Small businesses and startups can initially rely on word of mouth and traditional marketing such as radio and banners. Having a physical store (hopefully in a good location) in itself should generate footfall, and the quality of the product or service should guarantee some business. However, any company that thinks this is an adequate way to market their services or products is frankly, missing a huge opportunity not only to make the business a viable model but to make it thrive.

E-commerce has been the recent past, is the now, and will be the future. A small to medium-sized company has the chance to compete and flourish and hold its own against larger, more established providers. Larger companies will have larger marketing budgets, as well as the economy of scale, but this doesn’t mean they can automatically outgun when it comes to marketing. They may be able to do more marketing, but it is not necessarily the case they will do better marketing. Digital market, including e-commerce SEO, can significantly benefit any e-commerce marketing campaign generating leads and sales.

SEO

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is one of the most utilised digital marketing strategies. The function of your business website generally encompasses the basic need of your company to promote your brand, inform your audience, and sell your products and services. How successful your website is will depend on many factors, but one of the most important is: can it be found?

SEO done right will raise your search engine ranking pages (SERPs), making it much more likely that an audience will click on your website. It brings traffic to your online store. An SEO campaign will require multiple disciplines to execute, most of them technical, some more artistic. It’s a science and an art that is continuously evolving. Although it can immediately benefit your business in the short term, it is most useful as a long-term strategy built on over month and even years.

PPC

Pay-per-click has you bidding for keywords to win a spot in the top four slots on the first page of a search inquiry. You pay every time someone clicks on your advert.

That brings you immediate visibility to your audience, unlike the more organic approach of SEO. Do bear in mind, though, that you have to pay for your clicks regularly. There’s also the contention that some people may ignore the paid ads and go to the first non-paid result when looking for answers to their searches.

Social Media

You need to be visible and active where your audience is, and in 2020 3.8 billion people are using social media. On average, around the world, people spend almost two and a half hours a day on social media platforms. It has been a rising trend over the past ten years. Even though Facebook and other social media platforms have been more scrutinised over the past couple of years, they are still growing in terms of membership and time spent on them.

A strong presence on social media means you can better engage with your audience. You can show your values and tell your story and, you can manage your reputation by responding to feedback.

While this all sounds like a lot of work (and it is), many agencies provide these types of services. Getting the right agency for you will mean that even if you are a small business with a limited marketing budget, you’ll be able to establish a solid presence in the digital realm and give your business a great chance to survive and prosper.