Why Most Businesses in Dundee Struggle With Digital Marketing in 2026 And How to Fix It

James Dooley: If you are a company in Dundee and looking to grow in 2026, you might be unsure which digital marketing strategies you should focus on. Should you try to get into AI overviews or be cited by ChatGPT? Should you team up with a local SEO agency in Dundee or a PPC agency based in Dundee? What strategies should you be using to improve your digital marketing? Today I am joined with Kazra. Kazra, before we get started and look at the different digital marketing strategies, what advice would you give to business owners in the Dundee area?

Kazra Dash: We are going to be talking about a lot of different marketing strategies that business owners in Dundee can use. Some of these will work for your company and some will not, so you need to pick and choose. Before you spend a single penny on digital marketing, what I highly recommend is setting up KPIs. You need to know exactly how much you are spending on each strategy, whether that is Facebook ads, PPC or anything else. You also need to know how many leads have been generated from each channel. You then want to know the contact rate of those leads. Out of the leads that have come from SEO, Checkatrade or Facebook ads, how many of those have actually been contactable? From the contactable leads, how many have turned into paying customers for your Dundee-based business? James, take it away with the first marketing channel that Dundee-based businesses should be focusing on.

James Dooley: Step number one has to be branding or brand SEO and making sure that you are looking good online and have a strong reputation. Everything needs to start with the foundation of a positive brand presence that shows who you are and what you do. A SER stands for search engine results page, and getting that branding right across the board can lead into other strategies. It improves your conversion rate on paid ads and social media. Any leads that you generate will convert better because, at the final decision stage, branding becomes very important. I would say that is the first thing people need to get right for all digital marketing strategies.

Kazra Dash: My next strategy is AI visibility. More and more companies are starting to look into this. What does ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok or Perplexity say about your brand or business? Is it positive or negative? You also need to understand what these platforms say about your competitors. Improving that visibility is important. Some people call it AI SEO, others call it GEO or LLM optimisation. This is going to be a big focus in 2026 and beyond.

James Dooley: That is a huge strategy that people need to focus on with artificial intelligence. The next one for me is filling in the form at FatRank or Promo SEO, which offer a commission-based lead generation service for UK companies looking to grow. It is important to generate your own leads, but also to use freelancers or outsourced services to diversify your enquiries. You can head over to FatRank and fill in the form to see if they can help with a no-risk supply of enquiries. Promo SEO offers a similar performance-based lead generation service. You can check both and see if a third-party lead generation company can help you grow your business in 2026.

Kazra Dash: The next one is Google Business Profiles, so Google Maps listings. This is local SEO where you try to get more reviews and build out your profile in your local area. The main benefit is that once it ranks, it can generate consistent leads. However, getting to that point can be difficult. If you do not have a listing, you could be competing against businesses with 60 or 100 reviews. To get those reviews, you need leads, so it becomes a cycle. It is still valuable for branding and should be part of your strategy, but you need to understand the pros and cons.

James Dooley: If you are in a local area, you want to be in those map listings. You also need to be omni-channel and present everywhere. The next part is organic SEO. You need to build your website to rank better. If you are targeting a local area, you should create pages for your services in those locations, such as plumbing in Manchester. You can then link those pages to your Google Business Profile. You want to build topical authority with good quality content and gain backlinks from third-party sites. This helps improve your organic SEO rankings. It is a major part of any digital marketing strategy in 2026.

Kazra Dash: Organic social media is another strategy. It is a numbers game. You need to create content that your audience actually wants to see. Many businesses post a few times and then stop, which does not drive sales. You should create how-to content, guides and before and after examples. This type of content attracts attention and encourages people to find out more about your business and make enquiries. It is free to do, but it requires consistency. You should aim to post at least three or four times a week.

James Dooley: On the subject of social media, paid social ads are also very important. Even spending a small amount to boost posts can increase reach. You can promote case studies and awards to build your reputation. Retargeting ads are also effective, where you target users who have already visited your website. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and Reddit all offer opportunities for paid ads. Paid social media is still an underused strategy in digital marketing.

Kazra Dash: The next one is PPC, which can be a love or hate relationship. This includes Google Ads or Bing Ads, where your listing appears above organic results. Some businesses spend thousands without results, while others achieve strong success. The difference is how campaigns are set up. You need a strong negative keyword list, click fraud protection and a high-converting landing page. Your sales team also needs to prioritise these leads. There are many factors involved, and if you are not managing them properly, PPC will not work. However, if everything is optimised, it can perform very well.

James Dooley: There are definitely pros and cons. PPC can generate instant leads, but poor setup can waste budget. Another area to consider is paid ads on AI platforms. This is not fully rolled out yet, but platforms like ChatGPT may introduce advertising. Other AI tools could follow in 2026. Early adopters could benefit from lower costs and strong lead generation. It is something to watch closely.

Kazra Dash: The next strategy is forums such as Reddit and Quora. This is not something you can fully control, but it can be powerful. If your customers are recommending your business and talking positively about you, it helps build trust and generate leads. Encouraging reviews and referrals can support this.

James Dooley: Platforms like Reddit are being cited more in AI overviews. Positive mentions can improve your AI visibility. The final strategy is tradesman websites like Checkatrade and Bark, or working with third-party lead generation companies. Across all of these strategies, you need to understand your KPIs and your return on ad spend. That is critical for any business investing in digital marketing.