Digital Marketing for SMEs: A Beginner’s Guide

If you are novel to digital marketing or just taking flight, don’t ignore these tactics to take your SME to the next level. We made a guide that will help you start your digital strategy; it does not matter if you will work on your own or hire an expert.

Define your Digital Marketing Goals.

You must first be aware of what you want to achieve with a marketing strategy and, above all, how your digital efforts will help you achieve your business goals.

Define what factors make you stand out from your competitors, as that will be the basis of your communication in all the digital channels that you plan to use: website, emails, Blog, social networks, videos, etc.

When you are clear about why people should choose your company, you can think about your goals: attracting prospects through the internet? Have people come to your website and get to know your brand? Become a reference/expert in your industry? Convert web visits into online sales?

All of these goals are achievable, and you should think of them as the “final destination,”; But to reach that destination, you can take different paths.

Know the Main Types of Digital Marketing.

As we mentioned in the first point, there are different means or “ways” to reach your destination. You must know them so that you decide which course to follow.

In digital marketing, there are three types of media: own earned and paid.

Understand your Target Audience.

When you are clear about why you want to do digital marketing, define your audience or target audience. Think that you will not achieve your target if your messages do not resonate with people interested in your products or services.

How to define your target audience? Research what people in the age range/population you want to reach are passionate about; do surveys and interviews about their tastes, preferences, and problems; and find out what they are saying about your competition.

Create a Web Page.

No matter how active you are personally or professionally on social media, it cannot replace a website. Your page is the “digital home” of your business, and it is the only place where you have total control of the messages you transmit.

It is one of the best places to attract potential customers, so do not hesitate to investigate how to create a website.

Publish your Blog.

Having a blog is not as crucial as having a page, but blog articles serve to communicate with your customers, announce news (such as sales, inventory updates, price changes, etc.). They are also helpful to establish yourself as an image of authority in your industry, increasing traffic to your website and sales in your physical business.

Trust Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Perhaps you are not familiar with the term Search Engine Optimization, but indeed you have found services or products thanks to it.

If you ever looked for, for example, a tutorial on choosing the next painting for your room, and you found a page or an article written by a paint brand, it was no coincidence. That’s what SEO is all about.

Put your Business on the Map.

There are many local business platforms where you can sign up to publicize your business; options like Google My Business, Yahoo! Small Business, and Yelp, among other local options.

Remember that by publishing the name of your business, as well as its description, location, telephone, email address, and hours, you increase its visibility and make it easier for customers to find it.

Get the Most Out of Google’s Free Tools.

Suppose you are concerned about your initial budget. In that case, we have good news: Google has several free tools to find out about trending topics, discover how many visits your website receives, and even edit documents.

In particular, there are these tools:

• Google Analyticsto analyze the data on your website and get to know the people who visit you better.
• Google AdWordsto manage advertising and ads in the search engine and the Google partner network.
• Google Search Consoleto find how your website appears in search results.
• Google Trendsto compare the popularity of one or more words or phrases.
• Google My Businessfor customers to find your business depending on your geographic location.
• Google Alertsto find out about news, web pages, blogs, videos, and groups that talk about a topic of interest.
• Google Calendarto share events and organize your schedule.
• Google Driveto store, create, modify and share documents.
• YouTubeto view and share videos.

Make Profiles on Social Networks.

Social media is also crucial for your brand, but it doesn’t mean that you should be in all of them. The most significant thing is to choose platforms that the people who belong to your target audience use; For example, if you have a company that sells construction supplies, you may find better followers on Facebook or LinkedIn than on Instagram.

You can research each social network’s statistics and nature to match your customers’ demographics with those of the platform and thus understand how to adapt your content to the users who use it.

Launch an Email Marketing Campaign.

Email marketing has always remained a fundamental piece in digital marketing strategies. To get the most from this channel, ask yourself:

• How often do I want to send emails? Weekly, biweekly, monthly?
• What kind of content do I want to send? Newsletters, campaigns, product updates?
• What ability to send emails do I need?
• What providers offer me what I need?

While writing emails, make sure the “Subject” texts are attractive enough for readers to want to open them. Keep your messages concise, relevant, and easy to understand. And don’t miss the opportunity to include calls to action for them to visit your website or online store.

Consider Using Paid Advertising.

With the tactics we mentioned previously – like SEO and social media – you can be very successful. But if you want to raise the stakes and reach more people or upload your visits a little faster, you can consider the option of paying for advertising space on the internet.

There are many ways to do paid advertising: post ads on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn; sponsor a web series; partner with an influencer or use pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

You need to choose the objective you want to achieve with your ad, decide what type of campaign you will launch (be it image, text, or video), and set a monthly budget to pay when people interact with your ad.