Chances are that you are not new to VPN. You may have been using it to stream Netflix, for example. My husband and I have also done it occasionally to watch Hindi movies as we don’t get so many of them on Netflix Netherlands 😉
But did you know that you can also use a VPN in your small business, for marketing and other purposes? We’ll get into that, but first the usual FAQ.
Or you can jump to the 13 reasons why a VPN is important for business & marketing.
What is a VPN?
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a technology that makes your web traffic and activity unreadable by routing it through a special (VPN) server.
Your computer’s IP address is the identification number of your computer on the internet or any local network. Information is shared across all devices on the internet through IP addresses.
A VPN hides your real IP address so that other devices cannot easily find you and track you.
This makes your work on your computer and on the internet extremely safe and private.
How does a VPN work?
When you use the internet normally, you directly connect to the internet, and all your information is open for others to track (or steal!).
A VPN basically connects your computer to a server in a location that you choose. And then that server connects to the internet.
This means that if you surf online with a VPN, the VPN server becomes the source of your data, and your IP address and information are hidden. This way, all of the internet believes the server IP is actually yours.
Is using a VPN safe?
Using a (paid) VPN is safe, and the VPN provides you security as well, as we saw.
But exactly what does a VPN protect you from?
A VPN will only protect your IP and data. But you will still be at risk of viruses if you visit phishing sites or download unsafe files. A VPN is not anti-virus software.
13 reasons why VPN is important for business & marketing
There are lots of benefits of using VPNs. The reasons why companies use a VPN however, and so should you, can be grouped into 4 major blocks:
Cost-cutting
Security
Marketing Research
Better connectivity
Cost-cutting
1. Low-cost products/ services
One of the biggest advantages of VPNs is that they help you save money.
As a small business owner, you may need to invest in certain products or services to run your business. You may need to travel, buy supplies, enroll in courses to gain extra skills.
But sometimes these cost differently in different countries/states/ cities. By connecting to a VPN where the price is the lowest and shipping is possible, you can get the cheapest prices and save money to spend on other operational and marketing expenses.
2. Free or cheap Skype calls
Most of the calls we make nowadays are on messaging calling apps like WhatsApp. But some calls have to be made in the traditional way, of mobile/ landline to another mobile/ landline.
So when you have to call a number in a different country, you would normally have to buy Skype credit and call from there. Since a VPN hides your real location, you can connect to a location where your call recipient is based, and then you could even call for free or at a very low cost.
Security
3. Secure private data and ensure customer trust
In the US, internet service providers (ISPs), i.e., the guys who provide you with an internet connection, are legally allowed to sell their user’s data to their advertisers. Or there could be hackers who want to steal your data.
A VPN encrypts all the data on your computer. This means that it converts the data into a type of code that can only be unlocked with a specific key that is not openly available. Since all of your data are encrypted, even if you share data between two servers, in the case of data-hijack, the hackers will not be able to read, steal, or sell any of your company or client data.
With a VPN, you can assure your clients or customers that their data (e.g., email address, payment information), are protected. This also helps you build and maintain better client relationships, which is a big reason why VPN is important for business.
4. Safe connections with public wifi
Whether you are a small business owner working from home or from an office, there might be times that you’re on the go. Maybe you’re in a cafe or in a coworking space and need to connect to a public wifi.
And as we all know, these are not always safe.
With a VPN, you can form connections through any wifi without worrying about any malware or hacking attempts as a VPN can usually block these.
The VPN I use, Surfshark, is particularly good at this with their CleanWeb feature that blocks all malware and phishing attempts, even through ads.
On a plus note, as ads are blocked, you have a faster connection.
Marketing Research
You can create very effective marketing campaigns when you get in-depth insights about your target audience: lifestyles, pain points, needs, and even their online experiences.
You need this information to create a buyer persona and make sure that your marketing strategies are targeted, cost-effective, and deliver the best returns.
With a VPN, you can get very detailed insights into your customer’s online world.
5. SEO & content research
Your small business may be based in one location, but you may be delivering your products/ services to your clientele in a different city/ state/ country.
You can get insights about what your audience is searching for and what search engine results they are getting for their searches by connecting to the VPN of that particular location.
Of course, you can get these insights from any SEO tool (you may know, my favorite is Semrush ;), but when you connect to a VPN and you Google a particular keyword, you get the exact experience that your audience has.
You can see the title of the search result, the description, the images, and everything else that your audience sees. Besides, in SEO tools you can see the results of a particular country. With a VPN, you can see the results in a specific city.
Here is an example.
I searched for ‘ski jacket’ in my location first: Maastricht, Netherlands. These are my search results.
See how everything is in euros and the search results show me ads and brands in Netherlands?
Now I connected to a VPN (Surfshark), to New York, United States.
See how the results change.
There are a lot more images, products and brands in dollars, and even the images look different
And the following is for the same country, but a different city. Boston, United States.
Even in the same country, the search results look different in different cities. In the Boston search, there are a lot more ads, for example.
You can do a lot of research for your search engine positioning and search engine optimization this way, playing around with keywords and cities.
6. Competitor research
You can get a ton of insights about your closest competitors with a VPN, and it is one of the main reasons why VPN is important for business.
Competitors don’t have to mean a particular company. It could also mean those who are beating you in search or ads. You can find out about your closest competition by searching for keywords relevant to you, and see who comes up on top.
Then you can analyze their websites, blogs, and social media profiles in more detail to see what they are doing better.
You can also see which companies are placing ads, and on which topics.
7. Youtube research
While Youtube is classified as a search engine, it is extremely important because videos are the future, people use Youtube to consume content differently, and they use it for entertainment as well, more than Google searches.
For e.g., if your audience wanted to learn a skill with a tutorial, they would probably search for it on Youtube rather than Google. Same if they wanted to watch cat videos.
By connecting to a VPN, you could also see the search results that your audience is getting in a specific location.
Below are the results for the Youtube search ‘how to clean a tennis shoe’ in Atlanta (US).
And here are the results for the same search in Denver.
One search result is different and there are no ads.
8. Social media research
Similar to SEO and Youtube, you could also connect to social media in different regions and check out the feeds in different countries.
For e.g. see the Instagram Explore section for my profile in Frankfurt, Germany.
And here is the same section for me in Lisbon, Portugal.
You will see the ads that appear on your social media feeds are also different in different locations.
9. Advertising research
You can know who the top bidders are on specific channels, in specific locations. Which competitor is placing ads on social media, which ones on search.
You will know which product/ service/ content piece/ offer the competition is placing ads for, and all of these can help you shape your own marketing strategy.
Better Connectivity
10. Higher connection speed
Sometimes ISPs slow down the speed of your internet connection on purpose, especially when you’re consuming big amounts of data. For example when you download heavy files or stream videos.
This is called ISP throttling and internet providers do this to save costs as more data consumption by customers like you mean more costs for them.
This can make your work very frustrating and slow, not to mention drive more data usage, especially on mobile.
As a VPN encrypts your internet traffic, your internet providers won’t know what internet activity you are doing, and hence can’t throttle your connection.
Result? You get faster internet.
