In the first of a regular series helping businesses to generate sales and leads online, STEVE RICHARDS, the Western Telegraph’s digital marketing expert, explains the importance of digital marketing. LOCALiQ, the company behind the Western Telegraph, has invested more than £230 million in our new digital marketing platform.

This means we are becoming one of the UK’s fastest growing digital marketing agencies, using our best-in-class marketing technology to generate leads for our clients

What exactly is digital marketing?

Well, digital marketing is a very broad term. It’s easy to see why so many people are overwhelmed by it. Essentially digital marketing is promoting your business with any digital medium. So this includes - but isn’t limited to, advertising on search engines like Google, social media, mobile phones and via apps, banner advertising on websites – and that’s just to begin. It can be very complex as many of these areas are specialised. The term digital marketing is very broad to be honest!

How does it work?

This varies depending on the product/platform you are using. For example, social media marketing works differently to paid advertising on search engines. For business owners, I wouldn’t worry about the nitty-gritty of how things work, speak to an expert about which solution is best for you, and focus on the returns you can achieve. It doesn’t really matter how it works, as long as you get a return for your investment.

Isn’t this something for big companies?

No. Not at all. Every business should be promoting themselves online. I will be sharing lots of free tips over the coming months to help you take the first steps in digital marketing. Did you know that 66.6 per cent of UK adults have a social media account. Tech giant Cisco predicted there will be 34.8billion devices using the internet at the end of 2018. With the world becoming ever more ‘inter-connected’ it is essential for all businesses – large and small - to be active online.

How much will it cost me?

That depends. I will be sharing tips on how to get online for free over the coming months. However, you shouldn’t look at digital marketing as a ‘cost’. There are solutions for any budget, and remember this is an investment to drive return – not a ‘cost’. One real benefit of digital marketing is that it is all transparent, which means it is easy to track your return and justify the expenditure – you can see exactly what sales are being generated through which platform.

Most of my custom comes from word of mouth, why would I need digital marketing?

A recent study showed that almost half of all affluent people in the UK find out about new businesses via search engines – more so than word of mouth. Further to this, word of mouth can be unreliable as you never know when the next recommendation will come and most people are likely to seek you out online after hearing about you from a friend. Don’t forget, social media and online reviews are the modern form of word of mouth. From a business owner’s perspective, I would prefer to be in control of my own lead generation than leave it to word of mouth.

I’m no internet expert, how do I know what type of digital marketing will benefit my business? I don’t have time to deal with digital marketing really…

In all honesty, like most business owners you probably wouldn’t know which solution is best for you. But that’s fine. You specialise in your own industry and running your own business. That’s where companies and consultants like us come in. We keep up to date with the latest trends and updates so you don’t need to. A simple meeting to discuss your objectives and aims for 2019 is all that is needed for me to be able to recommend the best solution from this complex landscape. This also takes the time and burden off you, allowing you to focus on your own business in the knowledge that your marketing is in safe hands.

Who is LOCALiQ?

So, LOCALiQ is the digital marketing agency that sits within Newsquest Media Group – the publisher of the Western Telegraph, amongst more than 200 other local and regional news brands. LOCALiQ offer a full portfolio of digital marketing solutions, such as website builds, SEO, PPC, Targeted banner advertising and social media marketing to name a few. Whatever your business objectives, we will have a solution to match your needs. We are a friendly team of local experts helping businesses like yours navigate the complex digital landscape. Visit localiq.co.uk to find out more about us and our services.

Why should I use LOCALiQ?

Because we’re ace! Haha. No, in all seriousness, we are a long-established company, which is helping almost 20,000 clients worldwide. Unlike traditional agencies we utilise our best-in-class technology. We have developed unparalleled software that optimises campaigns automatically to maximise the volume of leads generated – we do not focus just on traffic or clicks. We focus on actual leads and enquiries. Another real benefit is that we focus heavily on the support we offer, every client receives support and advice from a consultant and a dedicated marketing expert. This ensures you get the return on investment from your marketing and maximise your sales.

We offer a completely free consultation and ‘digital health check’ to see if your online presence matches your objectives. Give me a call to arrange a no obligation meeting – I’ll even bring the biscuits!

Look out for next month’s article when I will be talking about the importance of a website, and offering some tips on what to look for in a ‘good’ website.

To learn more about how LocaliQ can help your business to thrive online, visit localiq.co.uk