12 Essential Digital Marketing Strategies for SME

The digital transformation and digitization of communications have made Digital Marketing for SMEs essential to business success.

The globalization and exodus of customers to social media forces any company, online or not, to be present in this environment that has long ceased to belong to new technologies.

This way of doing business is the reality of our customers. So the question seems obvious: Are you, as an SME, using Digital Marketing professionally?

Today we will look at strategies you can implement in your projects so as not to miss business opportunities.

Are you ready to learn more about that?

*1. Create a social media plan

A social media marketing plan is not exactly a strategy, I recognize. But this is the first step you need to take to define:

1. What you are going to do to reach your goals
2. The tone you are going to use
3. The kind of customer you want to reach
4. Where you will advertise your corporate message
5. How often will you post content and interact with your followers?

Your social media plan will be your starting point for everything you will do to promote your project and reach more people.

Once you have defined your planning, you can create an effective digital marketing strategy: However, without that you will be doomed to failure, as we can do nothing without defining all the steps we are going to take.

*2. Inbound Marketing Strategy

If you have sold something professionally, you will know that your customers are the ones who will buy from you and not the other way around.

Have you considered creating a strategy to attract customers who are interested in your products or services, rather than a strategy based on increasing your profit margin?

Welcome to Inbound Marketing!

We looked at a graph (previously posted on this blog) because we wanted to understand how to attract our ideal customer, our buyer persona, through this methodology.

Quickly and briefly, I can say that the key to this strategy is to put the user (your customer) at the center of your strategy. That means you will have to create useful and practical content to guide your leads through four steps.

One of the most essential sections on which Inbound Marketing is based is Content Marketing, though not the only relevant aspect, creating material to guide your leads through different stages of the sales funnel will be vital in providing the information they will need. To buy safely, your customers will have to be sure that the product or service you are offering can really help them.

*3. Social Selling Strategy

Social Selling is a sales methodology based on customer acquisition through digital interaction. It is especially effective in B2B business models, so LinkedIn becomes the dominant social platform for  this strategy.

One of the primary advantages of social selling is avoiding cold marketing for sales teams. Also, with this strategy, we can strengthen both personal and business branding, as a collaboration between the business page and the business department is critical.

As you should know, checking your results will be essential to discovering how your strategy is working. So monitoring and understanding the Social Selling Index will help you chart the steps you will  take on LinkedIn.

*4. Social Commerce Strategy

You can now sell on social media, as Facebook and Instagram offer stores for your business.

Especially if you have an eCommerce business and your business model is B2C, consider working with this form of selling, which is increasingly accepted by users.

More indirectly, platforms like Pinterest could also be an effective sales channel.

The option to link each pin to a product in your online store will allow your customers to buy from you with just a few clicks.

And all this without having to actively look for them, for they are the ones who will seek you.

Don’t ignore this strategy as it will become increasingly relevant.

*5. SEO Strategy

In my opinion, Content Marketing and SEO are two of the Digital Marketing strategies that an SME can’t ignore.

Wouldn’t you like to display your site on the first page of Google results?

Many factors influence organic traffic (SEO) of a website. But soon I will say that much of it is up to you. Yes, that isn’t random. We’re talking about SEO on-page.

To work with this technique, you will have to learn about how search engine algorithms work, which takes time and effort. SEO experts know a lot about things like:

1. Designing sites
2. Identifying internal links
3. Creating a link building strategy with external links (SEO Off Page)
4. Optimizing site content.

If you want to attract more visitors to your business page, it would be best to professionalize this task and be patient as it takes time.

It’s not something you can get overnight, but you will gradually notice improvements, as this work will translate into more visits and quality leads.

*6.  Email Marketing Strategy

Some people still think that email marketing no longer works as before. But that is not correct; things are slowly changing, so we have to keep our email marketing strategy up to date.

Many of the emails we receive are considered spam, and fortunately, our email client sends them directly to the corresponding folder. However, the host of this blog, Mailrelay, is one of the major experts at offering tips for creating a successful email marketing strategy.

The key to creating an email marketing strategy is to segment your customers and only send the information they want to receive. If you always send all your emails to all your subscribers, some of these  contacts will be interested in reading your message, but you will always have uninterested subscribers.

Your email is like your business phone number; you will only allow someone to contact you when you trust them or when you are really interested in what they are offering.

When you post content on your blog or social media, users can choose to read it or not; When you email this information, all subscribers who receive the newsletter will see it at some point. So when you  do things right, with an intriguing subject and relevant message, the results will be positive.

*7. Social Listening Strategy

Another critical strategy for Digital Marketing for SMEs is social listening or Active Listening.

