Online marketing is extremely important for all businesses, even more so for small businesses trying to survive the COVID-19 Pandemic. Even before COVID-19 kept everyone home online sales were on the rise, trends are expected to continue after businesses reopen to customers. So even if you don’t think of yourself as an “eCommerce” business, you can still use an online presence to benefit your offline business. It can help supplement your income when you’re closed in-person, and also attract new customers who will now be able to find your services and products via Google and other search engines. Ultimately, online marketing gives you the opportunity to market your brand in creative and exciting ways.
Modern businesses must ensure that they are not left behind. Whether you run a solo small business, or your business is moving from brick-and-mortar to online, you’ve likely got a long to-do list — and you may not know where to start. Or if your business is already online, you may be trying to improve your website and stand out from the competition. Do you have the skills and know-how to make that happen? Not everyone does. Chances are, you know a lot about your products or services, but not necessarily how to promote your business and run it successfully using today’s digital tools. And due to the pandemic, increasing your online presence and running your business virtually has become even more crucial.
Statistics Don’t Lie
- U.S. retailers’ online year-over-year (YoY) revenue growth is up 68% as of mid-April, surpassing an earlier peak of 49% in early January.
- There’s been a 129% year-over-year growth in U.S. & Canadian e-commerce orders as of April 21 and an impressive 146% growth in all online retail orders.
- Online conversion rates increased 8.8% in February, reflecting a level of shopping urgency typically seen during Cyber Mondays, according to QuantumMetric.
- According to survey data released by Fiverr, 49% of U.S. small and medium-sized businesses are optimistic about their future prospects after the lockdown has passed, but not surprisingly, nearly a quarter (22%) of them do plan to increase their digital marketing spend as a result of COVID-19.
If you’re one of the many entrepreneurs trying to figure out your next steps for taking — or optimizing — your business online, here are some questions to ask:
1. What are you selling?
Are you selling a product or a service? This makes a difference in how you run your business. Can your business happen virtually (if it’s a service), or do you have to manage manufacturing, inventory and shipping on top of marketing and advertising, online ordering and finances?
2. Do you need your own website or online store?
Many small businesses can succeed — or at least start out — by selling products on an existing platform like Etsy or Amazon, rather than creating their entire online store from scratch. But it may not be as hard to build your own site as you think.
3. What do you need on your website?
What will best serve your business? “About” and “Contact Us” pages? Do you want to include a blog? Customer testimonials and special promotions for new clients? Do you need a catalog of products and services? Does your business need to include a list of services, rates and shipping costs? Making a list of what your business needs is a useful starting point for whoever you hire to help build your website.
4. What web templates do you see working best for your business?
Are you familiar with WordPress, Wix and Squarespace? Which would be the best to suit your particular business?
5. What type of content do you want to see on your site?
Would you like to see custom-made illustrations or animation? Stock or custom photography? How about videos?
6. How do you make sure customers can find your website?
There’s a lot of competition out there. Unless you’re well-versed in SEO and how Google algorithms work, you may not know how to build an online presence others can find using a web search.