Here’s exactly a simple yet strong digital marketing strategy can do for local brands and businesses.
If you have a successful local business, you have reached that position with true hard work and a genuine hustle. You have tackled real-world challenges head-on to make a mark and survive the industry long enough to make a successful business model for yourself. In that case, it is understandable if you lack interest in the new trend of digital marketing but you must’ve wondered if digital marketing is helpful to local business marketing success.
In recent times, internet penetration has increased exponentially. Everybody has a smartphone and a good internet connection. According to a survey, people spend an average of 24 hours per week on the internet. This number is almost twice than what it used to be a decade ago. The internet has broken all barriers of target segmentation in terms of location. Your next big client could be anywhere in the world but may not be able to find you out as their solution provider at all.
Let’s break some myths and then find out if digital marketing is helpful to local business marketing success.
You must have heard from your contemporaries that digital marketing is just a fad and won’t last in the long run. It is like saying that hoardings and flexes are a fad and will go extinct soon. As long there are roads there hoarding marketing thrive. And the number of roads are constantly increasing connecting people from different localities to carry out business. Similarly, internet penetration is accelerating at the speed of thought and digital marketing is here to stay. Delaying in adopting digital marketing simply means that you are losing out on a new customer base altogether.
Some businesses feel that digital marketing does not suit their type of business. This is another misconception harboured in the local business community while the truth is that digital marketing is one of the cheapest mediums compared to any traditional modes of marketing. Digital marketing enables all kinds of businesses, be it B2B or B2C, to reach out to their prospective customers. It can start with a simple thing like listing your business on Google Maps so that prospective customers know your existence on a map. B2B companies can benefit the most from digital marketing. They can create brand awareness online and create lead generation systems online without spending a lot of money.
Some people believe that digital marketing is a costly affair. This could be because digital marketing services became available quite recently and investing in it seems to be an additional cost for your marketing efforts. The truth is that digital marketing can replace all the other expensive traditional means of marketing and give you more returns. This way, digital marketing becomes a cheaper option giving more returns.
With a proper digital marketing strategy reaches out to the demographic you want and market your local business. You can be the few local companies that pay more attention to connecting with customers and creating a good rapport with them. This ensures that you have the benefit of customer goodwill when compared to your competition. Having positive worth-of-mouth marketing is still the best way to get new clients and customers; digital marketing empowers you to have that.
Even if you don’t change your business strategy, your consumers and competitors are changing. More than 98% of people use their phones to search for any product or service they merely think of considering. On the other hand, your competition may take the digital space sooner than you think and reach your prospective customer and have a rapport with them way before you. Digital marketing has opened up new doors of opportunity and you can take slow and steady steps to benefit from it in terms of brand awareness, customer outreach, customer relationship, and of course, an exponential rise in sales.