Now more than ever, you’re missing out on prime opportunities if your small business isn’t adapting to the digital landscape. Digital marketing is paramount to your success as a small business owner. 

In this advanced digital age, it is vital for your business to have an online presence.

Whether you choose to just have a website or are ready to go all-in with your digital marketing, getting your business online will bring significant rewards. 

If your business doesn’t have a web presence right now, you’re leaving your customers in the dark.

Potential clients or customers are eager to find small businesses on the web so they can learn more about you and your business. 

When people can’t find you online, you’re missing out on countless leads and opportunities. 

Think of it this way, when you’re desperately craving Mexican food and do a quick Google search for your favorite local restaurant’s menu and can’t find it… isn’t it the most frustrating thing in the world?!

You know you love their food. But the fact that you can’t find a menu or even a website with their contact information to call and place your order, leads you to end up looking for other local restaurants that match your needs. 

YIKES! As a small business owner, moments like that are devastating to your company’s bottom line. 

By not having a strong digital presence, you’re creating missed opportunities time and time again.

This can ultimately lead to you having to permanently close your doors. DOUBLE YIKES!

So how can your small business stay ahead of the curve? Simply by getting online!

4 reasons why your small business needs to have an online presence: 

1. Your Potential Customers Want To Find You

As mentioned above, people ARE looking for you on the web, whether you’re there or not.

Your customers may be explicitly searching for your business or they simply may be looking to discover a business that offers your products or services. No matter how they’re searching for your business, what counts is that you’re digitally available to answer their call. 

97% of people learn more about a local business online more than anywhere else. 

By bringing your business online, you’re gaining a serious edge over your competitors. 

Potential clients won’t put a great deal of exertion into discovering you online and honestly, they shouldn’t need to. 

Build a website, keep your social media accounts up-to-date, and give your customers something to see when they Google your business. 

2. You Can Easily Showcase Your Products & Services 

Show the world what your business can bring to the table, my friend.

If you’re a designer, a copywriter, or any type of service-based business, highlight your portfolio of work and showcase your previous client projects.

If you’re a local restaurant, show up with high-quality images of your food, an easy-to-read menu, and highlight the atmosphere of your dining experience. 

The internet provides your business with a stage and it’s up to you to become the leading star. 

With the internet and social media available, it’s never been easier to tell the world how great your business is.

Take a few photos, get smart about how you show up online, and invest in high-quality digital marketing services so your online presence is as professional as your offline presence. 

And remember! A digital presence is a reflection of your brand image that never rests. It essentially becomes an around-the-clock salesperson doing all the heavy lifting for you, 24/7/365. 

3. You’re Able To Build Deep Relationships With Your Ideal Customers 

Social media is meant to be SOCIAL.

These digital platforms exist to help you build authentic connections. This is true for both personal accounts and business accounts.

By showing up online (specifically on social media) your business will increasingly become more relatable. 

You want to humanize your brand. This makes your ideal customers feel emotions when they think about your business.

By engaging with everyone who interacts with your content, you’re enhancing your small business’s like, know, and trust factor which is essential to relationship building.  

Social interaction provides a genuine method of acquainting yourself with your clients. 

My favorite part is you’re able to directly ask your customer’s feedback in a non-intrusive way.

Add a poll on an Instagram story. Ask a question on a Facebook graphic. Or simply pop into your customer’s DMs when they tag your business in a post.

These strategies are so much more effective than having a survey for people to fill out after they visit your business. As short as your quick little survey may be, it’s still an intrusive form of marketing and may deter clients from engaging.

4. You Can Curate An Authentic Brand Experience For Your Customers 

Your digital marketing efforts will compound into a full brand experience for your ideal customers. And the best part? They won’t ever have to leave their couch to experience your company!

A digital marketing strategy enables you to stay savvy and share information about your brand with ease.

With a digital marketing strategy in place, you’re able to reach your ideal customers with just a few keystrokes.

If you curate your digital content appropriately, your ideal customers will instantly be drawn to your digital platforms and stick around for more.

In addition, the shareability of your content when you have a digital marketing strategy is awesome for growing your audience. 

The shareability of your content is essentially word-of-mouth marketing. But instead of the conversation starting with you, it gets started through the use of your digital marketing.

Let’s say you post a photo of one of your menu items if you’re a local restaurant or a picture of your latest client project if you’re a creative business. 

Someone who’s already following you likes your photo and sends it to their friend so they can see how great your content is too. That friend may have never heard about you before, but now they’re able to see what you have to offer online. 

After scrolling through your Instagram feed and clicking over to your website, they see they enjoy your content and follow you for more. 

Boom, you just attracted a new ideal client and there was zero additional effort on your part. 

This effect can and will happen when you’re aligning your digital content to your target audience.

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If your small business is exclusively a brick-and-mortar shop, I hope this post encouraged you to jump online. 

And remember, it doesn’t matter which industry your business is in…digital marketing should never be ignored.

You can guarantee your small business isn’t left behind or forgotten by beginning to establish your digital marketing strategy, today. 

Not sure where to start? Click here to download my ultimate content creation planning kit. This guide walks you through how to generate high-quality ideas, create consistent content online, and amplify your online exposure using your newly created content.

Good luck, my friend!