It’s difficult to imagine, but in the year 2015, there is still a significant percentage of small business owners who do not devote any measurable effort to using digital marketing for promotion of their company. Digital marketing is a pretty broad term, so let’s be a little more specific when defining what it really is.

Many Facets of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing can be any one of the following activities:

• Search Engine Optimization & Marketing
• Direct E-Mail Advertisements
• E-Books
• Niche Websites
• Mobile Games
• Automated Content
• Social Media Presence
• Facebook Advertising
• Podcasts
• Banner Ads
• YouTube Ads

As you can see, though it’s far from an exhaustive list, today’s small business owner has a wide array of very affordable & effective strategies for increasing revenue and profits.  Some of them require more technical know-how than others.  Writing a game for mobile devices for example, which might serve up advertisements or other forms of promotion to the user, may be beyond the scope of many small business owners’ skills.  However, in today’s freelance savvy world, an affordable software developer looking for her next project is being just a mouse click away.

Other strategies are more straightforward to the non-technical business owner.  Take Facebook advertising, and social media in general.  All of the major platforms for social media are extremely user friendly to set up and maintain.  All you need is an internet connection, your laptop, a web browser, and a little time.  Your parents & grandparents can do it.  If you need proof, look at the numbers.

According to research, Facebook has 1.49 billion active monthly users as of the 2nd quarter of 2015.  How much time do they spend on Facebook?  The research says at least 20 minutes per day.  That’s quite the marketplace.  It’s global, it’s local, and it is people in your area who are affluent and they’re looking for businesses their Facebook friends & families like!  Your business needs to have a presence there, at the very least a basic page devoted to your company.  

Much like search engine ads, Facebook is also optimized to serve up your advertisements to just the right people, based on their likes and browsing interests.  Does it work?  Facebook’s annual advertising revenue seems to tell the story, to the tune of at least $14 billion by the end of this year (2015).  People on Facebook are clicking on those ads, watching those videos and playing those video games. For even better results with your campaign, consider taking a course on Facebook Advertising.

Go Long With Digital

The beauty of digital marketing is the long game.  You spend very little in terms of money up front, compared to say traditional radio or TV spots.  Once your online presence is established, especially on social media, the viral sharing of content goes on into the future, in some cases indefinitely; thus reducing your relative expense over time to virtually pennies, while your upside in terms of revenue is potentially unlimited if you play it right.  You can’t afford to ignore digital marketing any longer.  Take some time to really think about what it can do for you and your small business.