What is Digital Marketing? A simple guide for small businesses.

Today’s world of digital marketing can feel unnecessarily complicated. Everywhere you look there is a new tip, a new trick, a new platform or ‘quick fix’ promising to change everything.

Most of these are tools of digital marketing, and not actually marketing itself.

To understand its true purpose, it’s helpful to consider what marketing is. The Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as:

‘’Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.’’

In other words, marketing is not just advertising, selling or posting online. It involves understanding the market, customer needs and desires, what problems they have, and how your product or service can solve their issues.

So, what makes digital marketing? Digital marketing is simply marketing carried out through digital channels. This may be your social media, your website or emails for example.

We always say social media should not be your full marketing strategy. It is only one piece of your marketing puzzle.

As a creative marketing studio based in Nantwich, we support businesses across Cheshire with digital marketing, strategy, social media, websites, content and more, to help them understand their ideal customer in great detail.

Which Digital Marketing channels does my business actually need?

It’s 2am. You’re reading another article on how you should prioritise *take your pick: Instagram, Tik Tok, Pinterest, Emails, Blogs, Youtube?…* for increased revenue. Your to-do list is already as long as your arm, longer actually, but you pop it into your notes app to remind yourself in the morning.

You spend the next few days, weeks, or months taking time out of your busy schedule researching, designing, testing, creating, working late nights to get the next best digital tool that has promised the world, up and running.

But one small oversight can make all that work feel pointless.

Where are your customers?

No, we don’t mean physically (necessarily). Where are they online?

Do you sell low-cost, impulse purchases such as fidget toys or trinkets? Have you spent hours writing long SEO blog posts, but your customers are all adding to cart on Tik Tok Shop?

Do you sell high-value B2B services, such as legal support or software? Tik Tok may not be where the big decisions are happening, but over on LinkedIn? You’re missing out on all the serious conversations.

Do you offer local experiences, such as fitness classes, hair salons or events, and you’ve just ran a national advertisement on Facebook, but your customers are jumping onto Google to find ‘classes near me’.

The point is, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to selecting digital channels. It depends entirely on your customers, your offers, and how people make buying decisions.

That’s why at FWRD Digital, we don’t believe every business needs to be everywhere online. In fact, trying to show up everywhere can spread everything too thin. We believe in fewer, strategically selected avenues done well. It might not be the advice every agency gives, but we’d rather recommend the right channels than sell you more platforms you don’t need.

We get to know your business, your processes, your customers, your goals and challenges, and build a personalised strategy for your business. Not just picking whatever channel is trending that week for your social media marketing. Our aim is to become an extension of your business.

Do businesses really need Digital Marketing?

In short: if you want to be competitive in this day and age, yes.

Consumers are searching, comparing, researching, checking reviews, browsing social media and forming an opinion on your brand before they ever enquire or purchase.

If your business does not show up online, and show up online to the expectations of your ideal customer, you are relying purely on people knowing you exist.

Now, don’t get us wrong, word of mouth is a strong strategy and referral programmes are great at connecting you with high-intent customers. However, there is a large proportion of customers who you are missing out on because they simply don’t know you exist.

Digital marketing helps people find you, understand you and trust you. It opens the door to more of your ideal customers.

How much does Digital Marketing cost?

As I’m sure you can imagine, there is no straight forward answer to this question. Digital marketing costs vary depending on the level of support your business needs.

A one-off marketing strategy may look very different in terms of cost in comparison to ongoing social media management, content creation, website support, SEO, or paid advertising.

At FWRD Digital, we do not work on a one-size-fits-all basis. Some businesses need full ongoing support. Others need a strategy document, a website audit, or a bank of content they can use across their marketing.

We do not believe in more marketing for the sake of it. The aim is to understand your business and your business goals, so we can work on the areas that will move your business forward, and build from there.

What happens if I ignore Digital Marketing?

Well, nothing.

And quite literally nothing.

If you don’t work on your digital presence, you will see no digital results. No enquiries, no sales, no brand awareness, no growth. Just digital tumbleweed.

Customers are chronically online, and if they search for your brand or products and come across nothing, they will inevitably go to a competitor who does show up. Consumers also put a lot of emphasis on a digital presence, including social media, Google reviews and more. Meaning if your business doesn’t have it, your brand may feel less credible.

You may also be missing out on warm leads, who are customers who are ready to buy from you! They may be searching high and low across various digital platforms, ready to purchase your products or enquire about your services, but you’re nowhere to be found.

They can’t find you. So what would have been an easy opportunity, is now lost to your competitors who made the decision and enquiry process easier.

Quite simply, nothing happens if nothing happens. Digital marketing can feel overwhelming, unnecessarily complex and like there are a million things to do, but that’s why we exist. To shelter your business from the noise and focus on the tasks that will move you forward.

Is Digital Marketing worth it?

Digital marketing is worth it when it has direction.

Not when you are posting for the sake of it, not when you are chasing every platform, and not when you are trying to do everything at once.

Good digital marketing helps your business become easier to find, easier to trust, and easier to choose.

At FWRD Digital, we’re a digital marketing agency in Cheshire, helping businesses bring clarity, strategy, and consistency to their marketing, so it works harder without adding more to your plate.

If you are unsure where to start, let’s have a chat.

Book an informal, no-obligation consultation here today.