If there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that there are a lot of different ways you can market your small business. And there’s a lot of people with opinions on the best ways to do it too. Plus, with so many techniques and platforms out there, it’s easy to get lost, overwhelmed, or just plain stuck. 

Whether you’ve been at this a while and are in a marketing rut, or you’re brand new and wondering what the actual f*ck to do online, these digital marketing tips for small business owners are a great place to start.

Here’s what we are going to cover:

• Why you need to know your audience as a small business owner
• The role of search in your marketing
• How to use social media, email marketing, and paid advertising to grow your business
• Why you need to track what’s working
• Tips for marketing to the non-linear buyer journey we are seeing in the online space right now

Common Marketing Techniques (That Actually Still Work!)

1. Know Your Audience 

First up: figure out who you're talking to. If you're not sure, it's time to create some customer personas. 

What are customer personas?

These are like profiles of your ideal customers: what they care about, where they spend their time online, and what problems they're trying to solve. 

Most small business owners skip this step (or keep everything they know “in their head”), but in the crowded online space of 2025, it’s becoming even more important to know your customers better than the competition.

Need some guidance? Take a look at our guide on creating customer personas. Plus, if you're aiming to reach younger audiences, we've got an article with specific tips for marketing to Gen Z (because they are actively undoing everything we thought we knew about marketing). You can even use Enji’s free customer persona generator to write up a profile!

2. Start with Search

Next on our list of digital marketing tips for small businesses is to start with search. Your website is your digital home base, so it's important to make it as effective as humanly possible. Check-in with your current website: Is it optimized for SEO? Visually appealing? Easy to navigate, so new visitors can find what they’re looking for? 

If you've been skating by without a website so far, we have a guide on how to build a website yourself to get you started. Make sure to follow our best practices for writing website copy too. That way, you can write clear, compelling content that communicates your message effectively. Trust us—this is worth your time to get right.

Lastly, don't forget about SEO. If you're not familiar with SEO jargon, don’t let the fancy name fool you. Our SEO guide for small business owners breaks down everything you actually need to know (it’s less than you think!). Plus, for those looking to go further, we also have tips on how to optimize a website for better search performance.

What makes a search-friendly website?

In general, a search-friendly website follows these main principles: 

• It’s easy to navigate and use, especially on mobile 
• It’s set to allow indexing, so search engines and AI engines can crawl and rank the content (if you use a platform like Squarespace or Wix, this is already set up for you)
• The content is authoritative and demonstrates expertise in your industry 
• Your content URLs, headers, images, and links are all relevant to your target keywords

3. Be Consistent On Social Media 

Whether we like the algorithms or not, social media is amazing for reaching and connecting with our audiences! 

Pick the platforms where your customers are hanging out and just start posting (with a plan, of course). Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, or TikTok, each platform has its own unique strengths and best practices that are worth familiarizing yourself with.

Need some convincing? Here's why social media marketing is important for small businesses. 

How do you stay consistent on social media?

Always start with your social media strategy first, so you know what you want to achieve from posting (Lead gen? Sales? Awareness?). From there, it’s best to maintain a social media calendar and use a social media scheduler that helps you batch-create content in advance. 

If you feel like you’re barely keeping your head up above water, take a deep breath. Head to this post next where we share our best tips to manage your marketing calendar if you feel like you can’t see straight with your growing to-do list right now.

4. Grow Your Email List and Invest in Email Marketing 

We can’t talk about digital marketing tips without mentioning email marketing. Not only is growing your email list a smart idea (insert cliche about how it’s the only marketing platform you own), but you can also use it to share your latest products, promotions, and news without any middlemen or dancing videos required.

If you’re worried about the tech, don’t let that stop you. We highly recommend Flodesk (use that affiliate link to score 50% off) because of how easy their templates are to use. Plus, they’re pretty too (so they’ll make you look good).

What are some best practices for email marketing?

• Segment your audience when you can (AKA, build specific campaigns for specific people, like your leads vs. your existing customers)
• Personalize your emails (segmenting makes this easier!)
• Maintain your list over time by removing bounced emails or people who don’t engage
• Test, test, test! Email is a great opportunity to test different messaging, CTAs, and offers 

5. Paid Advertising Gets You Paid Faster (When Done Well)

Organic traffic is great, but it can be painfully slow during the early days (add that to the list of things nobody told you about entrepreneurship). If you want sales (and more importantly, data) quickly, paid advertising might be worth considering. 

Whether you're interested in social media ads or getting started with Google Ads, a little investment can go a long way. And in case you’re wondering, yes, you can totally run your own ads (this podcast episode on running your own ads is proof!).

If you do have money to spend, don’t forget that paid advertising doesn’t always mean running ads either. You can also use that money to pay for advertising in online (and print) publications. Here are some more public relations tips for small businesses, if you think more press is something you might want to try this year.

What are some different channels for paid advertising?

• Meta ads (Facebook and Instagram)
• YouTube ads
• Google and Bing ads
• Pinterest ads
• Reddit ads
• TikTok ads
• LinkedIn ads

Just remember, there's a difference between paid media (advertising you pay for) and earned media (the organic love you get from customer sharing and reviews). Both play important roles in a holistic marketing approach.

6. Track What’s Working 

We can’t talk about digital marketing tips without reminding you to track what’s actually working. If you’re putting any amount of time or money into your marketing, you need to make sure you actually know what’s working. 

Take a peek at our guide on key performance indicators small business owners use to make decisions if you’re curious to learn more. It'll give you clear insights into your marketing strategy, showing you exactly what's working (and what needs a tweak).

What are some examples of marketing metrics to track?

• Number of leads and new customers
• Conversion rate
• ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
• Cost per acquisition 
• Customer lifetime value (the average revenue you generate from one customer)

7. Remember That Customers Need Multiple Touchpoints 

In today's saturated markets, customers need to see your brand all over the place before they swipe their card. That's why you can't put all your eggs in one marketing basket. And it's definitely why we’re giving you seven digital marketing tips today. 

It’s not as easy as just posting on social media anymore. You need to spread your message across multiple channels. Social media, emails, your website, and anywhere else your audience hangs out. The more places you show up, the more familiar and trustworthy you become (which makes people more likely to buy).

What channels make sense to use throughout the sales funnel?

• Your website/SEO - Awareness
• Social media - Awareness
• Public relations - Awareness 
• Blog posts/videos - Consideration
• Advertising - Awareness or Conversion
• Email marketing - Conversion and Retention

Bonus tip: use a marketing calendar to keep track of all the different channels you plan on showing up on! It’s literally the only way to stay sane as the amount of things on your marketing to-do list grows. When you use Enji, you can set up campaigns, keep tabs on KPIs, and stay on top of your marketing calendar and to-do list all in one place.

Final Digital Marketing Tips for Your Business (You've Got This!)

When it comes to digital marketing as a small business, you don’t have unlimited hours in a day, so sticking to strategies that work is key. 

Sign up for a free trial on Enji, take our 20-question quiz, and we'll create a solid marketing plan for you in under 10 minutes. That way, you can put these digital marketing tips into action and get out of the overthinking analysis-paralysis that keeps you moving your marketing tasks to tomorrow’s list (again).

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Tayler Cusick Hollman

Enji Founder and Small Business Marketing Expert

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Tayler is one of the Founders of Enji (marketing tools for small business owners who need to plan, do, and review it themselves). With over a decade of marketing experience, she has helped thousands of small business owners create simple marketing plans that help them get results. When she isn't thinking about how to solve the "I do my own marketing" problem, you'll find her skiing, mountain biking, or climbing rocks somewhere.

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Try Enji's marketing tools for small business owners for free at enji.co

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