With only half of U.S. small business not having a website, building your brand online using a digital marketing company will give you a great advantage. 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations, so having customers leave positive reviews online can be the difference between getting the business and being passed over for another company.

Admittedly, it is difficult to take the time to get everything set up online so you can begin building your online empire. Obviously, if it were easy, then everyone would have their business online. There are technical skills to learn if you are going to do your digital marketing on your own, but when you use a digital marketing company you can do what you do best while they take care of the rest.

Marketing on Search Engines

Search engine optimization is key when you want to thrive as a local small business. When people search for a business in your industry, you want to come up on the top of the “organic” search results. “Organic” search results mean results that are not paid for in Adwords, which is Google’s ad server. The more that you show up in the organic search results, the better for you because that is “free” traffic.

Reaching People on Social Media

Social media is also a big part of marketing online. There are many different social media platforms to market your product or service and build brand awareness. If you get into too many platforms, it can feel like a full time job monitoring all of the different posts that need to go up as well as potential client messages and other requests.

If you want to grow your numbers, you also need to know your numbers. Having proper analytic reports in order to know what areas need to be improved and what areas are working for you is a must. When you have in-depth analytics, you will be able to make improvements to your website and overall marketing strategy.

Being Top of Mind

The whole goal to have in mind when you are marketing your business online is to be the first person that comes up in your potential client’s mind. The more the potential client sees you on social media, in the search engines and anywhere else you can be positively positioned in your industry, the more they will begin to see you as the expert and come to you for help.

Online Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing

Online marketing is a whole different game than marketing in magazines and other offline formats of marketing. More and more people are coming online to do their shopping, check for stores to visit and just about everything else. Before most people make a decision about which product or service to use, they usually look up reviews on Yelp, Google and various other websites. If your website is nowhere to be found, that often raises a red flag.

Just remember the old Bill Gates quote, “If your business is not on the internet, then your business will be out of business.” It is safe to safe that your business will suffer if it is not online. Instead of stressing out of the fact that you do not have the time to do your own online marketing, it makes sense to hire an expert team that can take the worry out of your mind and allow you to build your business by developing new relationships with future clients and building upon your current customer base.

Sources:
88% of Consumers Trust Online Reviews As Mcuh As Personal Recommendations, SearchEngineLand.com
It’s 2016, But Nearly Half of U.S. Small Businesses Still Don’t Have a Website, Entrepreneur.com