3 Big Reasons Why Your Small Business Should Be Utilizing Digital Advertising Right Now

We live in a digital world - and no matter what type of small business you run, you need to be online to connect with your market. Thanks to our smartphones, you have a direct line to countless potential customers right now, in their pockets - and it’s time to make the most of it.

Whether you use Facebook, Instagram, or Google Ads, or opt for a social media marketing strategy, it’s the simplest, most direct way to stay in touch with existing customers - and reach limitless new ones.

There’s simply no more effective way to connect with your customers - here’s why…

Your customers are online

Online is simply where your customers are. More than 85% of Americans have access to the internet - with that number growing all the time - most of which couldn’t imagine a life without it. Meanwhile, in 2020, there were 233 million social network users in the United States. That’s the equivalent of about three quarters of the country's population.

 It’s where they buy from, too.  In 2019, online shopping accounted for 14% of all retail sales worldwide. This figure is expected to reach 22% in 2023. In fact, a report by Forbes recently found that 81% of respondents in the US were directly influenced by social media posts to make a purchase decision, and 78% said that posts by companies themselves (rather than their friends) influenced their purchase. If your small business isn’t online, you’re missing out on a significant portion of your potential market.

Target your exact demographic with unrivalled efficiency

Never before have small businesses been able to connect so effectively with their target market. Through targeted ads, you can advertise to an incredibly specific market, drilling down by location, age, gender and interests. Not only does this mean you can create advertising with your specific demographic in mind, but it’s cost effective too: unlike traditional offline advertising, you’re not wasting time and money by advertising to audiences irrelevant to your audience.

 Engage with your customers like never before

What’s more, the digital world allows you to build a personal connection that you never could do offline. By talking to your customers through social media, you can engage with your potential customers in real time, responding to their questions and helping them with purchases. Developing a personal connection with customers this way all builds trust in your brand - which for many small businesses, would be otherwise unknown - in a way which money simply can’t buy. By using social media to speak, literally, with your customers through online comments, questions and polls, you can also conduct incredibly specific, valuable market research to inform better business decisions in the future.