Why Strategic Marketing Matters for SMEs – And How to Get It Right #3
Digital Marketing
What does SEO and content marketing do for SMEs?
SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, is the strategic process of improving a website’s ranking on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). This boosts website visibility through organic search and includes ensuring your content is 100% relevant to your users and target market, technical SEO, and on page improvements.
SEO optimisation ensures you are correctly using keywords and phrases in your content that your target market would likely use to search for your product or service. You need to post regularly to keep momentum up on your featured keywords by posting on average two blogs per week.
Technical web page attention is required too, such as site architecture and sitemaps, adding the correct meta data and alt descriptions, ensuring page load speed is fast enough.
To keep your company website on SERPs page 1, your Search Engine Optimisation and content strategy can be managed by a good marketing agency, including keyword research.
What does Paid Advertising do for SMEs?
Often referred to as performance marketing, because you’re paying for specific outcomes – like clicks, views, or conversions.
Allows you to reach your target market with tailored adverts – online or offline. This can be to publications with a certain reader demographic, adverts shown to a group of contacts who have certain interests, targeted lists of email/Gmail addresses, or bids can be placed on certain keywords or phrases (similar to SEO but paying to appear higher up in searches).
There are many formats and channels covered by paid advertising:
| Type | Where It Appears | Pricing Model |
| Search Ads | Google, Bing search results | Pay-per-click (PPC) |
| Display Ads | Banner ads on websites | Cost-per-mile (CPM) |
| Social Media Ads | Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn feeds | Cost-per-click (CPC), CPM, Cost-per-acquisition (CPA) |
| Video Ads | YouTube, TikTok | Cost-per-view (CPV) |
| Shopping Ads | Google Shopping, Amazon | CPC |
What are paid ads best for?
Offers quick wins, supports product and service promotions, boosts lead generation, and getting your message out to the right people at the right time.
- Instant visibility — your brand can appear at the top of search results or in users’ feeds within minutes.
- Advanced targeting — reach people by location, interests, behaviour, or even purchase intent.
- Scalability — start small and scale up as you see results.
- Measurable ROI — platforms provide detailed analytics to track performance.
Paid ads can be classed as generating both inbound and outbound leads:
- If your ad is responding to intent (e.g. search queries, retargeting based on site visits), it’s inbound
- If your ad is initiating contact without prior interest (e.g. cold targeting based on demographics or email lists), then it’s outbound.
Your Purpose is our Passion…
In an ever-evolving online landscape, Purpose Marketing helps SMEs cut through the digital noise with strategies that connect, convert, and last. From crafting SEO-rich content that builds visibility to designing targeted email campaigns that drive action, we tailor digital marketing solutions to reflect what your business stands for, not just what it sells. We blend ethical storytelling with data-driven insights to reach the right audience across platforms like Google, social media, and email, ensuring every click and conversation aligns with your values. With us, digital marketing becomes more than promotion – it becomes purpose in motion.