In today’s democratized media world, small businesses have more opportunity than ever to steal market-share from industry giants. With the proliferation of digital technology, we’ve now opened up the market to millions of tiny global competitors. If you are hand-making artisan wallets in Vancouver and selling them online, you’re also competing with the hundreds, if not thousands of artisan wallet-makers from 30+ countries on sites like Etsy and Ebay. Global competition has now become local competition.
How can B2C SMBs compete in the recently ‘local’ global economy?
I am a Project Manager in a growing digital agency called Digital Fluency. Since I am also launching a small international business, this is more than just something I need to learn; my survival depends on it. Wize Monkey is a tea business that sources coffee leaf tea from Nicaragua in an effort to diversify revenue streams for Latin American farmers. We are up against thousands of brands worldwide, so we need to bring our ‘A’ game.
My research sources include: marketing panels, interviews with professionals, conference presentations, best-selling books, academic journals, news articles, personal experience, and various digital media.
Main findings:
- Digital content is one of the most accessible and cost-efficient tools to market your brand locally and globally
- Paid media is no longer the priority in advertising as content creation and social sharing generates more positive brand engagement & consumer data for less cost
- Mobile device usage is changing the way we interact with brands
- With growing competition, it is becoming increasingly important to tell a good story; people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a marketing manager, or an agency employee; the digital evolution has already had an effect on your livelihood. These findings affect the entire marketing structure of any business that is underutilizing digital media.
Keywords: digital content, social media marketing, mobile marketing, branding, storytelling
