Small business advertising should include digital advertising, but many small businesses do not believe in digital advertising, opting for more traditional methods, or perhaps limited or no advertising. There are many reasons why even small, local business should advertise digitally. Here is why.
People are planners
Today, people plan and prepare for everything. They need to “know before they go,” even for small experiences like grabbing coffee at a local café, to big experiences like a vacation. Generally, they have a low tolerance for surprises.
What they need to know?
Google indicates a 55% growth in mobile searches for “menu” over the past two years. Other increases include “things to do” or “review” so they can get more information or even spark interest or excitement.
They also want to build confidence before going to a new destination. Mobile searches for “wait times” have grown 120% over the past two years. They want to know business hours, what you can or cannot bring, etc.
Budgeting is important. Mobile searches for “do you tip in XX” have grown over 70%. In addition to the menu, they want prices, specials, promos, how to save money, etc.
And most immortally, what is “near me” right now. Mobile search phrases including “near me” and a variant of “can I buy” or “to buy” has grown 500%. “Near me” is no longer just about finding a specific place. It’s now about finding a specific thing, in a specific area, and in a specific period of time. This means retailers have a huge opportunity to use physical stores to deliver on the heightened expectations of today’s impatient shoppers.
When shoppers within 5 miles of a store click on a search ad, their store visit is 1.7X more likely to be incremental than shoppers who are beyond 5 miles.
We are not just talking about major purchases either. For example, growth in “best” mobile searches for:
- Face lotion and moisturizers (115%)
- Water bottle (165%)
- Salt (375%)
Finally, take Generation Z: Mobile Natives. Teens mostly use their smartphones to make purchases, with over 50% of all ethnicities of Generation Zs making purchases on their mobile device, compared to 30%- 43% of those 18-35 year olds.
