Hur digital marknadsföring kan främja småföretagens tillväxt : En kvalitativ studie om hur småföretag kan nå ökad tillväxt genom digitala marknadsföringsaktiviteter med fokus på SEO och SEM

Sammanfattning: Introduction: With the help of digital marketing, small businesses have been given greater opportunities to compete at a higher level than they previously could, which gives credence to the term "if a small business can't be found on the internet, it doesn't exist". For small businesses to be competitive and grow, digital marketing is a must. Purpose: The purpose of this work is to investigate how a selection of small businesses utilize digital marketing with an emphasis on SEM and SEO. Method: The present study is based on the use of qualitative methods to collect data and to process it. The qualitative interview approach is used to collect data, and these are conducted with respondents at a sample of small businesses who have knowledge and insight into the company's marketing strategies. Results: The different companies and the respondents who represent them have a largely similar view of how digital marketing can be used to create growth. The clearest differences appear in relation to the companies' financial conditions, where these largely control how much they can invest in the various types of marketing alternatives that are available. What is clear, however, is that all the companies work with both SEO and SEM, where it is above all the keyword analysis that is given great importance to create growth in different ways - either through pure lead generation or a focus on increased brand awareness. Conclusion: The result in this work is not limited to small businesses. As small businesses on a general level have similar types of constraints, which this work highlighted in terms of resources - both financial and personnel, insights from the study can highlight examples of practical implementations around digital marketing activities that contribute to growth that other small businesses in other industries can benefit from. Keywords: Digital Marketing, Growth, Brand Growth, SEO, SEM, Relationship Marketing.