Digital Marketing Strategy 2024 for Small and Medium Enterprises NZ

What's in store for New Zealand's small and medium businesses in the digital marketing area come 2024? Will the hype around AI tools like ChatGPT continue or settle down? What tactics of SEO are effective, and should you invest in paid ads this year?

We've asked our digital marketing experts to answer some of these big questions and share their insights into effective digital strategies that small and medium businesses can use this year to skyrocket their online presence.

Here's what's covered:

Why You Need A Digital Marketing Strategy in 2024
- Benefits Of SEO For A Small Business
- E-Commerce SEO Strategy For Business Growth
- Benefits Of Paid Ads For Small-Medium Business
- How To Create A Digital Marketing Strategy
AI and SMEs: How Will Artificial Intelligence Impact Small Businesses in 2024?
How Much Should My Small Business Spend On A Digital Marketing Agency in 2024?
Key Points On 2024 Digital Marketing For SMEs

Why You Need A Digital Marketing Strategy in 2024
Digital

- Dominance Is Rising

Business is booming in the online world. According to the New Zealand Consumer Survey of 2022, the “increasing shift towards e-commerce” resulted in online transactions overtaking in-person purchases as the key source for any problem purchases (36% were bought online vs. 33% in-person). You can only imagine what it might be in 2024.

- Adapting to Economic Realities

Inflation is another driving factor for SMEs to invest in digital marketing strategically. The rising costs of overheads like rent, fuel and power are why more and more SMEs are moving or expanding their brick-and-mortar stores to the digital world.

So, if you're facing the increasing tide of digital dominance and navigating the waves of economic challenges, having a robust digital marketing strategy is not just beneficial - it's imperative.

For over 12 years, authentic digital has been helping businesses of all sizes in New Zealand and Australia grow their presence online and maximise their ROI. Through our effective strategies in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) services, we've helped many SMEs navigate the digital world, especially during the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here's why you should consider digital marketing strategies like SEO and SEM for your business this year.

Benefits Of SEO For Small and Medium Enterprises

SEO increases your visibility on the free, organic listings on Google, so overlooking it could cost you thousands of dollars of lost revenue. These are the biggest reasons to try SEO this year if you have a small or medium-sized business:

- Improved ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs)

- Increased visibility and website traffic

- Greater return on investment (ROI) from organic searches

- Improved user experience and engagement

- Builds trust and credibility with potential customers

- Increased conversion rates

One client who benefitted immensely from our SEO services is Sapphire Spas, a leading supplier of high-quality spas.

“A short, sharp, brief and authentic digital got the job done. Now we're on page one organically, rather than just ads, for over 150 different spa-related search terms.” Julie Pickford, Sapphire Spas

Talk to an authentic digital SEO expert to see how we can get the same results for you.

E-Commerce SEO Strategy For Business Growth

SEO is not just a choice but a necessity in the highly competitive world of e-commerce. It's a dynamic strategy that brings many benefits, including:

- Wider audience reach: when people see your ads or content online, they are more likely to remember your brand and consider doing business with you in the future.
- Improved customer engagement: valuable information and content can drive more customer engagement.
- Lower costs: E-commerce marketing is cheaper than traditional marketing, such as print and TV ads.

Here's what our clients at Storm Rides had to say about our SEO services:

"The team at authentic digital have been our secret weapon for going on 5 years now. Our results speak for themselves. Any time we launch a new brand we are able to dominate the online space and drive conversions as well as store visits. We also do very well for high converting generic terms." Andrew Altmann, Storm Rides

More tips and insights: Grow your business online with effective e-commerce marketing.

Benefits Of Paid Ads For Small-Medium Business

Google Ads and Bing ads are the paid text ads surrounding the organic search results. While SEO gradually improves your online visibility, Google Ads and Bing Ads provide immediate and targeted visibility. Here's how your small or medium-sized business can benefit from paid ads, which is also known as Search Engine Marketing (SEM):

- Provides rapid results for SMEs needing quick visibility and conversions.
- Cost control - SEM allows for precise budget management for SMEs who want tighter control over their marketing spend.
- Geotargeting and local presence - great for SMEs looking to strengthen their local presence.

Get more details about paid search ads here, or set up a complimentary consultation to talk about your specific business requirements.

How To Create A Digital Marketing Strategy for Business Growth in NZ

While incorporating a digital marketing strategy into your business in 2024 sounds like a great idea, there's the question of, “How?”Craig Martin, our SEO Team Lead and industry veteran, shares his insights on how SMEs can not only weather but thrive in this landscape using SEO.

