4 Ways SMEs Can Supercharge Online Campaigns
Although a general marketing strategy may seem to be enough for SMEs — especially those on limited budgets — a blanket approach may not be enough to satisfy online demands
It's difficult to overstate just how large the Internet's role in commerce has become. With eCommerce firmly established as the new norm, global online shopping is expected to generate $4 trillion this year alone. And even among consumers who shop at brick-and-mortar stores, 83%, claim to have started their research online.
This is why having an online operation, and marketing infrastructure is essential for SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises) today. With the right online campaign, SMEs can attract and convert a percentage of the five billion people who are active online.
However, because the online space is heavily saturated (and very fast-paced), marketers have to be clever and creative to succeed.
Here are a few easy ways to tap into that creativity and accelerate an SME online campaign....
1. Create a dedicated digital marketing strategy
Although a general marketing strategy may seem to be enough for SMEs — especially those on a limited budgets — a blanket approach may not be enough to satisfy online demands. As such, it’s actually more effective and efficient to simply create a dedicated digital marketing strategy.
Through this kind of effort, you can better assess what your campaign needs to flourish in a digital space. Within your team, the most qualified person to lead the operation would be somebody with training in interactive digital marketing.
Unlike traditional marketers, these professionals have a background in the virtual business landscape. This typically includes training in online consumer behavior, digital sales tools, and industry standards.
With their skills on hand, your organization can create a strategy that will account for the traffic, trends, and nuances of online selling.
2. Optimize your social media presence
You’d have a tough time trying to find a business without a social media account these days. That said, not all business accounts take full advantage of social media’s tools and influence. For SMEs, optimizing social media means regularly posting relevant platform-adjusted content. This means that rather than just posting, you should be focusing on content that will click with native users. On Instagram, this means Stories or carousels; on TikTok, short videos.
By taking this approach, you can appeal to the algorithms that filter content to the almost 100 million people who shop through social media.
On top of this, when you take advantage of your social media footprint, you can also dive into viral influencer marketing. Recently, TikTok and Facebook have created marketplaces wherein brands and influencers can easily connect.
In appealing to such influencers, companies can establish partnerships that in turn connect them to whole populations of consumers. After all, surveys show that 92% of consumers trust influencers even more than ads or celebrity endorsements!
3. Tighten up your SEO practices
No matter how promising the product or service you sell is, your marketing efforts won't help unless they create recall or conversion. One of the best ways to ensure that you do generate this kind of engagement is to prioritize search engine optimization (SEO).
With the right SEO strategy, experts convey that brands can build credibility, enhance reach, and improve user engagement. Reports even show that SEO efforts are responsible for 80% of local conversions, and increased ROI.
A lot goes into an SEO strategy, but to get started, try to do keyword searches before creating any content. By doing this and adjusting accordingly, you can ensure that your content has a better chance of achieving organic traffic without extra costs. If need be, you can also onboard an SEO content provider who can help create written work that will rank highly.
When your SEO is properly targeted and aligned, you’re more likely to see your campaign hit your KPIs.
4. Use and share powerful visual content
As the old saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words." Although written content is integral to any campaign, visual content is often easier for consumers to digest and share online. Science backs this up, with studies proving that humans process visuals 60,000 times faster than text!
With regard to marketing, our infographic about visual content creation previously noted that 64% of marketers deem images to be critical to their strategies. Plus, on social media, posts with images are shown to have up to 150% more engagement.
Depending on your resources, you can create either static images or video content about within your marketing campaign. More so than the format, however, what’s important is that you capture the essence of your campaign in a snappy and interesting manner. With the right visual content, you can drum up interest and direct consumers towards your other platforms.
Regardless of whether you’re a purely online brand or a brick-and-mortar store with a digital component, having a successful online campaign is vital in today’s digital environment. And while larger companies will always have certain resource advantages, SMEs can still produce extremely effective campaigns with the right approach.