So many of us search the internet not only once but many times every single day. Not only for the latest news but also when we are trying to discover and source a particular product or service.
This means that your business’s website and online marketing is paramount towards achieving more customers and sales for your business. Without an effective online presence, it can be very difficult for potential customers to know that your company exists. If you really don’t want your business’s products and services to be hidden from potential customers, digital marketing will significantly increase your product and service awareness.
It’s a fast-changing world!
New technologies evolve all the time. This means all your online marketing and promotional activities should keep up with technology. This will mean you are maximising the customer details you can capture as well as your leads and sales. In addition you will be expanding the good reputation of your business, meaning people are more likely to buy from you.
For example, a new addition to the technology sector is smartphone watches. These allow users to access contacts, apps, and notification alerts from your phone. You can also pair your bluetooth on your smartwatch to your mobile device so you can answer calls through your smartwatch.
A range of brands are currently creating their own versions including Samsung Galaxy’s Gear, Apple’s iWatch, Sony’s Smartwatch and Pebble for iPhone and Android. Watch here how the new SmartWatch Technology will work and how this will benefit consumers.
1) Driving new enquiries, sales and customers
Gaining new and additional customers continually is essential for your business to increase your sales revenues and profitability. There is not just one way that you can drive customers through digital marketing but many different ways. This can be achieved through websites, social media, mobile and video marketing and more.
When encouraging customers through digital marketing, make sure you clearly segment your different customer groups, if you have more than one. This will particularly benefit you when creating special offers in which you just want to target one particular customer type. However sometimes you may want to target several customer types. You just need to make sure that your special offers or adverts for example relate to the different characteristics of your customer types.
A small business in Leicester, Candy Cupcakes promote their cake capabilities directly through their website and social media profiles. This can be seen via their website here and their Facebook and Twitter Profiles. You can see how they promote their cakes on Facebook here
Sales are crucial to all businesses and digital marketing gives you a platform to explain why prospects should choose your business and why your products will benefit them.
2) Get ahead of your competitors
As more and more businesses invest in digital marketing instead of traditional advertising methods, digital strategies like SEO, Google Adwords and Social Media are getting more and more competitive.
Competitor intelligence is essential so that you can determine your business’s position within your industry. Many businesses are not tracking their competitors, thinking that it will take up too much time. However this can actually be monitored very quickly and effectively by taking a few simple steps.
Google Alerts is a clear method of finding out your latest competitor news and their latest product and marketing strategies. You can set up your Competitor Google Alerts here and select if you want to receive them every day or once a week.
3) Your website showcases your business capabilities
You may be thinking why is a website so crucial for my business? There are in fact many reasons. One reason is that it is the first impression that prospective customers have about your business. Potential customers, suppliers and employees will all review your website before working with you, and if you don’t make the right impression then it can cost you.
Almost everyone today uses the internet to search to find the exact product or service they are looking for, so your website can be a big source of new enquiries and sales if it ranks well in the search engines. It can also be included in all of your promotional items such as promotional advertising online, offline and many more.
Your website can also be accessed at all times of day and night, and from anywhere in the world. This means you can communicate and sell (if you are an E-commerce business) to anyone, anywhere, at any time of the day – there are no opening hours and no geographical restrictions.
Finally, your website can showcase the full range of your products and services. If you’ve ever had a customer say ‘I never realised you did X’ (fill in the blank), then you’ll know how important this is.
4) Build a great reputation for your business
Potential customers now have many ways of finding out about you – from your website, but also from reading what other people say about you on social media and online reviews. If you are proactive in social media and with getting reviews in Google, Yelp and other third party websites (for example Tripadvisor in the travel/hospitality sector), then this helps your business to be viewed and noticed by many potential customers and will allow your business to gain a wider reputation within your industry. It will also showcase your product and service capabilities much more broadly.
A key element to remember for your business is that there are many different types of digital marketing to help you gain new customer leads, enquiries and sales.
It’s important to remember that online marketing does not stop at your website! Most businesses just ‘dabble’ in digital marketing – they start a website, send out a few tweets and maybe spend money on SEO or Google Adwords. But to make digital marketing really work, you need a strategy that puts your potential customers at the centre, and includes all the tols available to attract them.
We offer an audit on your marketing– a full assessment of your digital marketing. This includes your website, but also how well you are using the search engines, social media and mobile technology to attract customers. One of our experts can then help you work out a strategy to turn your digital marketing into a regular, consistent and profitable source of new enquiries and sales.
