Digital Tools Your Local Business Needs For Business Growth
In these uncertain times, your biggest concern about your business can be summed up in ONE word: SURVIVE.
How do you ensure that your business makes it out at the other end of this crisis.
Believe me, we understand and we feel your pain.
The Problem
Some of the things businesses have had to deal with are:
- Unpredictability: With governments trying to hem the spread of the coronavirus, there have been several policies that affect businesses and how they can operate. And because you don’t know exactly what the next policy is going to be, it becomes really hard to plan with the unpredictability.
- Movement restrictions: Social distancing has become a norm and people are limiting their commute to only places that are absolutely necessary like the grocery stores, etc.
- Buyer habits changed: With uncertainty comes a change in buyer behavior. With the world economy constricting, people are even more conscious of what they buy and who they by from.
- Unemployment: Because the economy is in such a bad shape, businesses are being forced to lay off staff and that means there’s an increase in the unemployment rate.
The Opportunity
In spite of all these, there is still hope and opportunity for business growth.
In fact, some of the biggest companies in the world were born in times of economic crisis.
The important thing is to be aware of the current situation and making changes accordingly is what matters.
Is it possible for your business to grow at this time? Yes
In order to survive this period, you need 3 key things:
- To be seen as relevant and a priority in the eyes of your potential customers
- To be willing to adapt as quickly as possible to cater to your customers needs
- To be everywhere they are. The worst thing that can happen to you right now is for your customers to forget all about you, and find alternatives to the services you provide.
No more can you say “my customers are not online” or be okay with them “walking into your store”. Having an online presence is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity.
Your customers have turned to technology for their needs, be it entertainment, shopping, collaboration, education, etc.
You need to be where your customers are.
The best time to have an online presence was before this pandemic started. The next best time is now.
To be able to succeed online, there are 7 tools you need to thrive in your business in 2020
The Tools
A Website
In order to be discovered and remain top of mind for your existing customers, you need to have an online store. And that’s what your website is.
Gone are the days and arguments of whether or not your customers are online.
Now, everyone is online and you need to be where your customers are.
And we’re not just talking about any brochure website but a website designed to be a sales machine for your business.
Your website must have:
- Ability to showcase products and services
- Ability to process payments
- Mobile friendly
- Ability to track all site visitors and follow them up based on their behavior on site
Listing Manager
After you have your own website (and I’m guessing you do), your #1 Goal is to be found by existing and potential customers.
And to do that, you want to make sure your business is listed properly on the KEY platforms.
That way, when they do a search online, they find you.
However, what usually happens is that you may not have your business listed on any directories (this involves social media and other business/industry related directories) OR you have them but some of the information there is incorrect.
The problem with this is if people find you, they have to be able to reach you at the right address, right contact details, right information.
So, it’s very important that your information is always correct and up to date.
But, to make it easier for you, simply get a Listing Manager.
With Listing manager, you can Establish accurate business listings and appear in more places across the web.
Do you want access to a Listing Manager, packed with three powerful presence management tools—Listing Sync, Listing Distribution and My Listing?
This is the most comprehensive business listing solution on the market.
Social Scheduler
It’s almost impossible and detrimental to the health of your business not to use Social Media for your business.
The #1 activity that people do online right now is Social Media.
No matter their age, occupation, race, ethnicity, location, there’s a social media platform that your customers are using.
Your job is to figure out how to discover where you customers are and create relevant content that they love and interact with.
But here’s the thing: Social media is hard to do on your own. You need to come up with a nonstop stream of relevant content and engage with customers across all social channels, every single day.
BUT, with a Social Scheduler, you can simplify your social media activity on all platforms by scheduling and posting from one central location.
Reputation Manager
The reputation of your business is defined by your customers.
Before the internet era, there was a lot about a brand’s reputation and how they were perceived in the marketplace that was determined by the brand itself.
Today, with the internet and social media, businesses have no such luxury.
Reviews, accurate business information, and social media activity impacts your reputation and whether a consumer decides to do business with you.
Your existing customers are talking about you, your products and the service that they receive. And they are doing this online.
Your potential customers are also doing this online as well.
Your job, to be effective in a time like this is to ensure that you are where these conversations are happening, whether it’s about you or your competitors or just about your industry.
But the internet is so vast and different people use so many different platforms. How do we know when and where these conversations are happening so we can jump in?
You need a way to manage all of these factors in a scalable way.
That’s where a Reputation Manager comes in.
With a Reputation Manager, you can always Be Informed When People Refer To Your Brand And Know What Customers Think Or Say About You.
Reviews
Online reviews are critical to the success of a local business.
In fact, nearly 90% of consumers say they’ll only consider using a business if they have an average rating of 3-5 stars.
Are you actively getting reviews about your business from your customers?
Are you encouraging customers to rate your business online so others can see and have confidence in your brand and business?
Smart business owners are getting serious about soliciting feedback, but asking customers for reviews can be time-consuming.
With a review management software (like Customer Voice), you can actively collect feedback to improve your business and leverage on the value that comes from great reviews.
Advertising Intelligence Software
Last, but not the least, Advertising.
If you really want to gain traction and get in front of the right audience, you need to be investing in ads.
That way, you can get your business in front of the right people and actually have a predictable selling system.
But how do you know what’s working and what’s not? You don’t want to just throw money into ads and not get any returns from it, right?
That’s where an Advertising Intelligence software comes in.
This gives you the ability to analyze your ad campaigns to track performance and effectiveness so you spend smarter.
With this, you can pinpoint what’s making you money, and see the big picture of your advertising efforts.
(Recommended Post: How To Run Profitable Digital Ads)
What’s Next?
And that’s it.
The key tools you need to grow your business online.
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