Digital marketing for small businesses during a pandemic
Many companies particularly small businesses in the midst of the pandemic are feeling the strain of government regulations, observing and adopting new working conditions.
Although this period is challenging, it is critical for small business owners and entrepreneurs to analyse and take advantage of opportunities to redesign their value proposition to suit the current market demand, diversify the products or services they offer to customers, and develop new market offerings through research and develop new revenue models and streams of income.
It is possible for brick and mortar businesses to become great online businesses by adjusting their marketing and sales strategies.
One of my product-based businesses clients in the food industry is offering clients a video course on cooking great meals at home without giving away their secret recipes of the course.
Others are offering training on various social media platforms on soap making, ice making and preparing sobolo (hibiscus tea). A lot of small businesses are moving towards digital platforms and digital marketing is playing a crucial role in this critical period by increasing awareness and reaching the right kind of audience as well as generating trust among customers by creating user-friendly interfaces and strategies.
Entrepreneurs have a lot of business growth opportunities with digital marketing by showcasing their unique products and services to potential customers. Some digital marketing opportunities available to small businesses include:
Accessible to a larger market and customers
Most small business are able to grow their revenue and profitability when they increase their customer base and there are several ways of reaching customers through digital marketing from websites to video marketing and social media.
It especially helps to attract mobile customers, which is a huge and rapidly growing market. Customers on digital platforms have no boundaries and there are no restrictions on how much you like to expand your business. SMEs having strong online presence can boost sales and reach audiences more efficiently.
Having a well-designed website will allow potential customers all over the world to easily browse your products and services especially outside office hours and it will help by projecting the business brand and bringing in businesses as well.
Measuring your marketing performance
It is difficult tracking customers who view your adverts in a traditional marketing setting and their profile compared to a banner advert on Facebook, Instagram or Google.
Digital marketing gives you the ability to monitor the performance of your marketing campaigns and review the effectiveness of your current strategy and make adjustment accordingly by accessing timely data through tools such as Google Analytics.
Small business owners using these strategies will gain valuable insights into their digital campaign and enable them respond quickly, adapting and refining their strategy in line with their customers’ requirements.
Adopting a new business model
Small business owners need to assess the impact on their business model when crisis such as the coronavirus pandemic hits their businesses.
Key factors to be considered include customer segments, value propositions, partnerships, resources, customer relationship, cost and revenue. Growing in this pandemic will require changing or readjusting your business model and adopting digital platforms is the key to every business success.
Digital marketing offers SMEs the platform to explain to customers why they should choose their business and why their products and services will meet their taste and preferences.
For example, from personal contact meetings to online meetings, shop to web shop, YouTube videos instead of in-person demonstration and advice.
Low digital cost
It is quite interesting how traditional marketing is on the back-burner for a while now because many SMEs don’t have the budgets available to benefit from services such as TV and billboard adverts which affects their competitiveness in the market.
Small business owners should note that Traditional marketing can be part of their marketing strategy but it cannot be the only marketing strategy they can rely on especially when digital marketing is comparatively economical in reaching potential clients and customers.
Small Business owners adopting digital marketing strategies can target users who are actively looking for their products and services online and save both money and time.
The writer is a Lecturer at the University of Professional Studies, Accra, Ghana
ayiku.andrews@upsamail.edu.gh