If Your Customers can't find you, they can't Choose you
Sandeep Dhall MBA CBAP? CSCP
Board Member & Investor| I partner with small and mid-sized companies to maximize shareholder value.
What is the first thing you do before ordering in or eating out at a new restaurant?
Check reviews, correct!
Do you eat in a restaurant if it has no reviews or their reviews have ratings under 3? Most people don't.
Your customers are thinking about your business the same way.?
How about the online health of your own business? Do you give enough importance to it??
Pandemic has made robust online presence more essential than ever. It helps build your brand, increase your credibility, and manage your reputation.?
Days, when you could depend on the same set of repeat customers are a thing of the past! Your customers are being targeted all the time through Facebook, Google ads, forums, and many other places. It would be best to at least grow to the current level/market share.
Reviews and ratings make a small part of your online presence. There is much more to it.
According to Adaptive Marketing,?97% of consumers use the internet to find a business .?
The business environment is rapidly changing, shifting consumer behavior as we have never seen before. McKinsey called it?"The great consumer shift"? online happening even faster than expected.
Ignoring your online presence is like saying NO to new business and accepting the loss of current business to the competition. Competition can now come from any part of the world, state, or county. Having an online presence is a MUST.
What are you doing to accelerate the pace of your online presence? An online presence so your customers can not only find you but trust you too.
Whether you are in your Online digital footprint journey, you can always start today. Consider how customers find you online, why they choose you, and why they trust you.
This blog will learn eight different ways to build an online presence for your business.
Why is online presence critical for your Small-Medium business?
When consumers are increasingly dependent on their devices to communicate and make the purchases they need, it becomes critical to interact directly with your customers.?
How will you do it if you are not on the same wavelength and platform as your customers?
Here is how to understand the customer (First step):
?You should know who he/she is, her tastes.
?Where she hangs around, what kind of fun or business activities she does
?Where she learns new stuff and how and where she looks for help
?You need to know the pain points before you set out with executing
What are you missing if you don't have an online presence?
Stagnating business growth, risking your survival or market share as competition builds a moat faster and better than yours.?
Accessibility
Unlike a brick-and-mortar shop, which has operating hours, clients and prospects can reach out to a business and place orders at any time and any day. On regular business days or holidays. 24/7/365
Brand building
Having a substantial digital presence strengthens the brand's credibility. If consumers can't find your brand when searching for you, they may question its reliability and business legitimacy.
Greater Audience
There is no limit to the number of individuals who can visit the website at any given time, let alone find your business.
领英推荐
Easier Selling and Marketing
The products and services can reach a wider audience with a good website.
In this article, you will learn six ways to build an online presence for your business
Consider listing your business to gain visibility among customers looking for your services. The listing is also a venue to share essential information about your business and promotions.
If they can't find you, they can't choose you.
2. Reputation Management
74% of shoppers make buying decisions based on social media
Protect your local business against negative reviews. Customers can find, choose and trust you with Online Reputation Management Help.
76% of people trust reviews as much as personal recommendations
92% of buyers are more likely to purchase after reading a review
If they find you with negative reviews, they won't choose you
3. Social Media Marketing
Social media is a great way to connect with customers, share your company's story, promotions, and new (or changes to) products/services.
When you do social media marketing right, followers become fans and even promoters of your brand because you have provided something they wanted or needed. Being consistent is very important and going for the long haul when building an audience from scratch. It is not for the faint-hearted who is looking for instant gratification.
4. Website
60% of consumers are less likely to buy from SMBs with a lousy website.?
Keeping your website up-to-date and responsive is vital to gaining customers' trust. A mobile responsive website helps build your brand, and the sales team can sell even when they are not in front of the customer
5. SEO
Every small business needs it. Please?
6. Email Marketing
Like IP and Email, a list can be an excellent asset for any business. It can build a moat around the company, even for those businesses (that don't have an online presence.?
The use of email to interact with their customers has been there for a couple of decades. Using it to build trust, create a brand, deliver valuable content is not at the top of the mind of savvy marketers and business owners.
Particularly when customers are trying to determine which companies are open, email is a great way to keep them in the loop, drive them back to your website or store, and stay top of mind.
No wonder Email List, if managed and marketed too well, is a money-printing machine on demand.
For some SMB owners and managers, the advent of new technologies has created a transparent world where you can read and analyze your competition's every move with a fair degree of accuracy. It can feed into your marketing strategy.
Understanding your competition is a great opportunity, yet it can be overwhelming to keep up with change for others. While there are clear benefits associated with having an online presence, it is a long journey for that need to start today! The question is not whether to have an online presence; It is when to start, and where is the smartest place to start?
Comment below or reach out to us if you have any questions.
Corporate Event Producer / Emcee / Singer-Songwriter / Magician / Homeless Advocate / Sleeps Occasionally
2 年Sandeep, thanks for sharing!
Board Member & Investor| I partner with small and mid-sized companies to maximize shareholder value.
2 年Anthony Russell, MD MBA MPH
Board Member & Investor| I partner with small and mid-sized companies to maximize shareholder value.
2 年Leslie Levy August Leighton C Williams AL HARVEY