The Case for Local Business Digital Marketing

Why Local Business Digital Marketing?

Digital Marketing has become a game changing method of marketing to elevate the ability for local companies to implement true marketing strategies leveraging the electronic devices people use today. Whether mobile or smart phones, computers, laptops or tablets, these electronic media are a dominant factor in how people search for products and services and how they relate using local SEO for local business.

The M4 Local Business Marketing Premise

The local small and mid-size business are absolutely in the ideal postilion to grow their business and prosper by implementing the marketing strategies inherent in the use of today’s electronic devices used regularly by the vast majority of the local markets served.

Over the last 15+ years, this form of electronically connected marketing has also been referred to as internet marketing, online marketing, and web-marketing but for our purposes today we refer to it as “digital marketing.”

Here is a solid definition from SlideShare…

This method of marketing has evolved as more elements to enhance the strategy have been added. Such things as the proliferation of social media, smart phone technology, and voice search just to name a few.  Local businesses can best understand what using digital or online marketing entails by referencing the following M4 Graphic.

There are 10 fundamental components of a complete digital marketing plan.  To be effective, a local market focused plan must apply and coordinate all 10 components. It is important to review a description of each of the 10 Components.

The 10 Components of Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing Plan

Developing a unique marketing plan to integrate these 10 components to the exact needs of each company lies at the heart of taking the first important step. The plan becomes a way to relate the needs, objectives and marketing strategies for a given business to the components integral to this form of online marketing.

The plan also allows the business to dial in the level of time and budget invested in each component to emphasize those most likely to have the biggest impact on growth.  These impacts will primarily influence gaining the following benefits.

1. Creating Stronger Brand Awareness
2. Establishing and promoting the companies expertise
3. Building and increasing the organizations Social Media Footprint
4. Growing the e-Mail subscriber list (data)
5. Establishing a Customer Service platform
6. Initiating Sales (online & eCommerce)
7. Uncovering new qualified leads
8. Establishing Local geo-targeting
9. Using Google Maps and My Business

81% of shoppers conduct online research before making big purchases. (Retailing Today, 2014) (Source: Hubspot)

The 10 key elements for digital marketing success must be customized and calibrated to fit the unique needs and resources of any given business.  The support for constructing a plan to implement a business strategy are strong.

Website Design & Local SEO

The design and layout of your business website, and integrating on-page search engine optimization, go hand in hand for local business marketing.

Website design focuses on three primary areas important to digital marketing.

• Brand clarity including Logo, unique selling proposition and promotional taglines, etc.
  
• Site Functionality encompassing the addition of various tools and  that align with business objectives. Examples could include an e-mail subscriber sign-up form, e-commerce functionality, a custom Contact form, service sign-up just to name a few.
• User Interface describing how easy it is for a website visitor to find what they are looking for and navigate quickly to various areas of your website.

These design factors will be an outgrowth of the marketing plans identification of needs and objectives.

Website On-Page Search Engine Optimization deals with setting up the coding and meta areas for the benefit of the search engines.  One absolute fundamental of this form of internet marketing is to implement proven techniques to support the search engines ability to understand exactly what your website is about and help them connect visitors to your website resources where it meets their search needs.

This element deals with getting the search engines to recognize your website content and with time and proper on-page seo, to rank the pages and posts higher compared to competitors.  The higher the ranking for website content the more traffic a business can attract and convert to new opportunities.  This form of ranking generates what is called “organic traffic” which is free traffic.

A potential customer uses their computer or smart phone to search for a product or service in their local area and will result in the search engine, such as Google or Bing, to open to page one showing their top 10 ranked websites for the search term.

Let’s say someone uses their mobile phone or a voice search for “best pizza near me?” The search engines open to the top pizza stores in your location according to how they rank the stores.   This ranking is a function of a number of factors but your website’s on-page local SEO is a critical element.

66% of marketers say improving SEO and growing their organic presence is their top inbound marketing priority. Source: HubSpot 2016 https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics)

Social Media Marketing

It is axiomatic today that social media channels and their alliance with mobile phone usage have forever changed the landscape for local businesses to market successfully using the electronic aspects of internet marketing.

There are 40 million active small business pages in Facebook and 4 million of those businesses pay for social media advertising on Facebook. (Source: Forbes)

Like most aspects of the 10 components for digital marketing, the use of social media channels must be dialed-in to the unique marketing plan for each business.  Which social media channels to use and how and how often to use them must be a definitive part of the plan.

Social media channels have their own audience preferences.  LinkedIn is considered a very strong channel for B2B marketing.  Facebook has the largest current worldwide usage [data].. The dynamic growth of video viewing online has boosted YouTube position as a powerful marketing platform.

Mobile Optimization

Having your local  business website mobile optimized refers to the ability of your website pages to “render”, fitting the content to the screen size being used, so that the page content can easily be read, seen and scrolled through using say a mobile phone of computer tablet with a smaller screen size.

Social media plays a significant role in marketers’ responsibilities to drive sales, as 93% of marketers were found to use social media for business (The Fast Company).

Furthermore, a majority of marketers who have used social media for at least two years has reported that social media has improved sales (Social Media Examiner).

The emphasis of social media marketing strategy is reflective of how social media reviews influence 67% of consumers in their shopping behavior (PwC).

The following chart shows the usage for each social media channel by business-to-business companies.

