Digital marketing is essential for small businesses. Nowadays, 70-80% of consumers research a company online before deciding whether to do business with them. If you don’t have an active web presence, you could be missing out on a large portion of your potential audience, and your competitors will likely attract more customers than you if they’re investing time and dedication to their website and social media channels. 

You don’t need to be a marketing guru or even have a lot of tech knowledge to build a successful digital marketing campaign. Instead, start small and focus on building a connection with your audience. Digital marketing will help you get to know your customers, measure the success of your marketing efforts, and reach out to anyone — anywhere at any time. 

If you’re ready to get started with your first digital marketing campaign, we’ve got a few helpful tips that can make it easier and more effective without being intimidating. 

Designing a Marketing Campaign

To boost your digital presence, start with a basic plan and outline. Planning a marketing campaign is easier than you might think. 

Start by identifying and strategizing your goals. When you have a better understanding of the “why” behind your campaign, the other pieces fall into place quickly. Don’t hesitate to be as specific with your goals as possible and even create detailed timelines for when you want to accomplish things. Once you know what you want from your campaign, you can move forward with:

• Setting your budget;
• Defining your target audience;
• Developing your message.

With those things in place, you can execute your campaign. Chances are, different responsibilities will be spread through various departments. You might have someone designing graphics and making videos and another person sending out email blasts. Your biggest goal during the execution needs to be that everything is implemented the way it was planned, adjusting along the way only when testing shows that you should make some changes. 

Using the Right Resources

If you’ve never created a digital marketing campaign before, you don’t have to overwhelm yourself by learning all of the lingo and trying to create something from scratch. Instead, don’t hesitate to use your resources to make the campaign easier and more effective. Every business can, and should, utilize marketing tools that are designed to make life easier. As a small business, some of the best resources you should be tapping into include Google Analytics, email marketing platforms, and social media tools. If you don’t have experience with any of those things, consider hiring a digital marketing provider to help you get started or monitor your online presence throughout your campaign. A digital marketing provider can help you enter the market effectively and teach you the skills to create and monitor your own campaign in the future. 

Alternatively, if you don’t have any experience in digital marketing, social media can be a great place to start. Social media is hugely important for your marketing success. It should be one of your main platforms, so determine the channels you want to use and the brand voice you want to share with your audience. Now, more than ever, consumers want to feel connected with the brands they support. Social media encourages conversations, allows you to engage with your audience, and provides easy-to-read analytics that can help you determine which aspects of your campaign are working and which ones need to be scrapped. 

Speaking of analytics, they should be a top priority throughout every aspect of your campaign. Look at website visits, email responses, and what people are talking about on every social media platform. Doing so will help you get to know your target audience on a more personal level. You’ll be able to develop user personas and create more campaigns that give people exactly what they’re looking for. 

Things like Google Analytics are great for data collection. Most social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter also have analytics tools you can use to check out which posts are performing well and where you’re seeing the most engagement. The more you hone in on those types of content, the more “human” your brand will feel to your audience, and you’re likely to see an increase in engagement in the future. 

Speaking of the future, the next step in your digital marketing campaign should be to look ahead. 

Focusing on Constant Growth

One of the biggest mistakes you can make after launching a successful digital marketing campaign is thinking you can “rest” on it for a while. Technology moves quickly, and if you’re not willing to keep up with it, your business is going to be left behind. Your ultimate goal should be to continue growing and adapting to the changes in the digital world. Maybe your first campaign worked out well, but there’s still so much you can learn to make your next one even better. Consider taking digital marketing classes so you can learn how to implement things like: 

• Google Analytics;
• HTML;
• Adobe;
• Photoshop.

There are countless online courses you can take to hone your digital marketing skills and make your future campaigns more successful. 

You can also boost your growth potential by staying on top of digital marketing trends. As technology changes, so do the trends associated with online marketing. Some of today’s top trends include: 

• Voice SEO;
• Interactive content;
• Video marketing;
• Conversational marketing;
• Push notifications.

Recognizing and involving your brand in these trends will help you meet the needs of your audience and give them what they want/expect from your business. You can use the data you collected from previous campaigns to fine-tune your future strategies. 

No matter the size of your business, focusing on digital marketing is essential for growth and sustainability. Keep these ideas in mind as you work on improving your digital presence, and don’t be afraid to dive head-first into the world of digital marketing once you have a plan in place and a better understanding of your audience. You might be surprised by how quickly you see growth, and by the loyalty of your customers.