Bridging the divide: mobilizing SMBs to embrace digital

Digital marketing is a complicated business, with SEO, click-throughs, retargeting, and Google changing its search algorithm every other day. How do you stay on top of it, especially as a small-to-medium business?

In the old days, small businesses used classifieds, Yellow Pages, and leaflet drops to ensure they had business coming through the door. But how many of us still use the Yellow Pages when we’re trying to find a number for a business near us? How many of us pick up the local paper to check the classifieds—or even read it in this day and age?

One of the greatest challenges for small to medium businesses (SMBs) is finding replacements for the advertising methods that used to work for them, but are simply no longer particularly effective.

The power of referral marketing for SMBs

The Rokt self-service platform is a digital marketing tool for SMBs that gives them access to customers who are shopping at the big end of town. They’re real customers and people with their credit cards who are transacting on sites like eBay, Jetstar, or Carsales.

This gives SMBs a simple way of targeting only the consumers that are relevant in terms of where they live, their age, gender, or whatever other criteria are important to that particular small business.

For example, if you’re a restaurant, and you want to attract customers moving into your suburb, it could be as simple as offering them a menu or a buy-one-get one pizza free with their first order in exchange for providing their contact details.

One of the greatest challenges for small to medium businesses (SMBs) is finding replacements for the advertising methods that used to work for them, but are simply no longer particularly effective.”

A consumer who might be transacting on eBay and lives in the area says ‘yes’, inviting that brand into his or her life. Rokt is essentially creating a match between the business and the consumer via a relevant offer.

Only pay for success

One of the great things about digital marketing for SMBs on Rokt’s platform is that they get complete visibility of what offers are working and take-up rate from consumers. More importantly, they only actually pay for success—they only pay for the people that say, ‘Yes, I want to connect with this brand,’ and ‘Yes, please send me the menu or the offer and here are my details.’ That’s a very unusual proposition in digital.