According to ECLAC, in Latin America, SMEs represent around 99% of all companies and employ around 67% of all workers. However, they face a major challenge in terms of productivity and contribution to GDP.
We can find statistics that tell us that the lifespan of an SME is between 1 and 3 years. For this reason, the priority is to generate income to survive and having a marketing budget takes a backseat.
What if Digital Marketing was seen as an ally for business growth?
Very few SMEs know in detail the impact and benefits of a digital strategy.
That’s why, during this note we will talk about the 5 mistakes that SMEs make when taking their first steps and I promise you that when you finish, it will be one of the first things to include in your priorities and budget.
1. Thinking that digital marketing doesn’t work
In Latin America, there are a number oman telegram data of myths that prevent SMEs from overcoming their fear of entering the digital world, losing the opportunity to grow, position themselves and increase their sales.
According to the Internet World Stats website , internet penetration in LATAM is 10% higher than the world average, which stands at 49.6%. Still wondering if your target audience is online?
If you have not yet taken the first steps in a digital strategy, we recommend that you start with the following:
Identify your goal
What do you want to achieve? More sales? Brand what should be the font for the logo positioning? Make sure it can be a specific, measurable, achievable goal that can be met within a certain time frame so that it is easier to track.
Knowing your buyer personas
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional find list representation of your ideal buyer. To reach and attract them, you need to know your value proposition and your differential:
- Why should people buy from you and not from the competition?
- What is it that you do so well that no one could imitate you?
It is important that you keep this in mind and communicate it on your digital channels.
Get advice on digital channels: Either contact experts or personally study through reliable sources to learn a little more about the elements of Digital Marketing and you can create a plan to begin implementing it.
2. Believing that digital marketing is having a personal Facebook profile
Facebook is one of the many channels you can use when having a digital strategy.
Using a personal profile, that is, the profile where you share your personal information, limits the options that exist for businesses, such as reach, investing in advertising and being able to measure among the main ones.
It is best to create a Fan Page where you can put the description of your business, customize the appearance and publish content.
But be careful! Digital Marketing goes beyond Facebook.
There are different channels such as the web, corporate blogs, social networks, advertising, and identifying which one works best for you will depend on your type of business and the objective you want to achieve.
Digital Marketing for SMEs!
Download the free guide to apply digital strategies in your company
3. Wanting to talk to everyone everywhere
Contrary to the previous point, many SMEs open accounts on all social networks, without knowing the benefits and uses of each one.
Ultimately, they become abandoned spaces that generate uncertainty about the reliability of the business.
It is best to focus efforts on the networks that suit us for each type of business and constantly feed them with a content strategy.
4. Stop making investments
Digital marketing isn’t free? NO! While you can post on social media for free, not having an advertising budget cuts off your ability to reach the people you want to reach, and doing so without investing a penny will take a lot of time.
There are many possibilities that adapt to your budget and you can invest in advertising on both social networks and search engines.
Among the advantages of investing in digital advertising are:
Segmentation
You can choose the people you want to reach, whether by interest, location, age, among others.
Flexible Budget
It is possible to allocate an affordable budget to start and you can stop whenever you want and changes can be made in short periods of time.
Results
You will begin to have results in the short to medium term.
5. Not following the metrics
One of the main advantages of Digital Marketing is measurement. You can analyze how many people saw your posts or your website, how many shared them, how many left their contact information, etc.
Unlike traditional media, where you only put up a billboard but you can’t measure exactly how many people saw it and how many it impacted.
In digital, there are some “vanity metrics” that can be the thousands of likes that ultimately have no impact on your sales.
That’s why it’s important to define which indicators will really tell you if you’re on the right track to achieve your goals. If you have any doubts, we recommend reading 7 important metrics for SMEs .
Not having a measurement is like going in blind and you will not be able to be sure of what is really working for you and you may be spending time, money and effort without seeing results.
Bonus: The manager nephew
It is one of the most common mistakes SMEs make. Thinking that your nephew Fulanito, “the one who is good at Facebook”, can take charge of your digital strategy.
There have been many cases where we do not know whether to laugh or cry due to poor management of social networks, which can have negative consequences and harm the brand.
It is best to seek professional advice and come up with a crisis management plan. We share some tips on how to react.
No one can guarantee you the formula for success in digital marketing. Much of it is about testing and measuring what works best for you in order to replicate it. If you identified with these mistakes, you still have time to correct them.