Taking Your Business Online: A How-to guide

Unprecedented changes call for unprecedented decisions. No matter who or where you are in the world, we’ve all had to change our lifestyles, our behaviours and our attitudes in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. And if you run a small business, you’ve been faced with an even bigger challenge than most.

But with adversity comes opportunity – and that’s the exact attitude many small business owners across the country have decided to take. Thankfully it’s 2020, and digitalisation has given us an alternative that wouldn’t have existed 30 (or even 20) years ago. We’re all connected on a global scale and the chance to grow your business online is not just possible – it’s logical, no matter what industry your business belongs to.

Social media usage has grown 76% over the past few weeks (see our latest Blog Post for more on this) – and taking advantage of this online trend is the best step forward. Everyone from health and fitness trainers to skincare consultants to gourmet food producers have begun to digitalise their offerings – and we are so impressed with the initiative and creativity we’ve witnessed.

So if you haven’t jumped on the train yet (or even if you have), we’ve put together some of our best tips for taking your business onto the world wide web. Have a read, save this page to your Favourites and, if you still need a helping hand or a quick word of advice – get in touch with our team of specialists today.

1.  ADD VALUE 

What is it your clients gain when they come to see you in person? Remember the first step in marketing is determining what the benefit is to the consumer. You’re never selling a product or service – you’re selling the end goal.

Whilst you may not be able to offer them the exact same thing (we’re all adopting the #newnormal, remember), you’ll be able to offer them some semblance of it. If you’re a chiropractor who helps your clients to stay fit and healthy, you could offer a day-to-day wellness guide including nutrition tips and at-home exercises to keep those muscles moving. If you’re a hardware store – now’s the time to get your product catalogue online and delivery options set up. The options are endless.

2.  CHARGE WISELY

Whilst it may not feel like it, we must all keep in mind that this change is temporary. Supporting small business is vital during this time (that’s why we’re doing our bit to help!) but keeping your customer happy is also important. That means determining a pricing strategy that will help you in the short-term – but also benefit you in the long-run.

Remember, acquiring a new customer is 3 times more costly than keeping an existing one around, so think about what aspects of your product/service are chargeable – and what can you offer them complimentary that will help to increase customer loyalty?

3.  MOVE QUICKLY

As a business owner, managing your health and wellbeing during these stressful times is your number one priority. However, these unexpected and unplanned circumstances call for action – and fast – and that means you need to move quickly to get ahead of the curve.

If you don’t have the internal resources to make things happen, this could mean enlisting the services of a digital marketing agency to assist in this process to help – whether that be getting your products uploaded to a website that is well-presented (and functional) or getting your how-to guides written with the help of a professional content writer.

There are of course several considerations in the shift from brick-to-mortar to online that we can’t cover here. This will be a work-in-progress and an ongoing learning curve for all of us but we’ll leave you with this one last piece of advice: take it day-by-day, breathe and remember we’re all in this together!

Stay safe and well and if you need anything from us – don’t hesitate to reach out.