Why Businesses Need A Strong Online Presence In Today’s World
When COVID-19 hit three years ago, lots of businesses adapted online as a result. This paved the way for the rise of digital marketing as a way to target the audience even with them at home. Now, even with COVID-19 becoming easier to deal with in the new normal, the number of people online continues to increase. This is why in today’s world, businesses need to enhance and optimise their online efforts now more than ever.
Establishing a strong online presence is a must for an effective digital marketing strategy for both small and big businesses.
Influence the consumer decision-making process through accessibility
First, we must define the different psychological factors influencing consumer behaviour. They are the following:
- Motivation – What pushes a person to buy a product based on their needs.
- Perception – How a product and its image are seen by the average consumer.
- Learning – What a consumer learns from their experience with the product.
- Attitude and beliefs – The attitude and belief a consumer has towards a product.
With the average audience spending more time online than ever before, it’s much easier to influence the consumer decision-making process through your online presence. For example, a brand can post ads about how high-end their product is, influencing the perception of the audience and making them want to buy it. Additionally, websites and social media are two of the most used channels when consumers research about a product online. By having these two assets for your brand, you can better sway your target market to your side when they research you on the Internet.
Pave the way for bigger audience reach and visibility
Having a strong online presence also means that you have bigger reach and visibility that goes beyond where your business is located. Imagine, with a website or a social media account, even those not in your area can see you. By the time they drop by to visit, they see your business as a potential place to go to.
Moreover, online presence also puts your brand in a position where it stands out among your competitors. By having something as simple as a website, you are instantly seen among several similar businesses with just one relevant search. This is good if you’re a starting business and looking to get your name out there. You can’t start to amass a loyal following against the competition if they can’t find you in the first place.
Foster image, branding, and reputation management
Online presence also helps boost image, branding, and reputation management efforts. Having a verified social media page and an official website in the digital space adds credibility to your business. Without them, potential customers may not be as willing to engage with you due to the lack of online presence which can allude to a lack of credibility.
- Besides that, online presence also helps you get the proper insights regarding the three pillars of your branding and reputation management strategy. SproutSocial names these three pillars as:
Listening data – Information taken from social listening that helps you see the conversations about your brand by the audience. - Competitor data – Information about how your competitors are faring in the digital space.
- Review data – The reviews of your business as seen in review websites such as Yelp, Glassdoor, etc.
These insights are necessary to know how the audience sees your brand and what you can do to improve on that. Having an online presence makes it easier for you to track certain metrics to show you what strategies work and what needs fine-tuning.
Allows businesses to optimise for better support and user experience
Because the online presence of a brand is always there 24/7, even if the people running these accounts are asleep, they are still present for the audience to relay their concerns to. This makes it easier to provide better customer support for a more optimised user and customer experience.
By having an engaging presence your customers can reach out to, you are able to address their concerns when they need you to. This helps improve your image further and helps you gain more loyal customers.
Whether you’re a small business or a big company, boosting your presence online is an absolute must for a good digital marketing strategy. It will help improve your efforts in influencing the consumer decision-making process, engaging in branding and reputation management, and optimising user support and experience.
Establish and improve your online visibility with us at No Standing! Send us a message and let’s get started on the best digital marketing strategy for your brand.
