Digital Marketing Strategies For Small Business Owners

Are you a shopkeeper or have a low-scale business and are eager to take it online?

If yes, then perhaps you must have kept in mind the important things related to shifting your business from offline to online and increasing its reach. You must have taken information about Online Process (E.g. SEO, SMO, SEM, etc.), Strategies, Techniques, and Tools and started the process.

But do you know that many Process & Strategies are available on the internet, but very few people tell how to implement them practically. Many times you have to buy premium courses to get practical information.

But, there is no need to panic at all, because we have brought for you all the practical steps you need to increase the online reach of your business. After learning all these Digital Marketing Strategies practically, it becomes very easy for you to implement them.

So let us know about those Digital Strategies and Processes and see how you can implement these strategies.

Before proceeding further, I want to give you some valuable information. All the Processes & Strategies that we are going to talk about today are very simple, but are ignored by people. If you are a shopkeeper, run a clinic, run a shoe shop or have any offline business, it is very important for you to collect data of your existing customers. You can ask them for their name, phone number, and email ID. All these important details will help you to target them online.

Create Your Website

If, like others, you also think that how your website will be able to stand among the websites of other brands, then this is a misunderstanding on your part.

Website is your digital identity which makes people aware of your business. Therefore, whether you sell your product online or not, definitely design a website so that people can reach you. With this, people will be able to know you and will also be able to reach your offline shop.

If you think that you have to pay a huge amount to create a website, then this is probably your illusion. It does not cost much to create a website, rather all you need to do is buy a domain and hosting.

If you want to know what is a website, what are its features (Importance & Benefits of Website), and why is it important, then definitely read our detailed blog. You will get a chance to know about some new facts and new things.

Create Online Presence

As we read above how a website helps in creating your online presence, by having it you start getting to know not only the people around you but also people from other states, cities and countries.

In this way, a good customer base is created and the chances of growing your business increases.

E-Commerce

If you have a shop like you do business of sarees, shoes-slippers shop, or some gift items shop, then you can also create your own e-commerce website and sell your products online.

Helps Local Listings

Being a business website, you come in the sight of Google and if your website has good ratings & reviews then Google also shows you at the top in your local area. This increases your chances of getting more customers.

Help Run Ads

Many times there are such occasions or seasons when one type of shopkeepers do well, like Cooler and AC sellers in the summer season.

In such a situation, if you also have a cooler and AC shop, then you can do some advertising plans and bring more and more customers to your website and increase your revenue.

But, to run ads you need a website to which you can send your customers. Therefore, website becomes an important means for you in this work.

Create Google Listing

Google Listing means telling Google about your business.

To provide information about your business to Google, you need Google My Business.

So let's see how you can list your business online using Google My Business.

Google My Business

First of all you have to open an account on Google My Business and for this you need an email ID.

After opening the account, you have to give all the information about your business and create a business profile. After creating the profile, you come to Google Map from where your business location can be traced.

For your Business Address Verification, Google sends you a code through post which you have to enter in your Google My Business Account. After entering this code, your business address gets verified and you get the status of a Verified Business.

Google Website

If you think how to design a website or you want to avoid the cost of Domain & Hosting, then there is a good news for you.

Under Google My Business, Google allows you to design a one-page website for your business, where you can show important details related to your business.

Helps Local Detection

After creating a Google Listing, you get an identity from Google. If you have a salon and if someone searches “Best Salon” within a radius of 5-10 km, then the name of your website or business will appear first. People will come to you after searching and if they like your service then they will become your long-life customer.

Rating Help Attract Customers

Sell quality products & service to your customers as much as possible. This increases the trust of those customers in your business and you get good ratings.

Google also takes notice of how many 5-Star Ratings your business has received. More 5-Star Ratings means a good business in the eyes of Google, and Ultimately More Customers & More Profit. This also attracts new people towards your business and in this way you also get new customers.

Create Local Listings

Apart from Google, there are many other online platforms in India where you can list your business. These mainly include – Just Dial, India Mart, Yellow Pages, Sulekha, etc.

All these platforms give you the facility that you can bring leads for your business for free for a few months or by taking their paid monthly plan. In fact these platforms themselves bring you leads.

Listing your business on all these platforms is also important because you have to increase the reach of your business and for that you cannot depend only on Google, you also need other platforms to promote your business.

When other platforms also promote your business, you become an authority in front of Google and then if anyone in your area searches related to your services or products, then Google shows your shop or business at the top.

Sell At Marketplaces

In the last few years, the business of online selling has gained momentum. Instead of going to the market, people have now started ordering and purchasing goods from home. However, this is also a major reason for the slowdown in the offline market. But, if other people are also using this digital age to sell goods online then why can't you?

Nowadays, there are many E-Marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, Facebook Meesho, Udaan, etc., where you can list your products and convert your offline selling business into online selling and get new business for yourself. You can add customers.

Apart from this, even if you do not have any product of your own, you can join the Affiliate Programs of these platforms and start your new Affiliate Marketing business.

Create Facebook Page & Group

You can estimate the power of Facebook from the fact that today almost every business has created its own specific Facebook Page & Group where they interact with new people and their existing customers.

