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Digital Marketing is the present and future of the marketing & advertising industry. In this day and age wherein more & more businesses are shifting to the digital space, the immense importance and significant benefits of digital marketing have been noticeable.
Speaking of SMEs, when it comes to investing in digital marketing, they are always of a sceptical mind. Even if they decide to opt for digital marketing, they are confused regarding whether to invest in social media marketing, paid advertising or organic advertising (SEO).
What is Digital Marketing?
For those unaware, Digital Marketing is a modern way of marketing your products or services over different websites or digital platforms such as Google, Facebook. Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.
Why Opt for Digital Marketing?
- Cost-effective way of advertising in comparison to the traditional channels
- Gain brand recognition
- Target your potential customers directly
- Reach globally to your audience
- Connect with your customers
- Understand the preferences of your target audience
- Easily measure and track results
- Increase website traffic and conversions
- Boost brand credibility
- Engage directly with your target audience
Types of Digital Marketing
Let’s have a look at the three main types of digital marketing:-
Social Media Marketing:
Promoting your brand on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc. It can be done organically or in a paid manner.
Paid/PPC/Performance Marketing:
As the name suggests, it’s a paid way of advertising on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google, YouTube, Quora, etc.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
It’s the unpaid/organic way of ranking your website pages on top of the search results for particular keywords in a search engine like Google and driving traffic through it to your website.
Which is the optimal type of digital marketing for your brand?
It’s very important for a business owner to understand the Top 3 Aspects of his/her business and industry before making the decision to opt for digital marketing and its type. The 3 aspects are as follows:
- The business goal for marketing (Long term or Short term)
- Level of digital marketing presence of your competitors
- The available budget for advertising
If your business is unique and has fewer competitors in the digital space, then one can go for organic marketing i.e. Search Engine Optimization (SEO). So, if a person will search on Google for you or something related to the products/services you offer, then it will be easy for him to come across your website as it will most probably rank on the 1st page of search results.
SEO is a long term process but extremely effective for businesses with fewer competitors. In fact, SMEs with fewer competitors should go for SEO without having a shadow of a doubt, provided they possess a good amount of patience to allow the optimum results to materialise. The best part with regards to SEO is that since it is an organic way of advertising, businesses aren’t required to spend anything extra on advertising.
Businesses that are very common and have a lot of competitors on digital platforms for eg., e-commerce websites of clothing or personal grooming products, are well-advised to opt for paid marketing. If done effectively, paid advertising will enable your business to stand out among your competitors and reach out to your audience in a precise manner. It will also help boost brand recognition in a big way. Even though paid advertising provides immediate results, one should wait for at least 2-3 months for the best & quality outcomes.
SMEs SHOULDN’T INVEST IN DIGITAL MARKETING IF:
- They don’t have a clear and defined objective that this is the purpose behind us doing digital marketing. The objectives could be, for example, lead generation, brand awareness, brand engagement, etc. If the objective is unclear, then investing money in digital marketing doesn’t make any sense.
- Their goal isn’t clear. It has been observed that SMEs measure their goals in a wrong way, wherein if the campaign objective is brand awareness, they measure success by the number of leads received or by the number of sales generated.
- They ain’t 100% committed to it for the long term. One should be willing to invest both human resources and money to keep it going and sustain it for a long time.
Conclusion
So, if you are an SME and are looking forward to generating quality and long term business with adequate patience, then you should definitely invest in Digital Marketing.
But if you aren’t clear about your goals and don’t have sufficient patience, then it’s best to stay away from Digital Marketing.
Hope this article has provided you with a clear insight regarding digital marketing for SMEs, enabling you to make an informed decision on whether or not to opt for digital marketing for your business.
If you have any doubts or queries regarding how digital marketing can work for your particular business, then feel free to connect with Team Paarami and get a detailed understanding of digital marketing as per your business requirement and goals.
Book a Free Consultation by Visiting this Page & Filling the Form:
www.paarami.com/book-a-consultation
