Marketing Your Business Online
The global growth in the Internet over the past decade, has acted as a key channel for advice, sales, purchases, networking, communicating etc. Therefore the importance of the Internet to business owners / managers as a sales channel, revenue source and brand building opportunity has never been of greater importance.
Some of the many benefits to having a business website are:
- the ability to display a catalogue of your products and services to a world wide audience;
- the ability to extend your business hours 24hours a day and 7 days a week without having a physical office;
- Quick and easy access to update your company's information which is seen by the world, immediately. This is a cost efficient means of producing new sales leads, and also enables you to keep your customers aware of new products and services.
- It gives your company an equal status with bigger companies, providing easy communication with current and potential customers.
- With a Business Internet Site - You can also offer credit card facilities, and thus facilitates online sales and increased income all hours of the day
- With unlimited space you can promote your company's key message for an unspecified or restricted time frame;
- Your customer market is greatly increased, enabling your company to reach potential customers internationally;
- Once an audience is established, new ideas or products can be tested quickly, with immediate results and feedback.
In these days of global mobility a cause for concern for businesses, is communication with regular customers your businesses website can securely provide current information for use immediately and customers can download vital product or service information within seconds from the other side of the world. People are now associating reliable businesses with the Internet, with research indicating that businesses with a website have grown 46% faster than those without*. (Source: Ratemyhost.com)
When customers have access to product details and technical support solutions, they become satisfied clients. Also, remember - Your competitors are probably already there -can you really afford not to?
Once you have your website set up you - you will need to create awareness - It's beneficial to email those individuals in discussions groups and newsgroups. People who are in industries associated to your business: suppliers, and clients. Submit your business website on search engines. Its beneficial to create associated web pages and submit them you can upload articles as web pages, and try keyword ads.
Networking online is also very simple. Talk to friends of friends, and leave postings on Message Boards.
With the amplified rate of increase of users to the Internet, together with the high presence already there, and the projections for the future, it may prove that just having an online presence, however small will prevent your businesses losing touch with your customers and competitors.
Looking at your domestic market In Ireland, 69% of the population are regular Internet users and 1.25 million people are subscribed to broadband in Ireland.
Interesting statistics below show how valuable a tool the internet really is for SME's:
- 2.5 billion EUR - spent in total online transactions including travel, gambling and finance in Ireland in 2008
- 300 million EUR - worth of goods were purchased online in Ireland in 2008
- 10th - is Ireland's rank in the world for online buyers
- 25% - of Irish people expect to spend more online in 2009
- 1,700 EUR - was the average online spend of an Irish consumer in 2008
- 90%- of consumers believe they can save money online
- 50% - of Irish consumers look for advice online before making a purchase
Therefore, as a business owner / manager, can you business afford not to be maximising the benefits and opportunities that the Internet channel presents.
Here are some simple tips to follow:
- Ensure you have an Online Marketing Plan as part of your overall business / marketing plan
- Allocate a separate budget to support your Online Marketing activities
- Make sure your website is up to date, professional and contains all the relevant content, sales and contact details
- Make sure your website address is printed on all company merchandise / stationery
- Develop website links with other related sites in your locality or in your sector
- Devise strategies to improve the level of traffic coming to your website. As most people use search engines to find websites, it is important that you:
a. Use phrases that searchers are likely to type in
b. Refer to your geographic location. Many searchers will add a location to their search terms
Sources:
"This Time It's Different" SMW presentation, Amarach Research, Mar 2008
"Insight through Innovation Survey", iReach Market Research, Feb 2009
"Life Online: The Daily Life of Ireland's 2 Million Internet Users", Amarch Research, Feb 2008
"Global Online Survey" in "Trends in Online Shopping", The Nielsen Company, Feb 2008