It wasn’t too long ago when the go-to ways of reaching out to your target audience involved billboard, TV spots and print – all which are very expensive aside from print.

The digital era has transformed the marketing world for the better. Marketing products and services aren’t just reserved for industry giants who can afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on large billboards and TV spots. Today, it’s everyone’s game!

With a killer combination of PPC, SEO and content marketing SMEs can finally get their share of the pie and secure a profitable client base without exhausting their finances.

Business owners can take advantage of a range of digital marketing strategies and tools to achieve their business objectives while remaining within their budgets.

As more customers search and buy products and services online, digital marketing has become essential for organizations big and small. SMEs can now put theirselves in front of customers while they actively search for products and services online.

Let’s take a closer look at the importance of investing in digital marketing efforts for SMEs:

1. Be Found On the Web

Your customers aren’t the only ones online; your competitors are online as well, which is why having an online presence is a MUST. If you’re not online, you’re missing out on all kinds of business opportunities!

How consumers search and shop for products is very different today than it was a couple of decades ago. If they want recommendations on what company or brand will best serve their needs, they turn to the internet. They’ll look at reviews and go to your website and social media pages to learn more about your offerings.

A survey sponsored by Go Daddy found that about 59% of small Canadian businesses (those with 5 or less employees) didn’t have a website. These companies felt that they were just too small to have one.

There’s this misconception that websites are only for meant for large corporations but launching a website isn’t expensive at all!

Since the average consumer looks for products and services online, without a website or social media presence, they’re not going to know of your existence.

Your competition is probably online so you need to be there too in order to stay competitive! Digital marketing evens the playing field, so you now have the opportunity to compete with large corporations and grow your business in ways that weren’t possible earlier.

2. You Can Measure the Effectiveness of Campaigns

Back in the day, companies would spend thousands of dollars on billboards and other print ads but there was no way of measuring how many people actually saw the ads and were prompted by them to take action.

Digital marketing gives companies the ability to track the performance of their campaigns in real time. The campaigns can be tweaked accordingly and marketers can see exactly how well their campaigns are doing.

You gain valuable consumer insights and can alter your strategy to better suit your customer’s needs. Digital marketing enables you to track engagement as well as conversions so you can know exactly how effective your marketing efforts are.

You can tell how many people are clicking on your ads, how long they’re spending viewing your products on your website and what products/services interest them the most.

3. It Helps Generate Leads

Constantly gaining new customers is crucial for budding small businesses who need to grow their revenue to survive. Digital marketing allows businesses to reach out to potential customers using several channels including websites, PPC campaigns, social media and video marketing.

The greatest advantage of digital marketing is that it gives you access to customers on the go. In 2018, 52.2% of all web traffic was generated through mobile phones. Year after year this number continues to grow. Now since search engines are prioritizing mobile-friendly websites, businesses have to invest in websites that can be accessed and used through smartphones.

4. Digital Marketing Helps You Build a Brand

There’s only so much branding an SME can do within their offices/retail stores. Even then, office/retail store branding doesn’t help to bring in traffic from outside. Building a website and investing in digital marketing helps you gain the attention of potential customers and create positive perceptions in their minds.

The style and tone of your website, social media and other digital marketing efforts, all work together to form a brand image that helps convey your message to potential consumers.

In the digital world, your website is the first point-of-contact for your customers, it should reflect your brand’s personality and show your professionalism at the same time. It’s the first stepping-stone to winning over a potential customer.

5. It’s Cost-Effective

Earlier, SMEs were at a clear disadvantage when it came to competing with corporate giants. They simply didn’t have the budgets to spend on TV spots and billboards which is why only well-recognised brands dominated the market.

Digital marketing on the other hand is a cost-effective solution to traditional advertising. Think you have better products and services than the big guys? Well you now have the chance to show your customers exactly why you’re the better choice for them!

Hire a digital marketing agency that can design and execute targeted strategies that spread your message and generate leads at a much lower cost. Instead of wasting money on people who aren’t interested in what you’re offering, you can specifically target those that are actively searching for products and services like yours.

Devebyte Marketing

Are you an SME based in Edmonton, AB that’s looking to implement effective digital marketing strategies? Devebyte Marketing has got you covered!

We are specialists in creating digital marketing strategies tailored to your business’s needs. Our aim is to build on online presence for all our clients, generate profitable leads and boost your ROI while remaining within your budget.

Our services consist of Search Engine Optimization, Google Ads, Facebook Advertising and Content Creation.

Tell us your goals, we’ll set the objectives and come up with tactics that help make your mark in the digital world! Contact us today at +1-780-445-4359.