Small businesses are looking for ways to adapt to the changing marketing arena where most of the marketing today is done online. After talking to over 100 small business owners and understanding their business model we have compiled this list of top tips for small businesses.

At the beginning of 2020, it was reported that businesses spent over $1.3 trillion on digital marketing. During the COVID-19 make small businesses had to shut their doors, only the ones who did business online survived. These challenging times forced small business owners to re-think their marketing strategy which made digital marketing an obvious choice for them.

A few stats and facts on digital marketing for small businesses

● Nearly 88% of small businesses invest in social media.
● Nearly 54% of small businesses use email marketing
● Small businesses use 56% more website marketing to create better offerings
● In 2020 32% of small businesses used video marketing to engage and captivate consumers
● In an effort to cut costs nearly 62% of small businesses depend on in-house digital marketing professionals.
● About 63% of small businesses still use traditional marketing services such as print marketing
● Nearly 76% of small businesses believe that their digital marketing efforts are effective in achieving their goals.
● In 2020 the top 5 goals for digital marketing are to convert leads (19%), increase web traffic (17%), generate revenue (15%), increase brand engagement (14%), generate leads (14%).

5 Digital Marketing Tips for Small Businesses in 2020

1. Social Media presence is a must-have
2. Using email marketing to connect to customers
3. Using video marketing
4. Using in-house digital marketing resources
5. Must have a web presence

Social Media Presence for Small Businesses

As direct face-to-face communication is currently limited, small businesses should take their marketing efforts to social media in order to reach their customers. As mentioned above nearly 88% of small businesses invest in social media to reach their target audience. The new generation engages with businesses more on social media than any other platforms such as Millennials (91%), Generation Xers (91%) and baby boomers (85%) using social media for their business.

How Different Generations Use Digital Marketing Channels?

● Millennials: Email marketing (~ 80%), video marketing (~ 75%), and website marketing (~50%)
● Generation Xers: Email marketing (~ 70%), video marketing (~ 55%), and website marketing (~ 60%)
● Baby boomers: Email marketing (~ 65%), video marketing (~ 45%), and website marketing (~ 50%)

Using email marketing to connect to customers

Some say that email marketing is outdated but our experience and interactions with our customers say something else. According to statistics nearly 54% of businesses still use email marketing as part of their digital marketing strategy in 2020.

According to a study done by HubSpot, nearly 80% of business leaders believe that email marketing increases customer retention significantly. Nearly 60% of respondents said that marketing emails they received influenced their purchasing behaviour.

Email marketing is a key digital marketing tool for small businesses and probably the most cost-effective tool to expand their customer base and their brand’s reach and influence.

Using video marketing

Among all the digital marketing tools, video marketing is one of the few that has the highest ROI. Short eye-catching videos help small businesses send their message across the digital marketing channels effectively. A well-made video can go viral quickly giving the businesses the initial reach they need after launch.

Today 88% of users spend more time on videos than any other media on the Internet. Nearly 50% of the consumers want to see more video content; however, only one third of the small businesses invest in video marketing.

Hire external digital marketing resources Instead of in-house team

Small businesses who use internal in-house resources have to invest more whereas hiring an external team enables them to get customised services from established industry experts. Only 16% of small businesses employ digital marketing experts to manage their brand.

It can be argued that your employees know your products and services better but they lack the expertise which digital marketing companies have from their experience working with multiple companies across various industries.

Must Have a Web Presence

Online visibility is extremely important for businesses in this day and age. Having a web presence such as a business website, social media pages is a must for businesses who want to have an upper edge among their competitors. In 2020, about 56% of small businesses invested in website marketing to increase their digital presence.

Having a business website enables brands to run their own digital campaigns on their own website and a portal for customers to get all necessary information without much struggle.

Small businesses can monitor and review their web performance and engagement level to narrow down areas of success to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Top 4 Reasons Why Small Businesses Want Digital Marketing?

1. To Convert leads (19%)
2. To Increase web traffic (17%)
3. To Create Revenue (15%)
4. To Increase brand engagement (14%)