A new survey from Clutch released in August 2018 shows some very interesting data on how companies of varying sizes use digital marketing. This survey found that larger companies are generally more likely to use digital campaigns as a way to stand out from their competitors, while smaller and medium-sized companies were more likely to use digital channels as a way to boost brand awareness.
Digital Marketing by Company Size
These results make sense. Larger companies have typically already gained awareness along with a following. Loyalty, customer service, innovation, and reputation become major goals and staying ahead of the competition becomes more important than ever. Smaller businesses, on the other hand, still need to find their place in the market. These businesses have to first establish themselves. To do this, they need to grow their exposure and drive awareness. The strategies used for growth are not always the same as those used to maintain growth. This is often where digital marketing strategies will differ greatly from company to company.
How does size affect digital marketing goals and strategies? Let’s take a look at the survey results to get a better idea of how company size comes into play.
Larger companies are focused on differentiation
According to the Clutch survey, larger companies used social media, email marketing, mobile marketing, SEO, and various other digital strategies to stand out from similar businesses. Whether competing in a crowded niche or simply working to retain hard-won results, these companies have established brands and longer sales funnels. The goal here is to convert the large number of views, followers, and fans into customers.
Strategies such as lead generation are favoured by larger companies as a way to drive more leased, increase close rates and focus on growth rather than initial promotion. When other, similar businesses are also competing for the same audience, there is a greater need to consistently innovate.
Smaller companies are focused on awareness
Smaller companies are the underdog, often competing against larger, established companies for a smaller piece of the proverbial pie. Brand awareness makes up a large percentage of digital strategies, with social media, email, mobile, content, and other strategies used to grow reputation and increase followers. From that point, it becomes easier to begin additional strategies such as lead nurturing to turn those followers into customers.
As smaller companies are not as widely known as larger companies, many of which are household names, awareness is essential for conversion. People cannot purchase from companies they don’t know about, after all.
Whatever the size of your company, the worst strategy of all is to have no strategy. It is essential to have a solid digital marketing plan in place that is suited not only to your goals but also your audience.