With billions of users worldwide and the number only increasing over time, your audience reach is virtually limitless on the Internet. A lot of people also go online to shop or search for businesses.
So, if your business does not have an online presence yet, imagine the sales and conversion opportunities you’re missing out on.
First ask yourself this: how do you establish an online presence from scratch?
Create a website
Through your website, potential customers can learn about your business (your values, accomplishments and previous projects, if applicable), what you have to offer and how to contact you for further discussion.
There are sites that allow you to easily build your own website or host your site for free. You can also employ a web design service if you have the budget. Make sure that your site contains your contact details and the necessary information regarding your products and/or services. Not only should the design suit your brand, but it should also be easy for visitors to navigate.
Be on social media
Many people spend a huge part of their day on social media. For businesses, social media is not only good for advertising, but for audience engagement as well. You can easily establish a relationship with your target audience in these platforms and be able to communicate with them on a more personal level.
There are too many social media sites out there though, so creating a profile in every single one of them might be unnecessary.
It would be better to go for the most popular and business-friendly sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and LinkedIn. To keep your audience engaged, you should be active on the sites you are on. Regularly post and check for messages, comments or reviews on your pages, and respond well whenever concerns are raised.
Appear in local business listings
People often search for businesses based on location. For example, someone who is craving to eat Japanese cuisine might Google “Japanese restaurants near me”. This style of searching has become more popular with the prevalence of mobile devices. Potential customers who are looking for what you offer will be able to find you more easily if you appear in these searches. One way to ensure your search visibility is to get into local listing sites, which are like directories or yellow pages available online.
Typically, a local listing site would include for free all the existing businesses within a vicinity. But if your business is new in the area, you can place a request for them to add your business in their listing. Some popular local listing sites are Yelp, Google My Business and YellowPages. You might also want to check if there are sites that only list businesses specific to your business industry.
Usually, coming up with a marketing strategy would involve researching your competition and this also applies to the creation of an online presence for your business. Try to see how your competitors are doing online and ask yourself what you can do better. But even in your online presence, strive to serve your customers the best you can.