Your Customers Aren’t Online Waiting for You
As a small business owner, you are not a Marketer by trade (unless you’re specifically running a Marketing Firm – and in that perspective, I’m not talking to you here). Out of the almost 1.2 million small businesses, your expertise lies in anything and everything else that’s not digital marketing and so do your customers.
So why are you obsessing over Digital Marketing? In 2024, not only has the online noise become deafening, but most people with a relatively wide digital presence don’t know what they’re really doing online, what the ROI of those activities are (outside of the obvious Ad Spend ROI), and are wasting countless hours per week trying to feel around in the proverbial dark of the world wide web. Stop it!
Did you know about 70% to 80% of people completely ignore paid digital ads? Of course you did, you ignore them yourself, so what makes the ad you want to create better than everyone else’s? Nothing.
Your economic buyers are not online during work just hoping to stumble across your business. They’re focused on revenue generating activities and building real relationships with their customers and vendors.
Just because Jane Doe or Joe Blow said you HAVE to be online or you’re not doing business right in modern day – what makes that person an expert in your business? Anyone from any background can spend a few hours on a Social Media Marketing course, or the Google Skillshop, and call themselves a Digital Marketer. It is called one of the fastest-growing job skill sets in 2024 according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics based on a speculative mindset that we MUST be online or we’re nowhere.
Digital Marketing: The Million Dollar Venture
What actual qualified and educated Marketing professionals will tell you as a small business, is that in order to address Digital Marketing correctly, you better have deep pockets because each sub-category is a full-time job on its own.
| Digital Marketing Role | Average Annualized Compensation |
| Photographer/Videographer | $55,168 |
| Search Engine Optimization Specialist | $63,079 |
| Paid Ads Specialist | $60,450 |
| Content Writer | $66,421 |
| Email Marketing Manager | $80,573 |
| Web Developer/Designer | $82,021 |
| Graphic Designer | $73636 |
| Brand Manager | $83348 |
| Public Relations/Communications/Relationship Manager | $89,999 |
| Head of Marketing | $113,225 |
| Total Average Annualized Compensation | $767,920 –not inclusive of health, corporate, or retirement benefits |
Data sourced from Glassdoor.ca, Talent.ca, and Indeed.ca. 2024.
And your Head of Marketing to oversee it all in conjunction with the joint Sales strategy and overall business strategy. That’s easily a $1 million annualized in compensation and benefits, notwithstanding the advertising budget to support the Digital Marketing Strategy (not including traditional marketing spend or strategy herein).
Did Jane and Joe mention that in passing when they told you you HAD to get your business online?
And no, you can’t do it all yourself, and you can’t even get one other person to do this all successfully. I’ve been there, tried that, and you will spin your wheels with nothing to show for it and then kick yourself for wasting not just money, but irreplaceable time. The opportunity cost as a small business owner to even attempt a successful digital marketing strategy is far too great.
How Much is Your Time Worth?
So Lauren, what are you saying I’m supposed to do instead? How do I get my name out there and create some awareness then?
The blanket answer to this, because I don’t know your business intimately yet, is already inside your business. Your existing customers are the TOP source for returning business, referral business, and word of mouth marketing (which is 92% more effective than any other form of sales and marketing effort you can think of; Nielsen 2024).
Not only did I just save you an average of +6 hours a week as a business owner wearing a hat that doesn’t fit you, but also up to $1 million annually, at a time you’re better suited to optimize and reinvest in your current business affairs.
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