Why does your business exist? What is your business’s purpose? In the grand scheme of things, one can say that the purpose is to solve the problems faced by your customers. Where the customers and their problems go, the fate of your business flows.

By identifying and reaching more people facing the same problem, the business grows. However, the questions that need answers are ‘Where is the market? Who needs our service? When do they need it? And most importantly, how do we reach them?’ This is where the online presence assumes primary importance. A powerful online presence plays a pivotal role in reaching the right target customer that the business really wants to win over and deliver to!

An urban Mumbaiite might yearn to wear a South Indian saree. A Malaysian in Kuala Lumpur might be searching for Tamil Language Training. Having an online presence ensures that your customer finds what he is looking for and finds it in your offering.

Here’s a sneak peek at how to boost online presence of your business:

1) Build your Website in the right way

If online presence is your realm, the website is your fort, your King’s landing. As the old saying goes, Customers are the Kings. Now, how are they going to land in your fort?

• The primary mission should be providing a meaningful content on your website, addressing the target audience directly. Give your user something he is looking for!

• Make it mobile responsive. Understand there are more people visiting your website through various gadgets like Smartphones and Tablets.

• Make sure your website loads in a record-breaking time. No one has the patience to sit idle for more than a few seconds. Do not waste your customer’s time!

• Add a call-to-action button for quick enquiries. This will increase the possibility of getting more leads.

• Update your location on the Google map and add it on your website. Make it easy for the people looking forward to pay you a visit.

• Constantly update your website (content, images and pages) to offer something new for your visitors. This also gives an indication that your business is very much active.

2) Do Search Engine Optimization

Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. What are the keywords they are going to use to identify your product/service? For example, if you are providing the service of Mobile Phone repair, what could be the ideal keywords? ‘Mobile Phone Repair Services in Bangalore’, ‘Cell Phone Service Centers in Bangalore’ and the list goes on. With proper Search Engine Optimization, make the search engines know that you are an expert in the respective area.

Search Engine Optimization process includes many planned and intense activities like listing your site in online directories, submitting online press releases, participating in relevant forums and blog discussions. Giving useful links from our site and generating more inward links ( called back links ) to our site also pays off. Usually, a SEO Expert plans and executes these activities on a daily basis to make the website vibrant for search engines to take notice and rank them.

3) Engage in Social Media

Social Media has evolved as the next-gen tool to engage directly with your customers. Properly used, existing customers will become the ambassadors to promote the business. It also provides an opportunity for customers to clarify their doubts and address their concerns directly with brand owners. Never treat Social Media to do a sales pitch but it should address the questions they may have or solutions they are looking for. Researches indicate that Facebook serves as an ideal platform for B2C audiences, while Twitter and LinkedIn suit the B2B business modules.

There are 2.3 billion active social media users & 91% of retail brands use 2 or more social media channels.

Also read, 6 Key Advantages of Social Media Marketing Over Traditional Marketing

4) Emailers are not extinct

What else can be a perfect tool to reach the inbox of your prospects/existing customers addressing personally? Emailers are still the most cost-effective way to reach your customers. Keep them informed about the latest industry news, your organization news, new products, offers and more. Analyze the response to the emailers like the number of people opened the mail, clicked the call-to-action buttons, etc., using effective tools.

A Circle Research report says, 42% of B2B organizations agree that email marketing is one of their most effective lead generators for targeting new clients.

5) Knowledge sharing through Blogging

A 350-word article found on the web from a random blog page can shed more light to the customers than the aggressive promotions you do. For example, as a furniture seller, you can write about “How to keep the house neat and tidy?”, “How to keep your furniture clean?” etc. Such contents will register your brand name in the reader’s mind. Through the blogs, you can promote new offers, optimize your website with potential keywords and bring more traffic to your website.

“Not only are bloggers suckers for the remarkable, so are the people who read blogs.”

– Seth Godin

6) Spruce it up with Campaigns

Like placing a cherry on the top of the cream, catalyze your digital marketing mix with some paid promotions. Spare some budget to generate the thrust on the online presence quotient. By making your blogs and social posts visible, you are increasing the traffic for your site. There are also methods to drive relevant target customers to your website, to make your ads visible to selected geographic locations, age group, professionals, etc., thus making the best use of your money.

“Ignoring Digital Marketing is like starting a business and not telling anyone”

The above 6 ways are the best practices in the Digital Marketing industry and when employed right, they will bring fruitful results to your business. The important thing here is to keep track of your online visitors, their interests and activities on your websites, social media pages, etc.

Based on that, you can fine-tune them and deliver what they want. Harness the power of online to boost your business in no time!

Originally published Jun 1, 2016 17:33:00 PM, updated Jun 05 2020