Your customers (and their cats) are online. So the first step to reaching them is to get online, build an online presence, and engage them online. Emphasis on the word “online.” See a theme forming here? If you’re digitizing your business than it’s important to realize that your brand’s website cant just be an afterthought or a placeholder for your online presence – it needs to be a full-blown digital marketing hub in and of itself.

Webrooming is the consumer practice of researching products online before buying them in a physical, brick-and-mortar store. (Think visiting a showroom, only on the web.)

Even the most locally of physically in-person based operations on the planet need a website. Over 80% of consumers do research online before heading out to a store. If your business isn’t online with a site showcasing (aka webcasing) your products and services then those consumers aren’t coming to your store.

But even if you don’t have the immediate funds available to build the world’s greatest website, there’s no reason why you can’t build the world’s greatest social media presence. If done right, you can learn how to digitize your business with social strategies.

Best of all, creating a social media account is totally free. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, it’s all yours for the taking. Except Google+. That no longer exists. If you still have a Google+ button on your website, please remove it. (If you still have a MySpace button on your website, call us immediately.)

We mean creating, updating, and optimizing your Google My Business account for selling. (While you’re at it do the same for Bing Places. According to Wordstream, nearly half the US uses Bing. Crazy, right?) For complete SME digitization, understanding how these platforms are crucial for small businesses is key to long-term growth.

Having a well-rounded Google My Business account is a must for locally-focused businesses, but it’s equally as important for non-localized brands as well.

What’s more, GMB has a lot of great ways to funnel your customers into making a conversion. One of the best (and most underrated) is its posting feature. Through it you can share offers, announcements, news, and products directly on SERP, using calls-to-action and retargeting.

But even if you don’t have the immediate funds available to build the world’s greatest website, there’s no reason why you can’t build the world’s greatest social media presence. If done right, you can learn how to digitize your business with social strategies.

Heck, it’s how Poo-Pourri, the Arab Spring, and Justin Bieber got their start. If social media is good enough for the Biebs, it’s good enough for you.

Best of all, creating a social media account is totally free. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, it’s all yours for the taking. Except Google+. That no longer exists. If you still have a Google+ button on your website, please remove it. (If you still have a MySpace button on your website, call us immediately.)

For example, Instagram has been rolling out a checkout feature that allows users to make purchases without ever leaving the app. They also offer Instagram Shopping, which provides brands the ability to add tags to posts that link directly to product pages on their site. (See! That website’s already coming in handy.)

But even if you can’t take advantage of social media shopping features or don’t have an eCommerce-capable site, you can easily generate sales through online brand awareness using social media. To craft a winning strategy all you need is some creativity and time.

All too often we see businesses try to keep up with all the latest online trends by juggling a ridiculous amount of social media accounts. Far better is to focus on a select few social media channels and do it right.

Not sure where to start? Should you tweet, gram, post, tumble, or tok?

Facebook and Instagram are two of the top choices, particularly because of how well they tie-in with commerce activity and online advertising. Go ahead and add LinkedIn to that list for B2B companies. We also recommend amplifying your digital strategy with video because it routinely produces the highest ROI, and can be easily shared across all your social accounts.

Quite simply, the pandemic deepened the digital divide between those businesses active online and those who aren’t. That’s not as delightful a consequence as the uptick in knitted dog sweaters, but just as important to be aware of. But it also means that the concept of SME digitization is more important than ever!

In the not-so-distant future, every business will either need to get online or risk falling behind. Those slow to react and still reliant on more traditional business models — like brick and mortar — will fight for survival, while those that cater to customers on the internets will see their gains amplified.

Your customers (and their cats) are online. So the first step to reaching them is to get online, build an online presence, and engage them online. Emphasis on the word “online.” See a theme forming here? If you’re digitizing your business than it’s important to realize that your brand’s website cant just be an afterthought or a placeholder for your online presence – it needs to be a full-blown digital marketing hub in and of itself.

Webrooming is the consumer practice of researching products online before buying them in a physical, brick-and-mortar store. (Think visiting a showroom, only on the web.)

When users on your site become a lead, paying customer, subscriber, or take some other desired action, you’ve achieved a conversion. Digital marketing serves to target your best demographics, drive traffic to your site, keep potential customers engaged with your content and make the purchase process as streamlined as possible, thus positively influencing your conversion rates and your bottom line.

Digital marketing allows you to reach your target audience where they spend the most time online and helps you learn more about the groups you are trying to reach. By building an online marketing campaign centered around your target audience and built upon your knowledge of their online behaviors, you can make conversion rates soar.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a fundamental piece of the digital marketing puzzle. SEO begins with the process of making critical website improvements to boost user experience (technical SEO). This fundamental basis of SEO involves ensuring your website is mobile-friendly, loads quickly and is simple to navigate, allowing users to access your high-conversion pages to become paying customers.

However, the most well-known SEO practice involves the use of relevant keywords and phrases to ensure Google’s algorithm displays your website when a user searches for a relevant topic (organic SEO).

For example, if you want your homemade candle business to appear prominently when users nearby search for “scented candle,” using that key phrase strategically in your site content will ensure Google serves your website on its search engine results page (SERP). Optimizing web copy and other content can increase visibility and drive relevant traffic to your site.