Digital Marketing Mistakes that are Costing Small Businesses Money

BY Rachel Cagle
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Are you having trouble selling your digital marketing services to small business prospects? It may be because you’re misunderstanding what their goals and weaknesses are. Here’s some insight on both from a study by The Manifest.

Customer Retention

Not surprisingly, the primary goal of 31% of small businesses is to use digital marketing to increase sales. The problem 94% of small businesses have with obtaining this goal is that they’re only focusing on attracting new clients, not retaining their existing customers. Retaining existing customers, as we all know, is the easiest way to make more sales. So, your small business clients need to be reminded that customer loyalty is well worth its share of digital marketing spend. The Manifest analysts suggest achieving this goal by ensuring that online services are convenient and personalized.

SEO

Another weakness in most small business’ digital marketing strategies is that only 6% include boosting search rankings in their main list of goals. Search rankings are important for small businesses not only because they drive online sales, but also because higher ranks help the businesses get found. More people than ever are turning to both search engines and virtual assistants to conduct searches containing the words “near me,” as well as general product searches. According to AudienceSCAN, only 17.5% of Local First Shoppers will go past the first page of search results. If your small business clients aren’t on that page, they’ll likely be overlooked.

The best part of SEO is that it generates website traffic via non-​paid efforts. “Small businesses can optimize their websites for search rankings by targeting keywords, building backlinks, writing high-​quality content, and improving site speed,” says The Manifest analysts.. Additionally, 70% of consumers flat out ignore ads that pop up in search results. They’ll scroll right on past them to look at the organic search results. 

If you think your small business prospects will need a bit more information on which digital advertising media Local First Shoppers are receptive to, head to their audience report on AudienceSCAN on AdMall by SalesFuel. You’ll find information on advertising that influences them, purchases they’re planning to make this year, and demographics.


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