Top 4 Digital Marketing Tips for SMEs / Start-ups

Blog Digital News September 7, 2015

You are a small to medium enterprise and you want to expose your business to as many eyes as possible but you are confused and you don’t know where to begin? That is why, in this article we have outlined 4 successful tips for you to start off with your first-ever digital marketing strategy. Stop your worries right here and focus on the next paragraphs!

For small businesses, marketing has always been very challenging; budgets are often restricted and it is difficult to identify new customers. SMEs operating in today’s ever-changing and intensifying digital age must focus not only on investing into traditional marketing, but must also consider the new and developing digital channels.

So, what is digital marketing?

In simple terms, digital marketing is the promotion of your brands using one or more forms of digital channels, such as emails, websites and social networks. This could be sending birthday wishes to customers, special coupons or simply what’s new. It provides valuable real-time metrics of marketing campaigns to help business owners understand better what is working and what is not. Due to its versatile nature, digital marketing offers new and interesting ways to successfully reach a wider audience and increase sales volumes.

Tips

Tip #1 – Branding

This is the number one essential before you even plan to step online. By branding, we do not mean just an exquisite logo or a name! We are rather emphasizing on digital brand identity positioning ; it is of high importance to show-off your USPs. So, in case you don’t have a brand, create one and start defining it!

Tip #2 – Go Social

Social media has proven to be one of the most successful marketing tool for many SMEs. It is cost-effective and offers numerous growth opportunities for your brand. Whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram, there has to be a social network to suit your brand. If you are not very comfortable using the different social networks, invest some time into it and choose your weapon carefully. There are also many in-built paid options on social media platforms to help you expand your digital reach. For example, you can sponsor Facebook posts for increased likes and engagement. That’s right SMEs – half of your potential customers are just waiting for you to reach out to them!

Tip #3- Set up a smart website

It’s 2015 and there’s no excuse for a company, whether small or big, not to have a website! A website will boost your online presence and act as your 24/7 marketing team. Websites are usually the first place that customers look for when they need further details about your brand. It is essential to ensure that your website is responsive, adaptive, relevant, pleasing to the eyes, easy to navigate and loads quickly.

Tip #4 – Content

Content is the king of your digital strategy. Search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo, love fresh, relevant and authentic content. And if your content is awesome, even your visitors will enjoy it! As a small business, you may at first struggle with maintaining a blog, updating content frequently, generating ideas or having good in-house writing skills. Get help if needed as this is too essential to ignore. For a start, to avoid making content mistakes, ask yourself:

“Does my website have all the information that my potential customers would need? Will my potential customers understand the professional terms or should I be more explicit?”

Well, that’s all. At least now you can start! The tips mentioned are easy, free to implement and very cost-effective in the long run. Traditional SMEs usually rely on ‘chit-chats’ to expand their customer base, but thanks to digital marketing, the rules have changed. If you have not yet established your web presence, it’s high time to start now to enjoy the advantages.

Bonus tip: A perfect marketing strategy is a well-balanced combination of both online and offline tactics.

We know it’s a lot of work but it is going to be worth it! The effective use of digital platform can even turn your SME into a big brand. DREAM BIG! And remember, if you need any help, we are here to support you.

Hurry up SMEs, get your brand on the digital platform! We hope that this article will help you. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.