Steve Clayton, CEO of digital marketing agency Netblaze, offers tips for small promo firms to take a fresh look at their digital marketing strategy. It can seem overwhelming, says Clayton, but it doesn’t have to be.

Q: Why are small businesses often resistant to adapting a streamlined digital marketing strategy?

A: Small companies have three big challenges: they don’t know what to do (a local pizza shop asks if they should be tweeting; not necessarily); they don’t know who can help them do it; and they need it to be affordable. Netblaze is an app/SaaS (netblaze.com/) that focuses on the 80/20 rule: do the 20% of digital marketing that’s important to get 80% of the results.

Addressing the resistance to adoption has been a major challenge. I’ve spent 15 years as a serial entrepreneur and when I first worked with small, local businesses, I thought they’d be kindred spirits. But they weren’t, and that’s a good thing. I’m focused on the science of sales and marketing, but they’re focused on making pizza, or sourcing branded items. They have a passion for providing their product and service to people, and they’re busy. That’s a big enough thing. Then, when they do allocate time to look at digital marketing, they’re completely paralyzed. There are a million things they could do, and they get stuck in the rabbit hole. I can see it in their eyes.

When their competitors show up in a Google search and they don’t, it almost seems like magic to them. They just don’t have a clear pathway to navigating it. It’s important to focus on the quality of your website, SEO, reputation management, social media and CRM so you can quickly get in touch with prospects and clients.

Q: Why has COVID put this front and center again?

A: Before the pandemic, we were pretty sure the internet was here to stay. Young people were finding and evaluating businesses there. But COVID forced everyone to do this, from teens to grandparents. They’re using Google Street View, they’re clicking the button to call the business directly from their Maps app and they’re finding that it’s easy. Restaurants, for example, that stayed updated in Google this year with their hours, takeout status and outdoor dining options had great ROI. They really worked their platforms. People now expect this. If a company doesn’t have it, it’ll lose the street cred.

Q: For promo companies in particular, what are some strategies they should consider adopting?

A: It’s not much different from B2C, actually. People also Google search for B2B needs and then check the website (to make sure it even exists), as well as SEO and reputation. These are really important. Another major focus for B2B right now is LinkedIn – companies should understand the community of businesses around them. They can use it to do outreach to prospects and clients. COVID really changed the value proposition of LinkedIn.

Q: What’s the future of digital marketing, particularly for small businesses?

A: Imagine having a small business 20 or 30 years ago that’s not in the Yellow Pages, and has no signage or phone number. That’s today’s equivalent of not having a solid digital presence and strategy. It’s that fundamental. Companies have to bring in new customers, keep existing customers and increase the lifetime value of those customers. They won’t do that without a really good foundation online. Companies are finding, evaluating and interacting with companies, and they’re using Street View, clicking on buttons to call and ordering online. Everything from discovery to execution and placing orders is happening in the digital world. It’s impossible to build a business without it.