Where to start?
Where to start?
With the fast speed that the digital world is travelling at, we know it can be difficult to keep up. That’s why we’re going to be sharing some of our best strategies on how to stay current while building your online presence.
“Know your product better than anyone – know your customer and have a burning desire to succeed”
~ Dave Thomas
Breaking down the requirements to succeed online can be daunting and overwhelming if you don’t know where to start. That’s why we are showcasing the best questions to ask yourself when you begin.
What are your business goals?
Have you got a mission statement that you constantly work towards?
Have you used this mission statement to drive your online activities? This statement is the backbone of your online presence.
Online media continues to evolve but your activities should always direct back to the vision, mission and values of your business.
Social media has come a long way in the last few years and will continue to evolve, especially with the rise of AI and content generation tools. In order to stay relevant, you will need to regularly analyse your social media strategy and your website in order to determine what is working well and what is not.
If you are not sure where to begin, here are some questions to ask yourself:
What is the main goal of my online presence?
Is it online sales through e-commerce? Conversions from blog posts or YouTube videos? Collaborations or service partnerships? Donations or sponsorships (in the case of NPOs or funding pages)?
Posting on social media is not going to be optimal without having a secure, well defined strategy in place. This strategy can be used to create a content calendar, plan your marketing campaigns, evaluate your target audience and then analyse what works well for your brand.
With all online actions, consistency is key and will pay off in the long term.
Brand identity
Branding need not be complex. Most business owners have a general idea of their intended “look and feel” but having this laid out in a structured way makes it easier to ensure that your content always aligns with your CI.
social media options
While there are various options to choose from, it’s always a good idea to choose the best platforms for your business social media.
Facebook and Instagram have a wide reach and are in use daily, but LinkedIn is also gaining traction as a great way to network in similar business spaces.
Whichever you feel works best for your business, choose a maximum of four that you feel comfortable with and confident that you can stay consistent on.
Leverage your existing connections
Use your existing network of friends and followers to share your business campaigns. If you aren’t sure if this will help your business, consider using social media advertising once you have analysed your target market and the best ways to reach them.
Always remember that the best advertising is word of mouth from your existing client and consumer base.
Stay the course
When you start out, it can be difficult to break into the audience that you are wanting straight away. This takes time but it’s time well spent to get it right from the beginning and stay the course.
Post consistently and include long format copy where you can that is correctly optimized on your website.
Make sure that all your accounts are linked to each other so that the right customers and clients can find all your platforms.
every business is unique
Your business is unique and this process is not a one size fits all
It may seem old-fashioned these days, but it’s still relevant: What sets you apart from your competitors?
We all have different strengths and weaknesses as people and the same is true for our businesses. A good business analysis will show where your strengths lie and where you may need to put in more effort.
Website design and maintenance is not for everyone and often companies that don’t have this skill set in-house will choose to outsource this.
It is of course possible for you to learn how to do this yourself once you are set up, but it depends largely on your choice and weighing up the pros and cons of both.
I hope that you found something in this article useful and that you can take away from this. Remember that your dreams are within reach if you continue to pursue them, chase them and you will achieve them.
If you’d like to contact me directly with questions, please feel free to reach out.
Check out my post on Brand Identity here where I’ll be diving into some more of the questions to ask in order for you to continue learning on this journey.
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