The Online Opportunity

Your Digital Opportunity

(Lesson Two)

Key learning

It's never been easier, cheaper or more beneficial for your business to get online.

Don’t be intimidated by the breadth of opportunities in digital. In this Lesson we’ll look at:

-  The Core Components of a Digital Presence

- How they relate to your Business.

- How to Get Started.

A “Digital Presence” simply refers to how your business appears online; it’s what people find when they search for your business or company on the internet. Digital presence includes content that you control, like your website and social media profiles, but also content that you don’t control, such as online reviews.

Think about everything you do on the internet on behalf of your business. This includes:

• Your website; desktop and mobile versions
• All social media sites (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
• Office or store locations (Google Maps, etc.)
• Directory listings
• Online reviews (Google, Yelp, etc.)
• Digital ads (social ads, Google ads, Bing ads, etc.)

What does this have to do with your business? Quite a lot, actually, because odds are your business has already been included in many of these online directories. I wish I could tell you exactly how they get the information for your company… Maybe they buy it… Maybe they have a minion who combs through other directory listing sites and copies information for a living. Regardless, your business information is likely listed in multiple little corners of the web without your knowledge. Now that you know this, it’s time you take advantage and integrate them as a part of your local SEO.

The Core Component of a Digital Presence

If you don't have a digital presence today, you don't exist.

This statement might give you anxiety, but without a proper plan, you shouldn't rush to expand your online presence. You need a solid foundation on top of which to build what really amounts to your front door to the world. The importance of this shouldn't be lost on you, and you'll need a dependable framework to serve as a guide.

To build a stable foundation, you need to address four unique and interrelated components: content, strategy, design and technology. Your focus on each of these must be in equal and measured parts, ensuring a balanced approach to your digital presence. Think of the components as four table legs, where over- or under-emphasizing one will result in the table falling over.

Content: The first issue you need to address is defining the message you want to communicate. Typically this begins with your mission statement and expands from there to convey what your product or service can do for potential customers.

Strategy: Once you have defined the "what," fine tune it by addressing why you are in business and why would someone want to listen to and engage with your message. Combining the "what" and the "why" helps you crystallize a plan for your messaging and communications. Your strategy should focus on your engagement over a period of time to establish a relationship with customers. This will chart your roadmap, guiding your company from where you are to where you would like to be.

Design: By now, you know what your message is and why you are communicating it, but if the receiving party doesn't engage with it, you've failed. The packaging for your message is extremely important, so this is where aesthetics and customer experience come into play.

The rise of digital at the end of the last century and through the last decade saw the parallel focus on usability. A well-designed user experience can really differentiate your company from the rest of the market.

The design and aesthetics of your message are just as important -- and unfortunately, sometimes more so -- than the actual content. It has to be accessible, engaging, and understandable so that the receiving party can absorb and process what is being communicated.

Technology: The final component is often the least understood and, as a result, overlooked. Everyone knows how to drive a car, but very few understand how the car works. Similarly, everyone is online, and yet, a very small group of individuals truly understand how digital technology works.

The fourth, and most important, component is technology. I do admit a slight bias toward this, given my role as a CTO, but objectively, one can't overstate its importance. Without the proper tools to execute the job, it doesn't matter what your message is, why you are communicating it or what it looks like. You will be unable to connect or engage with your customers without appropriate technology.

By no means is this a comprehensive plan which you can plug and play into your business environment. It's high-level guidance outlining the four key components required to drive digital success.

Why You Need A Strong Digital Presence

It’s simple: you should have a strong digital presence because your customers are online, and they are turning to the internet to find solutions to their problems. When people search for you online, they will want to learn who, what, where, when, and why:

Who: Who are you? What’s your name? What brought you to where you are today? What is your story? Who works for you? Are you a franchise or family-owned?
What: What does your business do? What solutions do you offer? Do you provide a service or a product?
Where: Where you are located? Do you have more than one location? What’s the address? Are you primarily online based or located in a geographic area?
When: When are you open? Are you closed on holidays? Are you available 24/7, or are you seasonal?
Why: Why do you do what you do? Why is it important to you? Why does it matter to your audience?

A strong and positive digital presence will clearly and easily answer all of these questions. However, you can also leverage your digital presence and use it to make more sales.

