How can you do business if you are not where your customers can find you? Research by Google shows that 97% of consumers use the web to search for local businesses. This only means one thing – You should be online if the vast majority of your potential customers are online. The fact is, with the popularity of smartphones, almost everyone is online nowadays.
Don’t go patting yourself on the back after setting up your website. Creating an online presence for your business means more than setting up a website. In fact, creating a website is only the first step. You still need to do more by leveraging other platforms such as social media platforms.
Your potential customers may not be searching for your business. In fact, it is not their job to search for your business, it is your duty to make them aware of your business and show them reasons why they should patronize you. The only way you can do this is by creating and maintaining a robust online presence. After that, find a way to connect and build a relationship with your potential customers on various platforms.
Your business will have little chance of success if you are not taking online presence serious from 2019 onwards. Things are changing, consumer habits are changing, they have more expectations now and they definitely need more from you.
Where Are Your Customers Searching For You?
Your potential customers are searching for you in various. In fact, they expect to see you in:
- Your Website
In this age and time, if your business doesn’t have a website, no one will take you seriously. You need to have a professional website with your contact information and product or services you offer. A potential customer expects you to have a website with all the information he is looking for available.
- Search Engine
In most cases, a potential customer will ask search engine questions with the hope of finding the most relevant answers. You need your website to appear as one of these relevant answers. Thus, your potential customers need you to be on a search engine. This means that creating a website is not enough. You need a way to make sure your website appear as high as possible on search engines ranking.
- Social Media
You should be taking your business to customers. They are on social media and they expect you to come and meet them there. Don’t wait for them to look for you. After creating a website, create a social media page on all popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
You have a robust online presence when you are in these 3 aforementioned places. Remember that you need to maintain an active presence and not just to create a website or social media page and leave it without updating it.
Still doubting if you need an online presence? Below are some reasons why online presence for businesses is so important.
1. Consumer Habit
Like I mentioned above, consumers’ habit is changing. Today, consumers not only expect you to be online, they expect to find information about your business anytime they want it. They expect you to be where they are – on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Nowadays, top brands are already leveraging social media to provide customer support. You should make it a priority to satisfy the expectations of your customers.
2. Makes You Accessible
You want your customer to be able to reach you anytime they want. It doesn’t matter if they want to reach you in the middle of the night or early in the morning, you should make it possible for them to reach you if you are serious about your business.
By setting up a robust website, a potential customer can be able to Google your products or services in your city or town. Creating a website is not enough; make it easy for them to also reach you on various social media platforms.
3. Build Relationship With Customers
The beauty of creating an interactive website and social media account is that you can be able to build relationships with your current and potential customers.
You can be able to build this relationship by answering any queries quickly and thoroughly. You can as well use your social media accounts to host contests, offer discounts, and special deals to your current and potential customers. By doing this, you can show your brand-new customers that you are a reputable business.
Top brands understand the benefit of building a relationship. In fact, most of them have social media manager on their payroll. When you have a relationship with a customer, you will win his trust and this makes it easier to do business with him.
4. Establish Your Brand
To appeal to potential customers, you need a platform to catch the eyes of prospective customers. If your business has no online presence, prospective customers will assume it lacks credibility. Top businesses are today using websites and social media as the most potent marketing tool to sell products and services to an unlimited number of people. With an online presence, you can easily establish an identity for your business and make it stand out.
Conclusion
Building an active online presence isn’t just important for a business – it is a must-do. Nowadays, no one will take you seriously if you don’t have an active online presence. You can reach a wider audience, build relationships, and establish your brand when you have a good online presence.