Similarly, you can also create a Facebook Group & Page of your business where you can interact with different people. For example, you can post social messages, post motivational quotes, design a nice post on any festival and post it on your feed.

You may not have time to do all these tasks, in such a situation you can create a team of one or two people who can look after all your Facebook related work and interact with people.

Instagram Shop

If you want only those people to connect with you who are really serious about your product or service, then Instagram can prove to be a great platform for you to promote your products.

You have to click photos of your products, edit them and upload them on your Instagram account. You can promote these products in your Instagram posts, stories, reels etc. and add new followers & customers.

YouTube Channel

YouTube has not only become a big search engine but also businesses are growing very quickly through it. One of the main reasons for this is that people like watching visual content more. By posting good quality videos, you create a subscriber base who like to watch your content.

You can give the address of your website, social media, or offline shop in the description section of your YouTube videos so that people can come to you and become your customers.

But if you think that your business is not such that you can make some videos related to it and post them on YouTube, then perhaps you are wrong.

For example, if you have a clothing shop and you deal in Gents Wear, then you can tell in the video what things should be kept in mind while buying a shirt, how the materials of the shirt or pants should be checked, how Clothes should not be washed too much, what precautions should be taken while buying winter jackets, etc.

Apart from all this, you can also post reviews or testimonials of your happy customers on your YouTube channel, tell about the launching of a new product and thus gain the trust of your viewers.

So in this way you can continuously give value to your customers and keep them connected with you and your business.

Lead Generation

Lead Generation means bringing new people to your business. This is very important for your business. How will you sell your goods if people do not come to you?

If you have an offline business, then to attract people and generate leads, you can make some Banners, Pamphlets, Cards, etc. and post them in your surrounding areas.

But if you want to take advantage of today's advanced technology, then you will need Quick Response.

Quick Response means responding as soon as possible and solving people's problems.

Now if someone comments something on your business's Facebook Group or Chat, you can immediately reply to that person through WhatsApp or Messenger and solve his query.

To respond quickly through WhatsApp or Messenger, you have to integrate these messaging platforms with your Facebook Group & Page. Also you can put this process on automation, for which you need to understand Marketing Automation.

Similarly, you can give a strong call to action on your website and in the description of YouTube videos and convert them.

By doing this, people's confidence in your support system and ultimately in your business increases and you get new customers.

Read Also : Demystifying Digital Marketing: A Beginner's Guide

Promote Events

Do you also hold any sale or offer some discount on any specific day in your offline business? If yes, then you can also use this strategy online and tell people what sale you are going to bring on which products on which day or how much discount you are going to offer.

This marketing strategy will increase curiosity among people and your existing customers will also want to buy goods from you.

Here's one more thing you can do. Whenever a Sale or Extra Discount day comes, a few days before that, run advertisements on your social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Google.

You may incur some expenses in running Ad, but do not be afraid of that expense and think for the long term. Think how many more customers those ads can bring to you and increase your business.

1-Day Special

This can be a great marketing strategy if you use it properly.

Under this strategy, you can choose a day when your work is a little slow.

For example, those who own a clothing store and open their shop in a market, their shop is very crowded on Sunday because people go out for walking and shopping and the business is a bit slow on Monday. In such a situation, they can offer some discounts on their different types of clothes on Monday and attract people.

But the question comes that how will you convey the discount information to the people?

So as we read in the beginning of this blog, you should note down the names, phone numbers and email IDs of the people coming to your shop. Now from here you will have to invest some money and use Marketing Automation Tools.

With the help of WhatsApp Automation & SMS Automation Tools, you can send your discount message simultaneously to all the people whose data you collected. In this, you can give them some Coupon Code so that if they come to your shop, they can avail the discount by showing the Coupon Code.

Along with this, you can do one more thing by wishing your customers on their birthdays and offering them some special discounts. For this you will have to use some CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Softwares. With this strategy you can make the special day of your existing customers even more special.

This creates a strong relationship between you and your customer and they become associated with you for long-life.

Brand Building

Brand means a well-established business.

If you also want to run your business for a long time and sell your products and services to millions of people, then you will have to establish your business as a brand.

Logo & Color Repetition

To establish a brand, it is important to have uniformity in the business.

You will have to use the same logo and the same color combination on your Banner, Poster, Visiting Card and your various Social Media Platforms. You would not want to have one logo on your website and something else on your visiting card.

Small Budget Constant Reach and Brand Awareness Campaigns

Along with this, I would suggest that you run a small budget Business Awareness Campaign to target the people around you, so that people will get a chance to know about your business. By doing this you will be able to compete with big companies and people will start knowing you as a well-established brand.

Content Marketing

If you have designed the website of your business and started your YouTube channel, then keep posting some new content on it. By doing this, you remain in the eyes of Google and it prefers you and brings your name up in the results.

Doing content marketing through organic methods may take some time but it gives you lifetime benefits.

Conclusion 

If you are a small business owner or do your business in retail, then by adopting all these marketing strategies you can grow your business and give it a new look.

All these Digital Marketing Strategies are being used by millions of people and are connecting with new people every day, so why should you lag behind? Go today and start designing your website and connect with people from other cities, states and countries with the help of social media platforms.

So we end today's blog here. Finally, we would like to take your suggestions which you can give in the Comments section given below.