USING DIGITAL MARKETING TOOLS TO OPTIMIZE SALES AND ENHANCE THE COMPETITIVENESS OF SMALL BUSINESSES IN E-COMMERCE

ABSTRACT

This article examines the use of digital marketing tools to optimize sales and increase the competitiveness of small businesses in the e-commerce sector. The study explores basic technologies such as targeted advertising, search engine optimization, email marketing, chatbots, and user behavior analytics. Special attention is given to their impact on improving customer interactions, increasing brand visibility, and optimizing costs. The paper also analyzes modern trends in digital marketing, including the growing popularity of mobile applications, the use of artificial intelligence, and the increasing significance of video content and live streaming.

АННОТАЦИЯ

В данной статье рассматривается использование цифровых маркетинговых инструментов для оптимизации продаж и повышения конкурентоспособности малого бизнеса в сфере электронной коммерции. Исследуются основные технологии, такие как таргетированная реклама, поисковая оптимизация, email-маркетинг, чат-боты и аналитика поведения пользователей. Особое внимание уделяется их влиянию на улучшение взаимодействия с клиентами, увеличение видимости бренда и оптимизацию расходов. Анализируются современные тенденции в цифровом маркетинге, включая рост популярности мобильных приложений, использование искусственного интеллекта, а также возрастание значимости видео-контента и прямых трансляций.

Keywords: digital marketing, digital marketing tools, small business, e-commerce, competitiveness.

Ключевые слова: цифровой маркетинг, инструменты цифрового маркетинга, малый бизнес, электронная коммерция, конкурентоспособность.

Introduction

With the evolution of technology and globalizing markets, e-commerce has emerged as a core business strategy. Small businesses are forced to adopt efficient strategies of promotion to efficiently operate in this sector under highly competitive environments. One of them is the use of digital marketing tools (DMT).

Targeted advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), e-mail marketing, chatbots, and user behavior analytics open up new opportunities. These tools enable companies to effectively target customers, reduce marketing expenses, and improve service quality. The goal of this research is to explore the application of DMT in order to boost competitiveness and maximize sales for small companies in the e-commerce market.

Main part. E-commerce market and small businesses

The online trade is one of the fastest-growing segments of the economy, directly involving businesses of all sizes. Its growth is driven by globalization, technology, and changing consumer trends, leading to an increasing share of online consumption and services. That's why ever more companies realize the importance of having an online presence, which brings new opportunities and challenges for market participants.

Small businesses in the e-commerce industry have a significant niche, offering online products and services. They cannot afford to invest much in developing and implementing big-ticket initiatives. However, they can compete with larger firms effectively due to their agility [1]. Their greatest strength lies in the fact that they are able to tailor customer strategies, offer niche products, and bring about innovations quickly.

The most typical trait of small companies is the imperative to make minimal marketing, logistics, and development budgets work to their best advantages. Given the constraints of such budgets, DMT are absolutely crucial in as much as they significantly improve operations' efficiency without demanding heavy costs.

Digital marketing tools

A set of technologies and platforms that assist in providing products and services through online resources is referred to as DMT. They cover a range of methods of interacting with the target market. Through their utilization, businesses are able to not just increase their web presence but also the effectiveness of advert campaigns by coming up with personalized and interactive marketing approaches.

Targeted advertising is one such technique. It is a form of online advertising in which informational messages are directed towards a specific group of users. It works on the basis of using information collected from various online services and platforms, such as social networks, search engines, and websites, to create customized advertising messages [2]. The messages are directly targeted at those users who are most likely to be interested in the product.

Another essential tool is SEO. Its core concept is to improve the quality and usability of content in order to enable a website to rank higher on search engine pages for searches that are relevant to the company's services or products. It incorporates technical optimizations such as optimization of the loading speed and responsiveness of websites to mobile devices. As well as optimizing content, for example, creating high-quality and unique material using relevant keywords, optimizing meta tags and the corresponding website structure [3]. In addition, the off-site optimization features are vital in that they serve to complement a website's search engine ranking.

Apart from SEO, email marketing is being actively used. The technique relies on regular communication with prospects and current clients through emailing contact. A major application of it is message customization since it increases the chances of receiving email opens, reads, and responses. The most important part of the technique is the utilization of analytics software tracking openers, clicks, and conversions, thereby enabling companies to fine-tune their strategy and make e-mail campaigns more productive over the long haul.

Another important tool is the use of chatbots based on artificial intelligence (AI) to communicate with customers in real time. Another worthwhile instrument is the use of AI chatbots to engage customers in real-time. They automatically answer customer queries, supporting operations such as product selection, order processing, and consulting. They can be installed on websites, mobile applications, and social media, which makes them a simple tool to improve customer care and streamline sales processes. Round-the-clock operation allows small businesses to provide quality services across time zones, and automation reduces the burden on staff.

