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6 Ways to Successfully Take Your Business Online

By Ashley Lipman
Image courtesy of Flickr


No matter how successful your business is, you know it’s not reaching its full potential unless you take it online. This may be a bit complicated, but it’s well worth it!  Most of your audience is online, and so are your competitors. Therefore, it’s time to take a step forward to ensure your business successfully evolves with the rapidly changing market trends. Confused about where to start? Check out the following guidelines for a smooth transition online. 



1. Get Into the Game

You need to put yourself out there in order to grab some much-needed attention. Invest some money in building an attractive website, but also focus on getting listed in Google Places, local directories, and other online platforms.  Learn about SEO to climb the search engine ranking ladder. If you can afford it, hire an SEO expert for your content marketing needs.
2. Get The Leads Out

Image courtsy of Pixabay
Lead generation and online sales are highly important; otherwise, the traffic to your website will only attract viewers and not customers. Hence, your pages should have a way to capture attention and generate leads. An example is that of custom-tablecloths.com offering a free set of napkins with every order placed through the site. You can also ask your customers to refer their friends so they can enter a competition. Once you have a good list of leads, make use of email marketing systems to follow up on them.

3. Get Going On Social Media

If you’re online, there’s no excuse for not having social media buttons and relevant profiles. It’s
recommended that you have profiles on every platform, but focus most of your efforts on the ones that speak to your audience the most. For instance, the younger generations are more likely to be on Instagram than Facebook. (Just make sure you post regularly to any social net you list on your site.)

There are several tried-and-tested ways to turn your social media activity into sales. This requires you to devise a social media strategy based on the age, attention span, and lifestyle factors of your target audience.  While initiating a social media marketing campaign, pick the trends that have some relevance to your business; don’t jump on the bandwagon for every kind of hype online. 

4. Get Email Marketing Working for You

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Did you know that email marketing is one of the most effective ways to turn prospects into paying customers? Everyone has a lot of space in their inboxes now. Emails are much less annoying than personal calls and allow the customers to peruse the details at their leisure.

If you do decide to go for email marketing, though, make sure to give some value to them so they can be easily converted into leads. Instead of throwing sales pitches all the time, offer some coupons, vouchers, or special discounts via personalized email messages. (Also, make sure you secure premission before sending out email.  You don't want to be identified as a spammer.)

5. Get Text Messages Out There

SMS messages may not be so widespread now because of the presence of free messengers like WhatsApp. Still, there’s huge potential in marketing through text messages. You get direct access to people without needing their email address and without requiring them to have an internet connection at that particular time.

Get the numbers of your physical store customers and encourage them to subscribe for your text message promotions. You can keep them updated through this medium and encourage them to visit your website as well.

6. Get QR Codes

Image courtesy of
Working the Web to Win
The internet is widespread, but not everyone’s sitting down at a computer or laptop at all times. What you want is people to visit your website even when they’re offline. You can do this by getting your own QR code.

This innovation acts much like a barcode. Potential customers can scan them with their smartphones and get direct access to your website. You don’t have to wait for them to click on anything. Just keep the QR code in view on paper mail, check-out desks, store window, or even strategic locations like bus stops and malls.

Get with it, people!  If you want to succeed in the 21st century, you need to create a robust web presence that will draw in and engage prospects looking for what you sell.  To do otherwise will only get you lost in cyberspace.

Ashley is a super-connector with Outreachmama who helps businesses with building their audience online through outreach, partnerships, and networking. Since her first high school award in Creative Writing, she continues to deliver high-quality content through various niches.
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2 comments:

  1. Carl WeissJune 22, 2018 at 12:46 PM

    Another great way to get the word out while creating an audience at the same time is to start poting weekly blogs.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hector CisnerosJune 22, 2018 at 2:30 PM

    Yes blogging, podcasting and vlogging are all great ways to engage in content marketing. Just make sure your post are of high quality and are relevant to your audience.

    ReplyDelete

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