Why Most Small Businesses Fail…at Online Marketing

Before we get started down this road, let’s make one thing perfectly clear; we are not picking on business owners and we are certainly not singling out small businesses as a group. The title of this eBook is merely a play on words to get your attention about a very important subject: SEO, Online Marketing and Online Lead Generation for Small Businesses. While we will be discussing some of the challenges of online marketing for small businesses, the basic ideas, suggestions and strategies hold true for any type or size of business in any business vertical.

How Small Business Lead Generation has Changed

Years ago, when someone needed a product or service they would have asked for a referral from a business associate, their accountant, banker, financial planner, neighbor or friend. This type of referral is called a “warm market” lead.

Warm market leads can be people you already know, individuals that already know you or people that have been referred to you by someone that you know. Making a sale to or doing business with a warm market lead is much easier than selling to a cold market lead.  Warm market leads are the people with whom you have already established some level of trust, either directly or indirectly via referral.

Warm market leads are great, but there is a downside. In the case of most small businesses, warm market leads eventually diminish over time and, if you are looking to grow your business, you must expand your lead generation strategies to include cold markets. One way to do this is with Digital Marketing.