The value of digital marketing for any type of business isn't something that can be debated any longer. We all know that millions of people use the internet, including social media regularly. However, the cost of digital marketing can seem prohibitive for smaller companies as they don't have the capital behind them to launch huge, flashy campaigns. But, in actual fact, you don't have to break the bank to get you digital marketing up to speed, just read on to find out more.
Chat boxes
First of all, why not consider installing a chat box on your website? Why? Well, they actually perform several marketing roles for you. Firstly they offer help to visitors of the sites, usually potential customers that need certain information before their visit turns into a sale. By providing this quickly and easily, you have a much better chance of gaining a sale than you would if you had no chat box.
Secondly, chat boxes personalize an impersonal thing. Yes, it could be a bot on the other end and not a real person, but your customer doesn't know that. Instead, they see a company that is providing services tailored to them and their needs, and a way of getting the reassurance they need during the interaction. Something that less IT savvy customers can definitely appreciate.
Charity donations
A very simple way of raising your digital marketing game without it costing you very much at all is to include the option for you customers to provide a charity donation. You will see many successful companies doing this, including famous airlines.
What this does is create a positive image around your company. It shows that you are concerned by things other than you own workings and profits, and it associates the said charity, and some of the good feelings your customer have about them, with you as well.
The cost is minimal, because it the customer that is making the donation. So it's just the administration and web development fee to add a button to your site.
Interactive and usable website
Both of the above suggestions are dependent on your company having a website, something that demonstrates just how important websites actually are. They aren?t just another line of communication or a catalog of items. In fact, they really are the hub of all of your customer contact and your chief point of sale.
All that means having an ugly, static, un-navigable website is very bad new for your businesses. So it's worth investing in the initial cost to have one built for you.
You also need to think carefully about who you choose to host your website online. As poor hosting can result in all sort of problems like your site being unreachable, or it crashing if you have a lot of customers. Something that can directly affect your profit margins.
Placement
Lastly, a super cheap and easy way of getting some great digital marketing for free online is to send your products out to bloggers that appeal to your target audience. Then hopefully they will review your items (usually in a positive way, as no one wants to stop getting free products) and this reaches all of the people that follow them.
