More and more small and medium-sized businesses are starting to increase their digital marketing efforts, with 77 percent of them planning on expanding their advertising spend. However, recent research found that 29 percent of small businesses don’t have a website. Small companies that don’t have a site are missing out on a significant opportunity to increase sales.
According to a report released by TechCrunch, 79 percent of all consumers are now shopping online, and these numbers are only expected to continue to increase over the coming years. If your company isn’t already investing in digital marketing, here are five reasons you need to start today.
1. Your Customers are Online
Many businesses don’t believe that their customers are online, so they don’t think that investing in digital marketing will be worth the effort. According to Adweek, nearly 81 percent of shoppers will conduct online research about a business or product before buying. If your small business doesn’t make a digital marketing investment, you’re missing out on a real opportunity to convert these consumers into customers. If your company doesn’t have a website, you won’t rank in local searches, which have been proven to have a high conversion rate.
2. Expectations of Consumers Have Changed
Today’s consumers have a heightened sense of expectation when it comes to the companies they do business with. If a potential consumer goes online to read about your business and finds that you don’t have a website and are not on social media, the chances are high that they will turn to your competitors who are more digitally savvy. If you want to connect with today’s consumers, you have to develop an online presence.
3. Take Advantage of Seasonal Trends
It’s much harder to keep up with seasonal trends if you don’t have a digital marketing plan in place. Research has proven that on Black Friday, email marketing and other channel marketing efforts are increasingly more significant at driving sales on those days. If your company is looking to make the most of these larger shopping days, you’ll need to consider how to include email and mobile marketing into your campaigns, with the help of Winn Technology Group.
4. Increase Trust in Your Brand
When your business has an excellent online presence, it creates a great user experience for your target audience, which in turn positively impacts your brand’s visibility and reputation. However, when you lack an online presence, it can result in your target audience losing trust in your brand. If they lose confidence in your brand, they will look to your competitors to solve their needs.
5. Your Customers are Mobile
Today’s consumers have the power of smartphones at their fingertips. According to Google, there are more searches conducted via mobile phones compared to desktop computers. If you want to target these customers, then you have to have a site optimized for mobile devices.
While there are more reasons to invest in strategic digital for your business, these five will get you well on your way to increasing your sales and growing your business.