One of the essential elements of DMT is user behavior analysis. It refers to the collection and evaluation of data on user activity within an application or on a website. The data informs on pages viewed by users, duration on the website, what they perform, as well as activities leading to users' conversion. An important idea of analytics is to use big data processing tools such as Google* Analytics and Hotjar to track and examine user characteristics in real time.

From these results, companies are not only capable of quantifying the success of their current marketing campaigns, but they can also identify loopholes on their site. Thus, each of these tools represents an independent strategy, which, in combination with others, can significantly increase the competitiveness of small businesses in the field of e-commerce.

The impact of DMT on the competitiveness of small businesses

One of the best things about any company is that it is unique from the crowd and owns its market. Small e-commerce companies have very competitive businesses, and then they have the hurdle of gaining great visibility in a pool with much larger players. With the use of DMT, they are able to facilitate brand visibility for their users at low promotion costs. Targeted marketing allows businesses to deliver their promotional messages to prospects most likely to be interested in their products or services, and this is done with the utmost return for every investment in marketing [4]. Effective SEO practices increase the online presence of the brand in search results by generating organic web traffic to the business website. By content and technical improvement, an optimized website with keywords positions companies higher in search and accesses more people. Thus, DMT not only contributes to better brand positioning, but also allows for a significant increase in recognition among major market players [5].

Another real advantage is the ability to significantly reduce marketing costs. Traditional marketing media - such as television, radio, or print - typically entail humongous monetary expenses, which are beyond the means of small businesses. Online marketing platforms, however, offer less expensive options for accomplishing objectives, and therefore are an important instrument for growth and survival in the e-commerce era.

Targeted advertisement reduces the amount of money that has to be spent on ads by presenting the ad to those users who have a high possibility of being interested in a service or product. This lowers unwanted impressions and thus advertising expenditure. At the same time, SEO allows businesses to attract organic traffic without having to invest heavily in paid advertising campaigns. Such a method provides small enterprises with the opportunity to optimize their advertising budgets and put money into things that will give them the maximum return for minimum funds.

One of the areas to enhance the competitiveness of small businesses is customer contact. Unlike the traditional model, under which contact existed at a few discrete points, DMT permitted the creation of a multi-channel configuration. Such technologies provide more insight into the customer, so that companies can adjust their strategy and products accordingly. The use of chatbots and user behavior analysis further increases the level of customer service quality through the provision of instant feedback to questions and personalized recommendations. As a result, businesses discover more about their audience, simplify their products, and increase customer loyalty. Increased customer interaction not only powers revenue from sales but also strengthens a company's market position, eventually determining its competitiveness in the e-commerce market. The marketing trends report of 2024 shows that there is a sustained increase in the use of DMT by small enterprises (fig. 1).

Figure 1. Preference for using DMT by small businesses [6]

Thus, statistics show that DMT are becoming an integral part of the growth and development strategy. Thanks to them, it becomes possible to effectively manage advertising campaigns, interact with customers, and optimize marketing expenses.

Trends in digital marketing for small businesses in e-commerce

Technological change and consumer patterns necessitate the need for businesses to continuously evolve and incorporate new technology in a bid to remain competitive. The last couple of years has seen some of the most important trends become more prominent, trends that small businesses use actively to improve marketing efficiency and customer interaction (table 1).

Table 1.

Trends in digital marketing [7, 8]

Hence, the growth and competitiveness driven by new technologies have become the focal point. They provide obvious potential to simplify customer interaction, render marketing efforts more impactful, and enhance user experience. All such enhancements, however, demand flexibility and openness to innovation, enabling small businesses to favorably compete with larger rivals and adapt to rapidly changing market conditions.

Conclusion

The application of DMT in e-commerce is now a fundamental element of small business development strategies and sales maximization. Leveraging mediums such as targeted advertisements, SEO, email marketing, chatbots, and user behavior analysis allows companies to maximize brand exposure, customer interaction, and advertisement spending optimization.

Digital transformation has been impacting marketing strategies significantly as well. Adapting to emerging trends in the shape of mobile applications, AI-powered marketing, and enhanced relevance of video content along with live streaming, small businesses can interact more effectively with their potential customers and gain their loyalty. Adoption of all these technologies results in the creation of personalized marketing strategies, in addition to enhanced customer engagement and sales boosts.

*(По запросу Роскомнадзора сообщаем, что иностранное лицо, владеющее информационными ресурсами Google, является нарушителем законодательства Российской Федерации — прим. ред.)

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