COVID-19 hit Americans hard. Like really hard. Like change online consumer behavior forever type of hard. It’s predicted that eCommerce shopping revenue will reach $4.2 trillion worldwide this year, with the U.S. contributing to one-quarter of that spending, according to the Adobe Digital Economy Index.

Businessman plan graph growth increase of chart positive indicatWith this noticeable shift in online behavior, many small and medium-sized business owners are shifting away from traditional marketing efforts and focusing on the digital space. Digital marketing is growing in popularity, thanks to online technologies like Facebook and Google advertising, search engine optimization, and email marketing.

If you haven’t gotten into the digital marketing space yet, now’s your chance. Those door-to-door flyers aren’t working anymore. Start here:

Define your budget

Before developing a digital marketing strategy, it’s crucial to define your budget. What are you willing to spend on your digital marketing efforts? How much do you expect to get back from your investment?

When dividing out your budget, be sure to be strategic. For example, it’s probably a better idea to create ads using paid channels instead of posting a traditional billboard. Keep in mind, your budget will depend on who your audience is and how difficult they are to reach.

Leverage free resources

You don’t have to be an expert at digital marketing to gain access to free resources like Google Search Console and Google Analytics. Even if your business has never had a website before, you can build one on Shopify for an affordable rate. Google even offers free training resources to help you manage all digital aspects of your business. You’ll just need a Gmail account and a few spare hours.

Set attainable goals

When it comes to digital marketing, you must set attainable goals to work toward. You must be realistic with yourself and the potential for your business. If the most you’ve ever made in a year is $3,000 you’re probably not going to make $300,000 the next, right? Start with a gradual increase and then go from there.

You can even set goals for individual channels. Once you’ve done your Google Analytics training, you can understand what percentage of your revenue should come from organic, direct, paid, etc.

If all of this sounds a bit complicated, don’t worry. You can easily hire an expert to help take these tasks off your plate. When looking for your next business partner, consider the remote experts at Cordatus Resource Group. We look forward to hearing from you!