OLIVER's Top Tips For Digital Marketing

/ 18th December 2019 /

OLIVER Ireland delivers excellent work for some of the biggest brands in Ireland and beyond. CEO Mark McCann (pictured) offers his top ten tips for SMEs looking to grow their businesses efficiently in 2020.

Find your purpose

Your company’s purpose should work as a roadmap that informs every action you take. If anything has become apparent over the past few years, it’s that companies and brands that don’t have a clearly defined purpose are destined to falter, and that trying to shoehorn purpose retrospectively will earn you nothing but derision from your consumers. So define your purpose early on, before you’re a multinational and it’s too late.

Know your audience…

You will save time, money and a lot of heartache if you clearly identify your audience and their preferred channels post-haste. If your audience is of the whippersnapper variety, it’s most likely pointless utilising print media.

Then…engage

Now that you have a purpose and a specific audience, get to work! Narrowing down your target audience, as well as weeding out unnecessary channels, gives you the added advantage of helping you hone the tone of your messaging.

Ignore digital at your peril

It sounds like obvious advice for an SME in 2020, but you’d be surprised how often digital marketing is neglected at the beginning of any new business, with the perception that it is too expensive. However, digital marketing is where your money can make the biggest impact for your company, particularly early on. At the very least, make sure you have a functioning, eye-catching website that is mobile-optimised. Remember also that Big Data isn’t just for global corporations. Use every data point available to you (customer feedback, social media, even the census) to identify the best ways to target your audience via digital marketing.

Be Proactive

The major advantage of being an SME as opposed to a larger company is that you can pivot quickly when necessary. A successful SME never stands still, and certainly doesn’t subscribe to the definition of madness i.e. doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If your digital strategy isn’t working, change it up. If there is a strong consensus from customer feedback, listen closely and act accordingly.

Provide great customer service

Speaking of customers, for many SMEs there is no need to pay good money to social media influencers. Your loyal customer base will be equally effective if you treat them right. There are fewer layers between an SME and their customers in comparison with global brands. When the interactions between you and your customers are managed right, you’ll inspire fierce loyalty and the most important advocates for your product or service.

Create relevant content

Figure out the reason why people would buy your product or service, and focus on creating content that consistently reminds consumers of exactly that. Additionally, don’t forget that user-generated content is a cost-free and highly influential source of marketing. This can be something as simple as a hashtag that your customers use when posting about your company.

Be cost-effective

SMEs by their very nature don’t have massive budgets and need to act accordingly. Prioritise social media over expensive forms of advertising, and develop your customers into your biggest advocates.