Outside of the internet, small businesses have had to compete with franchise stores around the world. A lot of these big businesses like Nike, H&M, and more have endless money and resources. They are able to open multiple store locations, put out bigger print ads, and give large enough discounts to get your shared target audience to buy from them. Well, the playing field has changed with digital advertising. Online, every “store” is the same size. Platforms like Google advertising consider quality and level of engagement over just budget size when choosing which ads to deliver, so it’s not just about being “bigger” when you advertise online. Using digital advertising, you can put your business right in front of your target audience and build relationships with them. When a person interacts positively with your brand, in the future they will be more likely to buy from you.
Building that trust between your customers can give you a big advantage. Show them the relatable and relevant content they want to see. In doing this, you can become an influencer in your industry, setting your business apart from your competition.
Let’s take an example. Say that you are a makeup and beauty business in San Francisco competing with big chain companies like Sephora. You can leverage being a small business to your advantage, in order to make your customers trust you. You can do this using creative development and media strategy like incorporating humor in your messaging or highlighting a pain point of buying from chain makeup companies. This will show that your business can solve these pain points, and set you apart from the competition. The power of digital advertising is that it is essentially levels your industry’s marketplace, helping smaller businesses like yours, increase their lead generation.