Four Things Online Business Owners Must Know to Survive
The world of online marketing can be a vast and confusing place for small businesses. That’s why here at the Internet Business School, we’re constantly producing a great range of internet marketing courses, just like our Internet Marketing Profits course. Yet we feel there are some core truths that online business owners need to know before they even take one of our great courses. Here are four things online business owners must know to succeed.
1) The Learning Process Never Ends
The internet is fast and ever changing, meaning the methods you used to advertise last month may not still be relevant to your audience today. Especially when it comes to social media. trends, fads and crazes do not remain stationary for very long. If you’re trying to use popular internet trends and memes to engage your audience, it’s important to know what is is currently being shared or risk seeming dated. Promoting your business online requires you to stay up to date. Learning how to identify key internet trends as and when they happen is key to the most effective internet marketing.
2) Educate, Persuade and Take Action
We are surrounded by advertising every day. So much so that we often ignore or disregard most of the marketing we see. That’s why your advertising has to be a cut above the rest. It has to serve a purpose, in addition to be an ad, that makes sure people take in and remember your brand. Memorable advertising does three essential things: educate, persuade and prompt its audience to take action:
- Educate - People will remember your brand if you teach them something new.
- Persuade - The most persuasive advertising is the most memorable. Research what appeals most to your target audience and use that in your marketing.
- Take Action - Always include an appeal for action in your advertising. This doesn’t have to be to go buy something. This action could be to share an ad on social media, which in turn is a free ad your audience has made for you.
3) Always be Responsive
After determining what to post on social media and when you should be posting it, you can’t just fill your platforms with content without interaction. Social media is primarily about conversation, whether it’s talking to your friends and relatives, or leaving reviews for a shop or restaurant. Your social media is the face of your business, much like the shopfront of a physical store. Customers expect answers when they ask you questions about your products and services and they expect them fast. This also goes for having contact details on your website. If you’ve given your customers a means of contacting you, you should always respond promptly when they do.
4) Your Brand is an Experience
Once a customer is engaged with a brand they will return to spend more and more on it. Look at the labels you often see on people’s clothing, cars or footwear. We come to associate a certain level of quality just from seeing a logo on a product and the same goes for the branding of your business. From consistent colours, fonts and imagery in your branding, to posting at certain times of day, to having sales on set days of the week, create a recognisable package that is your business. Consistency in how you promote and sell gives an image of reliability that your customers will return to. If they know there will be a new offer on Monday they will associate your business with Mondays. Foster a great reputation for your business and people will come back to experience it again and again.