It’s been just over a year since the pandemic first hit and by now many businesses, particularly the larger ones, would have instituted or improved their technological and digital infrastructure to respond to the changing environment. For some small businesses though, even one year later, digitization still poses some challenge.
Whether we like it or not, technology and the digital age is here to stay. While utilising social media platforms to remain relevant and keep the lines of communication open with clients is important, it is also important to build out and develop your own piece of the world wide web.
Think about how panicky you get when Facebook or Instagram goes down…
While the business may not be exempt from internet outages, your business’s visibility and messaging will certainly not be dependent on third party platforms.
Here are five marketing tips to increase your business’s digital
footprint:
1. Invest in and build your own website – A website is a business’s online real estate. On your business website, you are free to promote whatever it is that your business does. You can host a blog, dedicate a page to customers and building a community around your brand and, set up an e-commerce platform. Not only will customers benefit from your website but potential partners, investors and other stakeholders can quickly and easily see what your business is about. You can dedicate a portion of your website to highlighting your business’s involvement in the community or any other social causes.
The important thing with your
website is to ensure that it is optimised for mobile (more than 50% of internet users access websites from mobile), have
dedicate pages for products and services and is searchable online. This means using the correct keywords,
related to your business to ensure that your page is found when the relevant
search is done.
2. Get listed on Google (Google my business) – Besides the fact that Google is the most popular search engine online (86% of search market share), getting listed on Google is just common sense. Have you ever heard the term ‘Google it’? Well, Google is such an established brand that it has become a verb. Google my business is synonymous to an online directory, it will however only work for businesses that have an actual location. So, if you want to drive traffic to your small business, especially if you are located in populous areas, get listed!
3. Diversify your content output – Your content output should never be limited to verbiage only. Different social media platforms allow you to post a variety of content types, and using different social media platforms will help to extend the reach and life of the content. Content can be anything; images, infographics, memes, short blogs, long blogs, lists, guides, tutorials, DIY, tips, messages and videos. Feel free to select one or a combination of a few or all to grab the attention of your client group.
4. Use apps and tools to maximise your online experience – As parts of the world re-enters lockdown and other restrictions due to the pandemic, your website will now become your business’s face. Use tech apps and tools to optimise the experience for your customers and improve responsiveness for your business. Bots are possibly the best innovation since the internet as they allow your business to appear as if it’s online 24/7. Likewise, tools such as analytics will help your business to determine what product, service or customer area to focus on based on the behaviour of customers on your website. Additionally, maintain consistency on your social media platforms, use a content scheduler, this will help you to batch your content and schedule for release at an appropriate time.
5. Be
your best on social media – Bet you thought I was going to leave out social
media, never! Especially now when there
are 3.78 billion social media users worldwide (www.oberlo.com), ensure that
your social media pages are in place, current and consistently updating. You can also use your social media pages to
drive traffic to your website and e-commerce platforms or support any other
activity that your business will engage in.