We can define Social Listening as “the technique with which brands or companies monitor what is said on social media on a particular topic.”

This strategy will be vital in listening to what your customers are saying about you and your niche. This information is critical not just as feedback, but for talking to users potentially interested  in your project. So that you can better understand it, I will give you some other information:

1. Would you like to know what your customers think about a new product? Create a poll to ask their opinion.
2. Do you want to improve your online reputation? Respond to comments about your brand.
3. Do you want to tailor your product or service to the needs of your customers? Listen to what people are talking about your business on social media.
4. Do you want to become a reference in your industry? Talk to your followers and humanize your communication strategy.

Active listening is as simple and complicated as planning an excellent customer service strategy.

Create alerts and use digital tools to know what customers are saying about your SME.

*8. Emotional Marketing Strategy

I imagine on more than one occasion you have heard that consumers buy irrationally and impulsively, right? That is correct.

People are like that: A set of emotions and mixed feelings.

If you can play with your customers’ emotions, you can convince them that buying from you is the best thing they could do.

As Gemma Fillol said, “Emotional marketing is marketing that is not visible but can be felt.”

And to achieve that, you should sell emotions, not products or services. My friend Javi, owner of a small Peruvian restaurant in Barcelona, explained the different types of potatoes in his country.

He told me a whole story about potatoes. And then he cooked them all for me.

I was looking forward to that experience! And besides, today I’m talking about his restaurant with you.

That is the best sign that his strategy worked; When people love what you are offering, they will want to share their experience with their friends, helping you to spread the word about your business.

Why don’t you try telling a story about your product or service?

*9. Social Ads Strategy

When in January 2018 Mark Zuckerberg announced that he would dramatically reduce the organic reach of Facebook posts; we suddenly realized that the world of social media ads was at a turning point.

Since then, Facebook Ads has set the pace for social ads, basically because most marketers pay for social ads on two platforms: Facebook and Instagram.

There is no doubt that social media advertising is key to promoting any product or service.

You may think you can promote your product on social media for free, but I guarantee that if you want to create an effective strategy (and you’ll have to work with social media to connect with your potential  customers), you’ll need to work with social ads.

*10. Google Ads Strategy

This platform allows you to connect with thousands of users every day to whom you can showcase your product or service. It has different ad formats: text, banners, videos, etc., allowing you to create  custom ads that will appeal to your ideal customer.

The best thing about Google Ads is that the effects are immediate.

From the beginning, your users will see you in the top positions of Google results. Of course, marked as “ad.” You don’t have to wait for the results of your SEO strategy, which may take longer to bring you the expected visitors.

This affiliate program is based on CPC, cost per click, meaning you pay Google every time someone clicks on your ad. It is not a fixed amount, but the price is set by a bidding system. Therefore, each product has a different CPC, even at different times of the year, depending on the competition for the keyword you want to pay for.

As you can see, a digital marketing strategy encompasses several aspects; You will need to study your industry, your budget, and your competitors to select the best options for you.

Perhaps you can’t pay for ads continually, but you should pay for them at specific times of the year, such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or a few weeks before launching a new product or service.

Study your market and analyze what would be the best time for you.

*11. Influencers and Micro-Influencers Strategy

Perhaps you think that you could not work with influencers on a Digital Marketing strategy for SMEs. Let me tell you that some of them would be willing to work to get your message across without being rewarded financially. This usually happens for social causes or projects.

Even for other projects, you can work with micro-influencers. You don’t need to select an influencer with millions of followers as long as this person is known in your industry. To identify them, see, in addition to the number of followers, how the influencer is interacting with them.

Building engagement and talking to your community is often more important than having a large number of fans you don’t speak to.

*12. Analytical Strategy

The last strategy is about generating reports about the actions you are taking. You should measure your results at least once a month because it’s the only way to check is the actions you have chosen  to apply are bringing the expected results and spot problems with your strategy in advance.

There are many digital tools that can help you, some free, like Social Insights, others very useful and cost-effective, like Metricool. Use them to analyze your results.

Conclusion

Before finishing this post, I would like to talk about something very important. Many small businesses think that Digital Marketing is not a good option for them or that it is too expensive. But, as you saw in this post, there are at least a dozen actions you can take to bring your business to the next level and attract new customers.

What is essential, and you should keep in mind is that you need to be patient as your goals will not be reached in two or three days. You also need to look for professionals to help you with some tasks or give you expert advice.

We are not experts in all fields.

So I encourage you to work with some of these 12 digital marketing strategies for SMEs. Which one do you think fits your business best?

12 Essential Digital Marketing Strategies for SME