“How To Get Your Business Noticed Online”

“How To Get Your Business Noticed Online”
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        It used to be that simply advertising your business in the right media would ensure that your business was front and center and it would generate leads for you.  Although you still had to test things like ads in newspapers or magazines, or do a direct mail campaign, chances are that one or more of those methods would work to bring in business.

       Today, with the online world being at the forefront of all things marketing, traditional forms of marketing and advertising have changed dramatically.  Businesses are not fighting for attention in the online world to differentiate themselves to stand out, get noticed and make sales. And the way that is done continues to evolve.

       Below are five tips that will help get your business noticed online. 

Engage

       You first need to engage your audience and get them to listen to you.  This is done by posting things that are relevant to them and that will help them either in their personal or professional lives.  If you can add a bit of entertainment at the same time, your posts will be even more powerful. 

       The way you engage with your audience is critical also. Today video is a very strong medium and great way to reach people.  And you don’t need to get fancy either. Simply talking into the camera and providing good content can be all it takes to get and hold the attention of your customers and prospects.  Podcasts, which are simply audio recordings, are also still as popular as ever and very easy to set up.  And of course blogs and text-based postings are still a good bet as long as your information is good. 

Educate

       The businesses who are succeeding the most online are the ones who are getting the attention of their prospects and educating them about their products or services.  If your business is providing information to your customers in any way, giving away a lot of information is a great way to build trust and credibility with your audience.  In fact, people who sell information have found that giving away their best information online is just the ticket to sell more. The thinking behind it is, “if this is the type of information he’s GIVING away, I can only imagine what else he has regarding the topic.”

Be Consistent

The majority of content you’ll post will be on social media.  It’s critical to post consistently.  There is much discussion and debate about how often to post on a particular platform and beyond the scope of this blog post.  I will only say here that you should post at least daily to the platforms you decide to use so that you’re in front of your audience on a regular basis. 

Use Social Media Platforms You Can Manage

What I mean here is don’t try to post on six or seven different platforms if you can’t manage to respond to all of the engagement on each one. Currently, I focus most of my efforts on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.  It’s where my target audience (small business owners) is and posting on only three platforms is manageable for me.  In fact, posting on Instagram allows me to cross-post everything directly to my Facebook Business Page. This saves me time and allows my post to do double-duty. 

Be Different

This may be the most critical tip of all. With the multitude of competition out there in the online world today, differentiating yourself is more important than ever. How can you be different within your industry.  Burger King learned to stand out in the hyper-competitive fast-food market in the early days by telling customers they can “have it your way” meaning, they’ll put only the toppings a customer wanted on their burger.  Nike grabbed huge marketshare with a simple catchphrase, “Just do it!”.  How can you differentiate yourself in a way your competitors aren’t? 

The online world is only going to get busier and more cluttered.   Savvy business owners would do well to get an online strategy that allows them to stand out in their market by differentiating themselves and staying in front of their customers and prospects consistently with information the informs, educates and entertains. 

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