Creating Visibility

The stronger your digital presence is, the more visible your business is to prospects. This means they’ll be able to find you more easily, whether they already know you or not.

A strong presence can also help with your brand recognition. With a consistent online presence, your brand can reach internet users with helpful content through techniques such as SEO and paid ads. This will make your business recognizable to your prospective customers so that, when they’re ready to buy, they come to you.

Building Constancy

Your digital presence can grow or become stale, but it will never go away. We talk about SEO as an investment, and that’s because good SEO work can last for years to come. The same thing goes for your website and other digital presence elements; it can leave a lasting impression for years to come.

Establishing Your Authority

B2B buyers often buy from companies that they think are the best in the industry. A digital presence allows you to showcase your industry knowledge and expertise without bragging. You can explain products, services, and solutions. You can build trust. When people need a service you provide, you want them to think that your business is the best there is.

Building Rapport / Relationships

Your clientele is composed of people, and people are relational (even B2B buyers!). This is a sales tactic as old as time: people will buy from the people or companies they trust. You can use your digital presence to show prospects that your business is helpful, trustworthy, and knowledgeable.

Creating a Positive First Impression

According to Forbes, most people form a first impression within the first seven seconds. Today, most people will search for a business online before ever speaking to an employee. Your online presence determines the kind of impression you will leave them with. You can cultivate a positive relationship with an attractive, user-friendly website design, by responding to all reviews and making negative reviews right, by contributing useful ideas to the social media conversation, and through many other techniques.

Ensure Mobile-Friendliness

Have your web developer program your website to automatically adjust itself to function best on all devices. This is often referred to as a “responsive” or “mobile-friendly” design. Google’s “mobile first” update also means that it judges websites (and ranks them on the SERP) solely on their mobile site. Even more importantly, as of December 2018, over half of all website traffic is from a mobile device, meaning people are more likely to view your website on a mobile device than they are on a desktop.

Provide User-Friendly Web Design

Great web design is attractive and eye-catching while remaining centered on the user and the user’s journey. Make sure your website is designed with a clear and simple structure that prioritizes your user’s needs. You can even use design elements to guide your user’s eyes and mouse through your site. Good design strategically aligns your user’s journey with your unique selling proposition.

Respond to All User Reviews

We know – that dreaded negative review can sometimes suck the soul out of you. The good news is that most negative reviews can be solved with a simple, short, and kind response from the business. It shows other readers that the company is professional in its dealings and does what it can to take care of its clients. And thankfully, most online users reading reviews can spot a troll when they see one.

Be Active On The Social Media Platforms Your Audience Engages With

It’s common sense, but it has to be said: Instagram doesn’t work for all businesses, and neither does LinkedIn. Find what social media platforms your audience is on and start posting, commenting, and engaging – your audience, especially millennials, is likely to check out your social media profiles to validate you as a company.

Besides organic tactics, paid social ads should be an important part of your online presence strategy as they can be used to promote brand awareness and generate leads.

Provide Valuable Content

Create a blog, news, or resources section on your website through which prospects can receive valuable information related to your business or industry. Write what your audience cares about – answer their questions, dig deeper into their problems, and be willing to provide solutions. Content that educates helps build trust and loyalty, and will help guide users down the sales funnel.

Optimize for Search Engines

Research keywords and phrases that your customers would use to find you online (some good tools to use are Google Search Console and SEMrush). At least once a month, create valuable content using the agreed upon keywords so that search engines, like Google, can include your website in their search results.

Monitor Effectiveness

Install Google Analytics onto your website (make sure it’s installed in a way that allows the service to monitor every page). If you’ve already installed Google Analytics, take a look at a couple of other valuable marketing metrics that can help you monitor the effectiveness of your online presence.

Update Directory Listings

Reach out to online directory listings and use Google My Business to get your business information listed on webpages that provide links back to your website. These backlinks are referred to as “citations.” Incoming hyperlinks like these digitally boost your company’s reputation when they’re from authoritative webpages.

Display Digital Ads

Setup an account with Google AdWords, Google’s advertising service. With AdWords, you can bid on agreed upon keywords to place pay-per-click (PPC) ads under search results or display ads on websites that target your prospects. When prospects are in the buying phase of the sales funnel, they are likely to engage with these ads. Paid ads are a great way to promote brand awareness, boost website traffic, and keep your business top-of-mind at the top of the list....

 

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