Business Buzz: Get off to an online start

PHUKET: Welcome to Business Buzz 2016! This year we have moved to a monthly format so that we can cover the topics we want in more depth and provide you with more useful information.

By now you will have made (and hopefully not broken) your new year’s resolutions. It is generally a pretty safe assumption that people with an entrepreneurial spirit will have at least one resolution about a more successful 2016.

There is no doubt that one of the main themes this year will be how your social media presence and your website will perform, especially with video, and how it will present on mobile devices. Social media is becoming the most important and efficient method of the customer lead generation, so it can no longer be avoided if you want to stay competitive.

So, there is no better time to review your social media and online presence and to plan a strategy that will put you ahead of your competitors.

The sooner you start, the quicker you will get results and the less your opportunity cost will be.

For most businesses this is the busiest time of year, and therefor it’s important to capture the interest of your potential customers. You can outsource this work, which means that it doesn’t take up your time. You can get a professional in the area to do it for you. This is normally a time when businesses have a good cash flow, so you can afford to do it right now, rather than later when the money may not be flowing as readily.

The first task is to take a step back and look at your online presence and sales funnel. By this, I mean how do your prospective customers get from seeing you in social media, or on your website, to becoming a satisfied, happy part of your client base? How does your branding appear? What message are you sending to your potential customers, and is it in line with what you want? Is it consistent across all platforms? Are your different platforms integrated with each other?

The two most common requirements of a business for its online strategy are customer acquisition and branding.

So the steps needed are common to most:

1) Build a system/sales funnel that works. Create a consistent message and quality brand
2) Drive traffic, both organic and paid
3) Build your database
4) Convert leads to sales
5) Rinse and repeat

Make sure that you are getting the maximum results from people that engage with you. This can easily lead to a 30-40 per cent increase in profitability.

So what are you waiting for?

Go and get that mobile-friendly website, learn how to get killer content that engages people, upgrade your website and create a social media presence that kills the opposition.

And don’t forget about video; your future may literally depend on it!

Simon Wetherell is a social media expert and lawyer. He trains businesses and individuals on how to profit from the social media industry. For more information, visit: PhuketOnlineMarketing
School.com or call 095-085 3355.