We live in the age of social distancing, so it’s impossible to reach customers with a direct approach. But why would you anyway when you can have a solid digital presence?
We’re also lucky enough to live in the age of social media, online communication, and easy access to valuable information (aka, the age of Google and the rest).
More than ever, people are glued to their screens reading, watching, buying, making connections. In short, it’s a heaven for businesses that know how to promote themselves. Do you think businesses like Amazon or Facebook would have existed without the current online environment?
While not anyone could get as big as the two giants mentioned above, there is one thing every entrepreneur or business should learn from them – building a solid digital presence. This is the main topic of this article as we’ll have a look at the elements that matter the most in 2020.
Build A Solid Social Media Strategy
Believe it or not, social media extends beyond the usual culprits (Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter). For instance, networking on LinkedIn is still a powerful thing and many businesses use blogging (in various formats) to connect with possible customers.
The secret is to understand how social media works and what it can do for your business. For instance, Instagram and YouTube are highly visual platforms that help you connect quicker and more intimately with the audience. On the other hand, LinkedIn and Twitter are more information & business-oriented.
For instance, a good strategy is to be actively involved in current events. The COVID-19 pandemic is a great lesson in how businesses can come together with local communities to help each other through a tough time. Businesses that show support and empathy towards their audiences are most likely to become known in the online world.
Another way to build up a solid digital presence via social media is through connections with influencers (in your area of interest), answering messages from viewers, sharing video content, and employing a friendly approach in general.
Bet on User Experience
Known by web designers as UX, the user experience is about the way viewers feel when they land on your page or use your app.
It’s all about the flow users follow on your page and if it feels natural or not. Bad user experience can be seen in a high bounce rate as people leave a page they don’t understand. However, a high bounce rate doesn’t necessarily mean a bad user experience. UX is much more complicated than measuring a bounce rate and making assumptions based on that. Every design project has its UX design deliverables, and if you plan to work on a new project, you should start with clearly identifying those deliverables. You can find a list of UI design agencies in San Francisco here.
Know your Audience
Overall, a good user experience is brought forth by good web design. If your page/app is responsive, easy to browse, and has a clear path to the end-goal(s), users will feel comfortable visiting. It’s also important to provide visitors with what they’re looking for.
This means knowing your audience and delivering the right type of content.
But, in order to know their audience, businesses need to conduct a series of surveys, questionnaires, tests, and other activities that help collect relevant data. It is a bit of tedious work, but it is necessary if you want to build an accurate customer persona.
Once you have this information, it’s easier to understand your place in the niche. It’s also easier to understand how to address your ideal customer in order to tickle their curiosity. This information will also reveal the most likely social media platforms your possible customers’ favor.
Combine this information with knowledge of the way the platform works and you’ve struck gold in your communication strategy!
Good SEO
Another element that supports a good user experience is SEO. As an added benefit, good SEO practices also push your website on top of SERPs, improving the visibility of your business and bringing more customers your way.
Customer Reviews
When you have a strong digital presence, you also get more attention from the public. This means people will talk about your business more and will share opinions about your products and/or services.
But there’s a bit of a circle here. To establish a solid digital presence, you first need customer reviews.
So, how does this work? New businesses or businesses that want to work on getting the online word of mouth going should approach existing customers asking for reviews and testimonials. Make sure you are graceful about it and don’t get too pushy – some people just don’t like being asked for a review.
Be Up to Date with the Latest Technologies
In today’s day and age, no one will stay on a web page that’s not responsive! I am making this point to highlight the importance of using modern technologies and showing customers your business is up to date.
To take a step further, you should know by now that Google is planning to make voice search powered by NLP (natural language processor) an important part of their engine. In fact, they already started the integration with the latest update (BERT).
Considering this, businesses should already start looking for ways to incorporate these elements into their SEO strategy.
Wrap Up
So yes, having a solid digital presence in 2020 can be a lot. Still, the technology required to keep up with the times is already available. This means that, with the right people and tools, most businesses will be able to adapt and enjoy the journey.
