7 Things You Must Be Doing to Build a Strong Digital Presence

In our modern world, we turn to the internet to solve ourproblems and give us solutions we can buy. In fact, 97% ofconsumers head online when they’re looking to buy. Thatmeans that if you don’t have a strong online presence, you’re going to miss outon a huge percentage of your potential customers who will simply choose yourcompetitor with the stronger presence.

So, how can you strengthen your online presence? Let’s takea closer look at 6 things you are essential in order to have a strong onlinepresence.

1. Your SEO Must Be A Priority

There’s one key thing that is going to get you to appearfor your ideal search terms, and that’s SEO (Search EngineOptimisation). Without SEO, your site will be buried underall the results of your competitors who have at least given some thought totheir SEO strategy, and a good SEO strategy can get you on the first page. SEOdoes take time, and it’s definitely something you need to have a long-term viewof, but without it, you’ll have almost no online presence at all. (By the way,it’s never too late to start your SEOstrategy – find out why here.)

2. Make Sure You Have at Least One Active Social Media Profile

Over 3.6billion people are currently using social media, andthat number is expected to almost double by 2025. Not only does not having anactive social media profile mean you’re missing out on connecting with yourcustomers, but you’re also missing out on building essential trust. Whensomeone searches for your brand to decide to work or buy from you, they don’tjust want to see your website. They want to see proof that you’re active andcan be contacted in a public way, through social media.

3. Build Your Email List

A newsletter can feel like just another thing to add toyour to-do list, but building an email list is essential for every businesswhen it comes to gaining and retaining customers. When you have your customer’semail (and their permission to contact them via it), you have a direct point ofcontact with them. You can reach out to them with news, send them offers toentice them to do business with them again. Having a simple enquiry form onyour product pages can be an effective way to start growing an email list ofinterested consumers.

4. Offer Your Audience Value

No one becomes a customer without first receiving (or atleast seeing) the value you offer. There are a few ways you can do this:

• Givethem free entertaining or educational content to show them you know what you’retalking about
• Offera first-time customer discount
• Offera bonus with their purchase (this could be a great way to upsell)
• Offersomething for free (such as a report or product sample)

5. Never Underestimate the Power of Content Marketing

You should never underestimate the power of (good)content marketing. When you offer your potential customers knowledge or contentthey find valuable for free, you build trust, rapport, and authority.This is also your opportunity to increase your online presence and get in frontof your potential customer as early in the purchase journey as possible.

6. Research Where Your Ideal Customer’s Online Habits

Remember that your ideal customer is not just anyone whomay need what you offer. It is important to work out if there are certain typesof customers who would respond better to different online channels or havedifferent online buying habits (will they actually make a purchase online?).Once you have worked out your customer segments then you can build a digital strategythat is focussed on getting you the optimum conversion rate.

7. Have a Digital Marketing Strategy (Not a Spaghetti Strategy)

The spaghetti strategy: throwing stuff at the wall to seewhat sticks, without any overarching plan for what you’re doing or what you’lldo when you find something that does.

Many small business owners have one problem: they’restrapped for time, and digital marketing can be done in just a few minutes. Atleast – the bare minimum can. You can throw up a post here, set up an ad there,and maybe show up on a forum for a day or two.

Do you see the problem? When you try to squeeze yourdigital marketing strategy into the random white space in your day, you missout on the consistency that is necessary to build a strong online presence.

You must have a strategy. It doesn’t have to becomplex; it just needs to be consistent. If you’re handling the marketing onyour own or perhaps have just one employee handling it all, you should setaside a day at the beginning of each quarter to map out what you’re going to dothat quarter, why, what results you want to see, and what results yousaw last quarter.

Building a strong online presence takes time, and startingfrom the beginning is daunting. Don’t be tempted to bite off more than you canchew; simply break down what you need to do and what you can do in the time youhave available, and carry out that plan.

If you need help planning your digital strategy or simply don’t have the time to dedicate to building the necessary foundation, we’re here to help. We help businesses on every step of creating their online presence, from building their brand to SEO and content. To find out more about how we can help you, click here or get in touch below.

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