Monthly Archives: November 2011

6 Key Strategies To Transform An Offline Business Online

The 21st century welcomes various platforms of communication, segmenting your market to specifically targeted consumers, customers if, you please, wanting more information on your product or service – with 53% of people who recommend companies and products. These sophisticated customers “pull” your product/service, because they are information hungry. They know what they want and how to get what they want. The trick is to be present at those specific sites where they are most likely to visit.

Now, this is where the real treat comes in for businesses that choose to make use of internet marketing tactics.

(1) Measurability and flexibility: With online analytics tools you are able to track from which sites your visitors clicked through before landing on yours, the amount of page hits, views and the time they spend on your website. You are able to discover what keywords they are making use of and leverage these as “hot buttons” to increase your ranking on Google and discover how that traffic converts to bottom line profits. Knowing this allows you to design and adjust your marketing campaign and strategy to suit your audience and budget, and thus, business income.

(2) Segmentation and targeting: Keyword tools, analytics tools, chat rooms, social networking sites, and others allow you to easily research a product niche and segment your market. By exactly defining your target audience’s needs, preferences, demographics and psychographics, you are able to provide them with a product or service that satisfies their specific requirements and continue to further target these customers in the future.

(3) Time and space barriers are eliminated, instant conversion: Marketing your business online allows you to reach your market on a global scale, more so than it would have been possible with location-based traditional marketing, where you can now sell your products online 25 hours a day – equaling more eyeballs to your website. With online marketing the consumer has the ability to directly click for more details, and often will turn into a customer on the spot by making a purchase.

(4) Building and maintaining a relationship with your customer: Online marketing allows you increased customer contact. Now you are able to capture information about these customers, and create a database where you can send these customers special promotions or information. You can also make use of social media platforms – e.g. Facebook and Twitter, where you create a brand that is both engaging with your target audience; and interactive.

(5) Cost -effectiveness and Profitability: If you are thinking of starting up you own business – all you need is a PC, a connection, and a telephone or Skype and viola! Once you’re all geared, you need to get your brand out there. By using online marketing, you are able to perform market research without little hassle and costs, and target your market with special offerings. By making use of online marketing you don’t incur as much expenses as with offline marketing, because the ads that you place aren’t limited to a time period or space. Advertising in print, radio and TV is expensive, while you can easily offer content, audio and video clips on the Internet for a very low cost. You can easily convert a customer online without long hours and manpower.

(6) Online Integration with offline media: Online marketing can be fully integrated with your offline marketing campaigns. What better way is there to find out if an ad in a newspaper/magazine, for instance is really advertising what it claims to be, by searching for it on the Internet? And what’s even better is that while offline ads are leading to searches on the web, online advertising is able to track what is or isn’t leading to sales and allow you to tweak the campaign at any time in order to achieve the results.

Using multiple mediums has greater impact than an individual medium. This leads to ROI for your brand – due to the number of touch points with your customer and the consistency of your message; you reinforce your brand image and communicate with customers at different stages of their buying cycle. For example, offline customers can be sent email invitations to online events, such as Web casts. Contacts gathered online can be invited to a special event or reception at trade shows / conferences.

Website Design for the Low-Tech Business

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There’s lots of advice and chatter geared towards the business-savvy web developer out there. You can find ideas for the best design programs to use, the best ways to improve site speed or SEO, and the surest ways to create a layout that most closely appeals to the interest of your target audience. Ultimately, if your business has a strong online presence that you seek to further optimize, there are countless resources to help you make that happen.

But what about our average low-tech business owner? This man certainly sees the benefits for getting his business advertised online, but he’s far from a tech geek. He doesn’t own a smartphone, the computer plays a minimal role in the operation of his business, and his most tech-savvy skills are finding traffic reports on the radio and doing a reverse phone lookup to track an unknown call. What should he do? For that matter, what steps should anyone take who wants a basic yet effective website for their business?

If you’re looking for an answer to any of the above questions, here are some suggestions:

Be Informative

If your site is only a side component of your business, there’s a good chance that the average visitor will arrive there seeking out basic information. This includes such information as hours of operation, contact details, services provided, featured employees, and driving directions. Since most of these visitors are probably current or future customers of your business, it’s best to primarily design your site with them in mind. You can do this, simply, by providing all the basic information and doing so in a clear and forward manner.

Keep It Clean and Professional

Business owners who make their own sites often delve too far in their web design to one of two extremes: they either try too hard, and make a sophisticated-looking site filled with obvious problems and glitches, or they make it too simplistic and basic, thereby losing credibility with a layout more reminiscent of 1995 than 2011. The goal is to find a medium between these two extremes while keeping your ultimate objective in mind – a site that legitimizes your business in the virtual world, and does so clearly, without causing you any potential headaches as a result. With this in mind, go for a design that is both basic and modern. You don’t need imbedded videos or stylish drop-down menus, but you’re probably going to need a strong color scheme, a clear presentation, and some easily navigate-able panels. There are many online resources to help you find the right scheme for your business.

Think Local

If you’re a small business owner, your clients probably live within a limited geographic area. This means that your potential clients probably also do, as well. So instead of using fancy SEO services to boost your online visibility, stick with those programs that can promote you on a local level. The easiest way to do this is by posting your website on Google Places, which can then link your business to many mapping queries.

With these tips in mind, you can hopefully now begin to envision the low-frills yet professional website that can best serve your business needs. You don’t need to be a tech guru to do it. Rather, you should simply have your core business objectives in mind.