Internet Marketing and How It Affects Small Businesses

One of the most important things to any business, big or small, is marketing. If you can’t get people to know about your products and services, you can’t make money – it’s that simple. In fact, businesses have spent billions of dollars on traditional marketing alone over the years. Although it has its place, it isn’t without its faults and that’s where Internet marketing has taken over as the preferred form of advertising and communication in recent years.

Importance of Internet Marketing in Small Business

If you want to start a small business, you are probably wondering what Internet marketing’s importance is in all of that. Well, chances are your business will be relying on sales or leads coming from somewhere other than your local area. So without Internet marketing, how do you expect customers to come across your website? Don’t worry; we’ll get there soon enough but first, let’s talk about why a Digital Marketing Company is important.

SEO

The importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can’t be overstated in today’s age businesses. Without it, you may as well not even bother starting a business. Almost any worthwhile product or service will have competition, but SEO is one area where you really don’t want to be behind in any way. If your site doesn’t show up in search results on sites like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest (to name just a few), then what are people going to find when they click on find similar businesses? Your competitor’s website! If you aren’t at least on par with your competitors in terms of search engine optimization then you need to start learning how right away.

Building a Site That Works

Our generation is hyper-connected, in large part due to social media. As of December 2013, Facebook boasted over 1 billion users worldwide. That’s a billion people who have instant access to information about your company; what products or services you offer; how many likes you have; what time you post status updates or tweets; which fundraisers you’re sponsoring; and even whom you follow on Twitter. If your business isn’t participating in social media as a way to market its brand, it’s already behind in an arena where information is abundant and customers expect instant gratification.

The Value of Social Media

The importance of social media is overwhelming. In fact, 93% of internet users use social networking sites. Whether you’re on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Pinterest—allowing customers to engage with your brand helps with building trust in your business. Statistics show that a happy customer tells an average of nine people about their positive experience with a brand, while an unhappy customer tells an average of 45 people about their poor experience. The numbers speak for themselves: Social media is essential to effectively market a small business today.

Pay Per Click Advertising

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is similar to contextual advertising, but it charges advertisers each time a user clicks on their advertisement rather than when someone views their advertisement. While contextual ads are displayed alongside search results, PPC ads appear above or below organic search results. Companies bid for placement based on keywords related to their products or services, which often leads to competitive bidding. One of Google’s most successful advertising programs is AdWords, where businesses pay for any click on specific keywords that trigger their ad. For example, if you run a pizza delivery service in Delhi, you might select keywords such as pizza or pizza delivery—and those are exactly what potential customers will see when they search online using those terms.

Good Reviews Matter Too!

Customer reviews are increasingly taking on increased importance for small businesses. A 2014 Nielsen study found that 81% of customers read online reviews before making a purchase, up from 73% in 2013. Just 27% of consumers surveyed said they had never visited an online review site when shopping for products or services. The negative impact can be real: 90% of consumers say they’ve decided not to buy from a business based on their experiences with customer service via phone or email, while 91% said they’d be unlikely to return to a business if they had a bad experience with customer service.

Read more articles on Acuteblog.