Small businesses in particular have a unique set of needs when it comes to digital marketing, and understanding these specialized needs can help you ensure that you are utilizing the best marketing practices. Today we will discuss the first of five steps to improve your digital marketing ROI.
Digital marketing, in this context, is the use of online platforms to market your business to your local area and the rest of the world. This includes your website, local search, SEO, and social media. Small businesses in particular have a unique set of needs when it comes to digital marketing, and understanding these specialized needs can help you ensure that you are utilizing the best marketing practices. In the coming weeks, we are going to look at five key ways that small businesses can improve their digital marketing ROI, especially if they are in the Home and Auto Services fields.
It can be difficult to come up with a successful strategy for connecting with potential customers in your local marketplace. Characteristics such as size, location, and type of business all play a role in your online presence, so the strategy needed can vary greatly from one business to the next. At Premium Web Development, our goal is to hone in on exactly what is needed for your small business to succeed in today’s ever changing digital marketing landscape.
Every year, the research firm Thrive Analytics conducts a Local Pulse survey that is designed to measure the attitude of small businesses regarding different types of marketing options and provide insights into economic activities, marketing budgets and relationships with marketing firms. We’re going to focus on the 2015 Local Marketing Outlook that Thrive Analytics compiled for Home and Auto Emergency Related Service Businesses, in hopes that we can give some insight into digital marketing opportunities for similar small businesses.
The first thing we need to do is establish some common characteristics that Home and Auto Related services share, including businesses that provide:
- Decorator
- Property Management
- Disaster Recovery
- Plumber
- HVAC
- House Cleaning
- Roofer
- Electrician
- Tree Services
- Gardening Services
- Handyman
- Autobody Repair
- Mechanic
The following is a list of important characteristics that small businesses in these categories share:
- These services are time sensitive, such as urgent problems or repairs that require immediate solutions.
- These are very small businesses. Over 80% have no more than 9 employees, and nearly 65% have no more than 4 employees.
- 52% of these businesses have only one location, and 75% have no more than 3 locations.
- The average transaction revenue for roofers is $4,600.
- The ideal customer for these businesses is older and has a stable income.
- These businesses have an average marketing budget of $8,000 a year.
- 4% of these businesses will increase their marketing budgets in the coming year, and budgets for the remaining 65.6% will stay the same.
Now that we have identified who we’re really looking at, let’s dive into the first of five key ways that these types of businesses can improve their digital marketing ROI.
- Dominate Digital Search
The Local Pulse survey by Thrive Analytics found that both digital and traditional media are powerful marketing tools for Home and Auto Services. The digital categories among those studied rank as follows:
- Company Websites 35%
- Social Media 19%
- SEO & SEM (combined) 27%
- Online Yellow Pages 15%
These numbers alone show that digital marketing is essential for any small business to have a successful marketing strategy, and this is made even more obvious by the finding that digital marketing areas are expected to grow even more over the coming years. Thrive Analytics estimates that Email Marketing will grow at a 34% rate, Websites at 32%, SEO at 29%, and the category containing Social Media at 28%.
A company’s website is widely considered to be the most effective method of digital marketing, but its success relies greatly on the use of other methods to lead potential customers to your website. Social Media, Local Search, and Google My Business all work to ensure that traffic finds its way to the right place.
Your first step to maximizing your digital marketing ROI is to get in touch with an expert who can help you decide which digital marketing channels are right for your business. Get your strategy and website in place and then start dominating your local market through local search, SEO, and social media.
NEXT WEEK: Find out how to leverage the power of social media for digital marketing.
Want to take action on today's tip? Contact Premium Web and let her know you are interested in improving your digital marketing.
Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Development LLC
