In today’s consumer-driven, digital business world, your company needs to have an active online presence if you want your business to continue to grow and succeed. It’s that simple.
The number of people using the Internet continues to grow every year. About 2.5 billion people out of 7 billion on the planet today use the Internet to some extent. That number keeps growing every day. Your company has the opportunity to market to all those people if you have an active presence in the right places online.
If you still need to be convinced that it’s crucial to have an online presence, here are seven reasons to ponder.
1. Your company gains visibility.
The Internet has effectively replaced the old phone directories. When someone needs a product or service, they go online to find a local or online provider. If you don’t have a website, those people will not find you. You would be effectively invisible to those potential customers, which is never a good thing. You want to be visible for everyone to see.
2. You can expand the reach of your marketing to a wider audience.
You have up to 2.5 billion people to whom to target your marketing. Of course, your target audience is probably a lot narrower, but the potential is there. You can reach more people online than you can using offline marketing techniques.
3. Customers will deem you more credible and professional.
One way potential customers check out a new business is by looking at their website or social media presence. You want to make a great first impression. If your company is nowhere to be found online or is poorly represented, many consumers will pass you by and go on to the next product or service provider.
4. It allows you to stay competitive.
Even if you are not online, your competition is. For you to stay on the same playing field as your competition, you must have an active presence online so that you have an equal chance at gaining consumer attention.
5. You can effectively build your brand.
Today, branding is more important than ever. You can build a brand offline, but going online will expand the opportunity. It allows you to put a voice and a face to your company in ways that you can’t with traditional marketing.
6. It opens up more marketing opportunities.
Almost all offline marketing techniques involve interrupting people, by forcing your brand and products in front of as many consumers as possible. With online marketing, you can start tapping into the power of inbound marketing, which involves attracting people instead of interrupting them.
7. It gives you another channel to demonstrate your great customer service.
You may pride yourself in offering the best customer service to people who come into your store. Being online allows you to extend your customer service options. Customers can email you, talk to you over live chat, and get solutions without the need to come to your store or call.
Having an online presence can take many forms. At the minimum, you absolutely need a website. Ideally, you will have an active blog and be present on social media channels as well. And if you want to sell products online, you can set-up an e-commerce store. You can use one or more of these elements to make your presence known online.
Can you think of any more reasons why a company needs to have an online presence?
