Do’s and Don’ts When Taking Your Business Online

In a hyper-competitive world, all businessmen are looking at new avenues to generate higher revenue and increase their profits. If you are a traditional brick and mortar store, then the next step for you is going online with your business.

According to a report dug up by a digital marketing company in Pune, there are more than 500 million internet users in India. Out of which 87% are regular internet users. So, taking your business online is not just a smart move but also a progressive move in the right direction.

Going online doesn’t mean that you have to shut down your offline operations. Online business is simply an expansion of your existing offline business. Online businesses are bound to show better financial results because of the deep market penetration that the internet offers. Following are some of the advantages of taking your business online:

1. Reaching out to a new target audience
2. Making a mark in the global marketplace
3. Building better relationships with customers
4. Creating a powerful brand image of your organization
5. Transforming your company into a more agile and dynamic business model

After carefully weighing in all these advantages, we can conclude that adding an online business presence will be rewarding for you. But there are many things one must consider before taking your business online. In this blog, as a digital marketing agency in Pune, we will discuss the do’s and don’ts when taking your business online.

DO’S:

● Make a Full-Proof Plan

Online business ideas involve multiple facets and there are many moving parts that make the whole. So, it is not wise to dive into building your online empire without a good plan. Sit down with your marketing team and understand your digital marketing needs. You can also have a meeting with your sales and customer support staff, to discuss their expectations from your website and other virtual presence.

Once you have all the data ready, you can meet with a digital marketing service in Pune and begin preliminary discussions about your online business plan. Your plan should include details for a website, a social media presence and email marketing. These are the pillars on which your business can run online.

● Decide on Your Budget and Your Resources

Digital marketing looks effortless and easy but it is a very complex and time-consuming process. Therefore, when you begin formalizing a plan for taking your business online, you need to ensure that you make financial provisions for your digital marketing efforts.

Even though a lot of digital marketing tools are freely available, you are going to need professional help to succeed in the virtual world. You are also going to need dedicated resources from your marketing team to power on with your online business. It is important for you to decide at the outset, how much money are you going to put into this and how many man-hours are going to go towards this project.

● Focus on SEO

One of the most common mistakes that we, as a SEO services in Pune have observed companies making, is their unrelenting focus on SEM/PPC i.e. Search Engine Marketing/ Pay Per Click. SEM definitely helps in growing your business quickly and generating qualified leads which your sales team can pursue. But PPC is a costly and limited time only affair.

Instead, if you divert your efforts on to SEO, it will yield long term positive efforts for your business at a minimum cost. SEO assists in driving organic traffic to your website and building your reputation as a business that adds value to the life of its customers.

DONT’S:

● Not Defining Your Target Audience

Your target audience is the group of people you believe want to buy your products or services. Your target audience is your potential customers. If you don’t define your target audience then you end up marketing to “everyone” and converting very few into actual customers. Another problem with not knowing your target audience is lower engagement ratios on social media and higher bounce rates on web pages revealed a digital marketing agency in Pune.

● Not Taking Social Media Seriously

A lot of businesspersons do not take social media seriously. They think it is a waste of time and it is only being used by youngsters. But this is not true.

Social media platforms are a powerful tool to build your brand image and connect with your target audience. Social media sites like LinkedIn are a perfect place to connect with the top management of large businesses.

Smartphones and easy availability of the internet have revolutionized the way we do business and how consumers shop for their favorite products. It is important to keep up with the times in order to have a thriving business. The internet is a wondrous new avenue which can be exploited with the help of great digital marketing strategies.