Managing a small local business is not easy. You find that you have limited resources and manpower, but you need more of those to grow your business. Tough decisions have to be made to decide how you want to allocate your scarce resources. Despite limited resources and unlimited choices, many small businesses are still encouraged to do digital marketing. Thus, the question is- is digital marketing worth my resources? Why is social media marketing important for my small local business in Singapore?
There are certainly benefits for your small business in digital marketing. Here are some:
- Social media marketing levels the playing field.
- Social media marketing extends the reach of your business.
- Everyone else is doing social media marketing.
1. Social media marketing levels the playing field.
Your small business might not stand as high of a chance as your larger and more well-established competitors in terms of traditional marketing like featuring on billboards. On the contrary, social media marketing gives you the chance to level the playing field in the digital world. With strategic planning, your content can well appear side by side your competitors’!
Recently, algorithm dominates these platforms and your competitors might not even show up on peoples’ feeds as often. If the content meets the needs of your target audience and keeps them coming for more, social media marketing makes it possible to gain higher engagement than your large competitors.
2. Social media marketing extends the reach of your business.
As most of you may already know (if it’s not obvious enough), social media has been and is on the rise. In Singapore, social media penetration has reached 79%! To give a perspective on this statistic, 4 out of 5 people use social media. This shows the potential reach of your content and the eventual increase in the number of people who knows your brand. As a small business, it is important to establish your brand personality in the industry. Social media marketing essentially helps you do so.
The use of hashtags is one way in which you can do so. Hashtags have been proven to be effective in terms of gaining reach. You can either use hashtags that already exist (which are relevant to your business) or create your own. Hashtags allow you to connect with people who share the same interest as your business. Although it takes time to find and test out the hashtags that work for your business, it is worth the effort! And it is free anyway! 🙂
3. Everyone else is doing social media marketing.
With the current situation, you should have already realised the importance of your brand’s online presence. In fact, even before the pandemic, many businesses have opened up doors in the digital world, in particular social media.
Although it doesn’t mean that you have to hop on the bandwagon because everyone else is doing so, there is really no harm trying out social media marketing. With the low costs and the proven results, it is possible that social media can grow your business in ways that you don’t expect. Allowing more locals and even people outside of Singapore know your brand is the least you can achieve with proper social media marketing (?? that is the least?). Hence, I believe there is literally no harm in investing in proper social media marketing for your small business.
4. Closing notes
Social media marketing has been an important aspect of growing businesses, and it is even more so for your small business. Your business stands a chance to be seen if your marketing strategy enhances your brand personality and unique content, especially in this situation where people are searching up for new and fresh things online.
It is never too late to hop on the bandwagon! And who knows, social media could be the launchpad for your business!