Source / Marketing Insider Group / 25 Content Marketing Stats

E-MAIL Marketing

The e-mail marketing component is among the strongest of techniques, particularly for the local business.  Building a growing subscriber list for prospects and customers alike can be used to promote products and services, discounts, sales days and integrate with customer service applications.

According to Marketing Sherpa, “72% of consumers say that email is their favored conduit of communication with companies they do business with. 61% say they like to receive promotional emails weekly and 28% want them even more frequently. (MarketingSherpa 2015)

Making specific e-mail marketing campaigns and strategies part of your  marketing plan will insure that his important component is integrated.

Content Marketing for Website and Social Media

Among the 10 components of this type of internet marketing, perhaps nothing is  as underappreciated over-looked by local companies than content marketing.

The importance of content development for both website and social media marketing is  paramount. The ability to create unique, valuable content is something that must be done regularly and correctly.

Many local business owners express concerns about their lack of skill and experience with writing. Fortunately, this is not the case.  Content on your business website and social media is best written by a local business owner as if they were in a conversation with a customer.  Once a topic is selected and a brief outline of points generated, a draft article would be simply writing down the conversation you would have explaining or sharing information.

Using templates, like those provided by us in our “M4 Digital Marketing Training”, will help to make the process of creating website content much easier.

60% of marketers say blog content creation is their top inbound marketing priority. (Source HubSpot, 2016) 

Companies that published 16+ blog posts per month got almost 3.5X more traffic than companies that published 0-4 monthly posts. 

(Source HubSpot, 2016)

Influencer Promotion Marketing

You may recognize how influencer marketing works for vary large companies.  They have a highly visible and recognized expert, entertainer or sports figure promote their company .

Local business online type marketing does not have to go to this expense.  They can identify experts and authorities they know or research in their unique market niche and utilize techniques to engage them in your Content efforts. This works just the same way as paid celebrity influencers do for big companies.

Over 80% of marketing and communication professionals expect to begin an influencer marketing campaign within the year. (Source: eMarketer).

New research says that 86 percent of marketers used this strategy in the last year and most marketers are looking to double their investment in 2017. (Source Influencer Orchestration Network) 

Video Marketing and Promotion

In today’s electronically connected market place, video has become the strongest media techniqe.  People consume almost unbelievable amounts of video on their websites, tablets and mobile phones.

Video is also a strong learning and communication media. From short promotional videos to GIF’s to full-blown corporate videos, it is a medium that local businesses can employ to leverage their marketing efforts.

Online video will account for 74 percent of all internet traffic, and already 55 percent of people watch videos online every day. (Digital Information World 2017) 

By 2019, video will account for 80% of global internet traffic, and 85% in the US (Source:Cisco).

Digital Advertising & PPC

It is in the area of digital advertising that the small and mid-size local business can benefit greatly. This form of advertising can be cost effective, very targeted to your specific audience and tracked and measured for results.  Using social media ads, where the daily budget spend can be set to a desired limit a stopped at any time, to Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads on Google Absence, the local business does not have to be left out.

According to Statista, the U.S. spent $59.82 billion on digital advertising in 2015 and spending is expected to reach $113.18 billion in 2020!

“Facebook’s revenue growth can be attributed to growth in both usage and time spent, which continues to draw advertisers in greater numbers,” eMarketer said in the report.

Voice Search Optimization

This is one of the fastest growing components of effective marketing through digitial means.  While voice search is part of website design and content marketing, we include it as a separate component to call attention to it’s importance.

Whether a local business is promoting products and services on their business website or using social media promotion or advertising, there must be a focus on the growth in using a voice search query to find products & services.

Voice search is different because people articulate their question differently with their spoke words versus their typed words.  Someone may type in to a search “pizza restaurants in (city)” but they will say something like “best pizza near me” or find pizza restaurants near me”, etc.

When optimizing content for local SEO, it si important to include the type of spoken phrases and expected search questions people will likely use in a voice search.  This includes making sure that your local seo is set with Google My Pages and local directories.

20% of search queries on Google’s mobile app and on Android devices are voice searches. (Search Engine Land, 2016) 

43% of mobile voice search users do so because they say it is quicker than going on a website or using an app. (Statista, 2015) (Source: https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics)

CONCLUSION | Digital Marketing for Local Companies

The power of digital marketing to advance the business objectives of local small & mid-size local companies is not in question.  The data showing results for successful implementation of the strategies encompassed by the 10 Components is clear. Providing real value focused on the needs, wants and opportunities of your target customers is the essential purpose of executing your plan.

Digital Marketing Statistics

Our premise is totally in support of the success of the local small and mid-sized local business. Our belief and experience have shown time and again that the local business can benefit greatly by growing their business using a marketing plan built around the nine key components of digital marketing.

28% of B2B marketers say they have a documented editorial mission statement. (Content Marketing Institute, 2015) (Source: https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics)

61% of the most successful content marketers have a documented strategy, while only 2% of the least successful have one (CMI).

55% of B2B marketers say they are unclear on what content marketing success or effectiveness looks like. (Content Marketing Institute, 2015) (Source: https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics)

Almost three-fourths of small businesses (70 percent) say they’re going to increase digital marketing investments this year. The primary driver is social media, followed by mobile.  (Source: Marketing Land 2017) 

There is much to be gained for local companies by marketing with digital resources online in today’s highly competitive world.  Our company M4 Digital Marketing believes this so strongly that we have dedicated this website and resources to “one Goal | One Vision, affordable local business marketing resources.