bing Ads are effective digital marketing tools that can drive traffic to your website and increase your visibility on search engines. By focusing on long-tail, industry-specific keywords, you can optimise your click-through rate and conversions. PPC campaigns are cost-effective, with a budget of $20 to $30 per day generating valuable traffic and leads for your business.
Google, being an advertising machine, generates a significant portion of its revenue from Google Ads. The popularity of Google Ads has grown rapidly in the past decade, with billions of searches and businesses making an average of $2 for every $1 spent on advertising.
The beauty of PPC advertising is that you only pay for clicks, making it accessible for businesses of all sizes. It also allows for targeted campaigns and market testing, making it a cost-effective marketing strategy to attract prospective customers. However, competition can be high in popular markets due to the ease of access to Google Ads.
Google Ads, structured in a PPC model, appear at the top of search engine results when users type in the keywords you've bid on. When executed correctly, they can supplement your organic SEO efforts and improve your reach on the search engine.
Google advertising is crucial as it is where the majority of your customers are searching for information about products and services similar to yours. PPC advertising on Google provides immediate results, driving traffic to your page and improving the quality of the traffic that you drive back to your site.
To make the most out of Google ads, it's best to use them as a supplement to your organic SEO efforts and track your results over time. Google Ads allows you to measure the success of your ads and adjust your strategy to maximise results and optimise your ad spend. PPC management can be complex, so it's essential to have a clear strategy and measure your results to get the most out of your ad spend.
If you’re looking to get started with PPC, or are already running some campaigns but need some help, don’t forget you can grab a free 30 minute consultation with me!
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a cost-effective and versatile digital marketing tool that helps small businesses engage with their current customers and tap into a potential market. It is the process of sending targeted messages through email to your contacts. Email marketing provides businesses with the opportunity to deliver valuable and relevant information to their customers, as well as promote their products and services through online coupons, sales, and other promotions.
Email marketing is important because consumers prefer to receive brand communications through email and it integrates well with other digital marketing tactics. With a good return on investment, email marketing can drive more traffic to a business's site, boost sales, and help influence conversions.
To effectively use email marketing, businesses need to build their email marketing contact list by providing incentives for subscription and segmenting the list based on factors such as geography, buying behaviour, or interests. They can also set up nurturing campaigns to nurture their relationships with leads and customers.
Email marketing remains one of the most important types of digital marketing for small businesses to reach their target audience and can be a powerful channel for engaging with customers through valuable content and promotions.
Social Media Marketing
As of January 2020, the global social media usage rate stood at 49 percent. This represents a significant opportunity for small businesses to reach and engage with new leads through social media marketing (SMM) and management. SMM involves activities such as influencer marketing, video marketing, and social media advertising.
It is important for small businesses as it provides a space to show a more human side of the brand, drive more traffic to the website, improve brand recognition, and is cost-effective.
The key to maximising the benefits of SMM is to strategically choose the right social media platforms and consistently post content. A social media calendar can help with this. In addition to promoting the company and its products, small businesses should also focus on engaging with customers and leads through responding to comments and starting online conversations.
Social Media Advertising
Social media advertising platforms, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, allow you to target specific demographics and reach people you haven't reached yet. By allocating a small budget, you can target customers based on their age, gender, education, and interests related to your product/service categories. Even if they don't make a purchase right away, they may still like and share your business, helping to build a database of potential customers.
Advertising is a critical component of social media and drives its financial success. LinkedIn introduced paid advertisements in 2005, followed by Facebook in 2007, Twitter in 2010, and Instagram in 2013. Even TikTok has begun to add advertising capabilities to its highly popular platform.
People are now used to seeing ads in their social media feeds, even though many will skip them, they still view them, leading to increased familiarity. With tools like Facebook lead forms, social media platforms have expanded the ways advertisers can reach their target market. Social media advertising is effective for both brand awareness and business promotion, with 8 different advertising options available on Facebook.
The average cost per acquisition (CPA) on Facebook is reasonably priced, according to a 2018 study by Wordstream, with an average CPA of $18.68 across all industries, compared to $48.96 CPA on Google Ads.
Advertising for your business is no longer limited to traditional mediums such as newspapers, TV ads, magazines, and billboards. Social media channels offer numerous digital advertising opportunities to boost visibility and reach new customers. Different formats of social media ads are available depending on the digital marketing channel you choose. The best social media platforms to advertise on will depend on your target audience and where they are most active.
The declining organic reach of social media channels has made social media advertising increasingly important for businesses. Paid ads are necessary to supplement organic posts and content to ensure your brand is visible to those interested in your products or services. Social media advertising is affordable and often more cost-effective than bidding for keywords on Google or placing ads in publications. For example, you can reach 1,000 people on Facebook or Instagram for just $5.
One of the best ways to use social media ads to benefit your business is through Facebook advertising. The Facebook ad platform has advanced targeting features that allow your business to reach users most likely to be interested in your products or services. You can target users based on demographic information and interests, as well as choose where you want your ads to appear. Facebook also offers retargeting ads to reach visitors who have left your site without making a purchase. Other social channels like Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest also offer advertising options to reach new leads and complement organic reach. Utilise social media advertising to grow your following and increase conversions.
So what’s next for you?
With the understanding of various digital marketing techniques and their potential to benefit your business, you can now make informed decisions on the channels to utilise. By being mindful and deliberate in your digital marketing approach, you can maximise the impact of your campaigns while optimising your budget.
If you require assistance in formulating your strategy or executing effective campaigns, you don't have to navigate this on your own. To ensure that you are getting the most out of your advertising investment, keep track of your return on investment. Although increasing brand visibility is valuable, it's important to consider if the cost of advertising is generating revenue for your company.
When planning your digital marketing approach, consider your target audience and their preferred methods of consuming media. Identifying a specific need that your business can fulfil and communicating this to potential customers can increase the chances of them trying your products or services. However, like all aspects of running a successful business, patience and a willingness to try new methods may be necessary to see success in promoting your business.
FAQs
How does the effectiveness of digital marketing channels vary across different industries, and how can a business determine the most suitable channel for its specific industry?
he effectiveness of digital marketing channels can significantly vary depending on the industry, target audience, and the nature of the products or services offered. For instance, visual platforms like Instagram may be more effective for fashion and lifestyle brands, while LinkedIn might be better suited for B2B companies. To determine the most suitable channel, businesses should conduct market research to understand where their target audience spends their time online, analyze competitors to see which channels they are successfully using, and experiment with different channels to measure engagement and conversion rates. Tailoring content and strategies to fit the preferences of the target audience on each platform is key to maximising effectiveness.
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