The Front Door Model of SMB Digital Marketing

On a typical day, a small business owner has to take on the role of CFO, inventory manager, salesperson and any number of other jobs. None of these responsibilities is more daunting than the challenge of engaging new customers who are guided to your businesses, or past it, based on their experience researching on their phones.

Digital channels, like social media, search engines, and review sites, play a dominant role in how customers make buying decisions. Your online marketing efforts are critical to the success of your business, but it’s essential to have a framework for your business’s online presence before you invest time and money.

Consider these characteristics of a traditional retail store:

· The store uses signage to help you find their location

· Once you are inside, the staff engages you and helps you find what you are shopping for, while making recommendations for other items that might be of interest to you.

· The environment in the store is friendly and positive.

· Back home, you may receive periodic ads or a holiday card from the store.

· Finally, your enthusiasm for the store may lead you to recommend it to your friends and family.

We recognize all of these points as attributes of a positive business culture. We all have places of business we patronize and promote, based on how we are treated, the value we receive from our experience, and the connection we feel with the management and staff.

Marketing your company online is simply extending your physical presence into the virtual world — creating a Digital Front Door for your company.

As you go about establishing your presence online, keep this notion of the Front Door in mind. Your digital marketing is first and foremost a way to present your culture to current and future customers. Be authentic and engaged.

Critically, learn by listening to your customers, learn by looking at what others in your industry and neighborhood are doing online and learn by experimenting with different communities, networks and ad investments, to find what actually gets customers through the door.

Digital marketing is a powerful component of your marketing mix, but it is not the whole enchilada. Your online marketing work is a complement to your overall marketing strategy, not a substitution. However, what you learn online about your customers and your community will enhance the effectiveness of all aspects of your sales and marketing work.