SMEs: should you invest in digital marketing?

New brands are launched in the market every day. These brands compete with each other and engage in millions of marketing campaigns to differentiate themselves, gain brand awareness or simply promote their services. Small businesses often have limited budgets that must be used to attract customers and increase revenues. Discover the importance of digital marketing for SMBs in this article.

The benefits of digital marketing

All operations performed digitally are traceable and measurable. Digital marketing is more cost effective than most traditional marketing strategies. Traditional marketing is often too expensive for SMBs, as it involves unnecessary recurring costs. On the other hand, digital marketing offers a better return on investment (ROI). ROI measures the effectiveness of your campaign in generating profits.

It is one of the only ways to determine if you are allocating your budget effectively and getting the most out of your marketing spend. It reliably measures what works and what doesn’t. Plus, digital marketing allows you to repeat tasks, which saves you a lot of time.

For example, you can copy a successful marketing campaign for reuse elsewhere so you can spend more time strategizing and less time implementing it. If you use a marketing consultant, your efficiency will be maximized because it will allow you to focus on other business activities.

In the end, the main reason to invest in digital marketing is that it is a low cost way to reach more potential buyers.

The costs associated with digital marketing for SMEs

Today, a good marketing communication strategy costs between 1,000 and 10,000 euros per month for a company, especially a small business. You might think that these prices are exorbitant. However, understand one thing, with this money, you will have several people at your disposal who will work to perfect your marketing communication strategy. For example, if you have 5,000 euros, you will have: a videographer, a video engine, and a community manager.

In fact, a whole team will work for you, so you will see in the end, it is a very profitable investment. The average salary of a community manager is around 2 000 €. However, this resource can be better organized to create a more impactful strategy.

For this reason, before outsourcing your company’s activities, you should already know what resources you have internally. From there, you’ll be able to identify the people or tactics you can part with to make more profitable deals.

The different digital marketing strategies for SMBs

SMBs today have a variety of digital marketing strategies that allow these businesses to promote their products and services. Here are some strategies, which SMBs, can opt for:

• Create a website and position it on Google: this is the basic showcase for any business that wants to effectively launch itself on the web. The website will include sections that introduce the team, tell your story, services, photo gallery, contact information, etc.
• Take advantage of social networks: social networks are now a very important channel in the digital marketing plans of SMEs. Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, YouTube… you just have to choose the social network that best suits your prospects, or why not a few.
• Advertise online: online advertising is another digital marketing strategy that can attract potential customers to your website.
• Send a newsletter: Using a professional email program will require creating and sending newsletters on a regular basis.