Digital media has disrupted the traditional media and marketing landscape and it’s therefore crucial for small businesses to adapt to the growing tech-driven trends in order to remain competitive.
Digital Marketing has become essential in today’s marketplace and its impact can no longer be ignored. Many entrepreneurs however, continue to miss out on the basics and therefore fail to leverage the gains of digital marketing to grow their business or provide customer support. Key among these basics is the understanding of what digital marketing is and the platforms that are relevant to your business.
By definition, Digital marketing refers to the creation and dissemination of content through digital media platforms such as websites, social media, mobile applications and email.
Contrary to common perceptions among many small businesses is that creating social media pages is basically all you need. While social media pages are great platforms for digital marketing, there’s more to it.
Below are five Basic Digital Marketing tips for your small business;
- Social Media Audit – Before you open that Facebook or Instagram page, it’s essential to carry out a social media audit to identify what social media platform will work best for your business based on your target audience and marketing goals.
This means that if your brand appeals to a certain demographic, you need to establish which social media platform they use and why and the popular media that is consumed in the particular platform. In Instagram for instance, it’s more of quality images and short videos (reels).
- Content – As the popular saying goes; “content is king” it doesn’t matter how good the social media channel you choose for marketing your small business is if you lack the right content. Your content should be informed by your nature of business and audience needs.
If your business is in the fashion industry for instance or hair dressing, you definitely want to invest in good photography to showcase your products and services. You can also consider curating content that gives your customers key tips in your niche area that positions you as an authority leader in the business.
- Website – Having a website is essential in today’s digital world and goes along way to give your business some level of legitimacy. A website is also a good resource to showcase your work and leverage on digital marketing.
- Promoting Ads – While it feels easy and hustle-free to reach your organic audience on social media, promoting Ads helps you to reach a wider audience and surprisingly, it’s not costly.
Social media platforms such as facebook and Instagram allow you to boost Ads based on your budget and from as little Ksh 450 you can promote your page. The platforms algorithms and Artificial Intelligence (AI) help you to reach new audiences based on your specified target. This means for instance you can choose which region and demographic to target in your Ad.
- Customer Support – In the digital space, people are looking for fast and convenience services and one of the best ways to stay in good books with your audience and customers and appeal to new ones as well is by being responsive in responding to inquiries and complaints on your social media pages.
