The vast majority of small businesses and enterprises are now moving away from the physical presence to just being online. This may feel like your company could get swallowed up by the bigger ones that have moved from the high street to trading online. This can be daunting to say the least.
While it is more than fair to say that starting up a business has its fair share of trials and tribulations. As most budding enterprisers will doubt agree, the first year of a business is the toughest, and where you will do most of your learning. When it comes to maintaining online presence when establishing your business, here are some things to look out for.
Be Social
By this, I don’t mean to go down to your local market stall. Utilise the vast amounts of online tools at your disposal. One simple “share” of your business page can gather momentum very quickly if your business has broad appeal. “Share and share alike” as they say, and this is none more truer in the social media world.
Watch What The Online Comments Say
When you buy a product online, what do you normally do first? Of course, check the reviews for the product. Is it good? What if it’s not? Online reviews tend to influence many a person’s decision to purchase a product. With the advent of social media, comments are quick to be negative, and one single bad review with can do damage before it gets off the ground. So keep an eye out.
“Right, I’ve got about 50 negative comments to put down here, are you ready to type them in?”
Branding
How does your brand appear when compared to your competitors? Does it stand out enough? Are you establishing a good relationship with your target market? These are all valid questions that need to be asked when starting to make your business thrive in the online market. Making your marketing consistent will help to maintain your identity as a brand will work wonders.
Reputation
“Your reputation is everything, guard it with your life”, so why not guard it using a reputation management platform? As online reviews are not just limited to the comments section, reputation management platforms are now more common. Nearly a quarter of small businesses now use online tools to keep an eye for email, reputation and presence management platforms (known as ERPMs). Established enterprises use sites like Chatmeter as a way to help increase their revenue over multiple locations and to measure their ROI (Return On Investment).
“Oh well, at least we’ve got the online presence up and running!”
And in those key early days of your business, it can never be underestimated that patience is always a virtue. And while it can seem frustrating that your business isn’t gaining enough momentum quickly enough, it is worth noting that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and everyone has heard of Rome, right?
Go forth, and multiply (your business revenue)!