“There are so many tactics available at the disposal of digital marketers catering to SMEs. It's easy to spin your wheels without getting traction. A strategic vision allows marketers and business owners to test new ideas against their overarching goals – to stay on track and achieve better outcomes.”

Once you've established a strategic vision, it's time to bring in the experts. As a digital marketing agency for small businesses, authentic digital can help you identify the best strategy depending on your unique business goals. This could be via SEM, SEO or a mix of both, which makes a stronger strategy.

Some businesses overlook SEO and choose SEM when crafting their digital marketing strategy, but as Craig points out, this might be a missed opportunity.

“Don't treat SEO as a nice to have; if your business serves people, it's a must-have! Instead of Search Engine Optimisation, at authentic digital we talk about Search Experience Optimisation."

Whether a search is the place you're discovered for the first time or you become the brand people are searching for, the customer journey often starts with a search.

A great SEO team can act as the ‘digital glue' bringing together product and customer knowledge, user experience, sales enablement, and customer journey with the technical nuts and bolts of being online.

Having an expert team behind your back means you have the time to focus on what you love doing most without having to get into the nitty gritty of navigating the online world.

AI and SMEs: How Will Artificial Intelligence Impact Small and Medium Businesses in 2024?

In 2023, the world was introduced to groundbreaking advancements in AI with tools like ChatGPT. So, how will AI reshape the digital landscape for SMEs in 2024? Our SEO Lead, Craig Martin, provides insights into the anticipated impact:

“In 2024, Google will likely release their AI-driven conversational results to the public. Users will start having ‘conversations' with Google search results."

Brand and product recommendations and key purchase considerations are part of the conversations. This type of search result may reduce traffic to the site, as users get more of their answers in the search results.

SEO work remains vital to win the brand battle here – do you want your talking points and products recommended, or will you abandon that space to competitors?”

Here are three big ways AI can be used to accelerate SME growth in 2024:

- Content Personalisation: AI can change your customer experiences depending on their unique online behaviour and engagement on your site.
- Data Analytics: AI tools can gather and analyse data from your marketing campaigns and provide forecast results.
- Automated Email Marketing Campaigns: From personalised content recommendations to optimised send times, AI will ensure your email outreach is efficient and tailored to individual recipients.

Media buying, chatbots and content generation are just a few more ways AI will reshape digital marketing this year.

Richa Gupta, SEO manager at authentic digital recommends using AI to “accelerate e-commerce growth with a digital marketing strategy to connect with a wider audience and boost brand visibility.”

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) in digital marketing is pivotal”, says Richa, adding that this year, agencies like authentic digital will start using AI to “leverage customer data to enhance website content and optimise businesses' online presence, helping SMEs achieve their business growth objectives."

How Much Should My Small Business Spend On A Digital Marketing Agency in 2024?

Deciding the budget for a digital marketing agency in 2024 depends on various factors, including your business goals, industry, target audience, and the scope of your digital marketing needs. Craig Martin, SEO Lead at authentic digital, emphasises the following:

“There's no one-size-fits-all, but if you're spending less than $1,000/month in New Zealand or Australia, you're unlikely to be getting good results or a good experience."

SEO shouldn't just be ‘clicks' or ‘traffic': there should be visible improvements in brand visibility and, where appropriate, business goals like sales, emails gathered, and potential leads generated.

At authentic digital, we've found great traction for small businesses from a $2,000/month investment over a minimum of six months, noticeable improvements after a few months, and year-on-year solid growth during year one.”

Talk to one of our experts to see how our tailored digital marketing strategy can benefit your small business significantly.

Key Points On 2024 Digital Marketing For SMEs

- The preference for online transactions over in-person purchases and rising overhead costs are why a digital marketing strategy is crucial for SMEs in 2024.
- A mix of both SEO and SEM is beneficial for a solid digital marketing strategy: SEO offers long-term benefits, enhancing organic visibility, while SEM provides immediate and targeted results.
- AI-driven conversational results are expected from Google in 2024 and marketers will be leveraging AI for content personalisation, data analytics, and automated email marketing campaigns.
- For SMEs, a $2,000/month investment over six months is recommended for noticeable improvements and year-on-year solid growth.

If you're interested in implementing a solid digital marketing strategy for your small or medium sized business this year, get in touch with us. At a complimentary consultation with one of our experts, you can learn how to achieve your business goals this year with our effective SEO and SEM campaigns.