With the change that is happening globally these days, the landscape to run your business must also include having an online presence. The importance and benefits of starting and maintaining an online business today cannot be overemphasized. They include flexibility in work hours, lower startup and operating costs, unlimited market etc.
Although the idea of owning an online business is enticing, the right strategies must be employed to make sustainable profits. Since you are willing to get started today, an effective way to begin is by providing answers to the questions below.
• What do you want to do?
This refers to the business idea. Every good business idea must provide value. A business idea is profitable to the extent to which it solves a problem and reaches the people who need it. Researching with tools like Google Trends will at a high level show you if there is a market asking for solutions to that problem. Online businesses consist of three models- sale of a physical product, sale of services, or sale of digital information products like ebooks and online courses. It is advisable to choose one based on your passion and resources available to start.
• Who needs what you want to provide?
This refers to the target audience or market. You should write down in details, who you think will need your product or service. The more specific the characteristics of the potential customers are, the greater the chances of making money from an idea. Some qualities to be considered in creating a buyer persona are gender, income level, age, employment status, habits, passion, buying behavior, pain points etc. Digital tools like Instagram Insights, Facebook audience insights or Google Analytics may also be used to determine potential customers and learn more about them at a granular level.
• How are you going to do what you want to do?
You can’t aim at a target you haven’t defined. Your well-crafted customized Digital marketing strategy is the vehicle used to reach, engage, convert and retain the ideal customers for a business. Digital marketing goals may be achieved through a business website, social media platforms, emails, among other strategies.
After the questions above have been answered, the next step is to choose a name for your business or product if you don’t have one already. Some basic rules about choosing a business name include: choosing a name that is not too long and is easy to memorize. For digital products, the title should be captivating enough to cause random web surfers to pause and check out the details before moving on or deciding to make a purchase. It is also very necessary to use strategic keywords that relate to your niche in the title. This increases the chances of your business being found by individuals who are looking for specific answers or solutions to their problems via internet search engines. Keywords that would increase search engine optimization (SEO) and conversion rates for your business may be found by using Google analytics, Answer the public or other software like Buzz sumo.
A price should also be set for your products or services, based on factors like mode of delivery, weight, volume, and destination. A suitable payment channel like Paypal, Stripe, Selar, Flutterwave and Paystack that make financial transactions possible from various parts of the world should be chosen and set up also.
An effective way to make more money from an online business is to create bundles of your products. This involves making a combination of two or more of your products and selling them at a rate that allows your customers to save money and gain more value too when they purchase more products together. Discounts, free products, and bonuses offered within certain periods are also known to increase online sales.
After successfully creating your brand, it’s time to create awareness and drive traffic to your business site through the following means:
• Social media marketing
A social media handle will enable you to interact with people who are interested in what you do and to build a community for your customers. A major aspect of social media involves sharing relevant information that is related to your brand and niche on your page regularly. This may also be described as content marketing. Consistency in this interaction would make potential clients know, like, and trust you. Popular social media platforms that are used to market online businesses include Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Tik Tok, Club House, Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube. They differ in the type of content that can be distributed through them. For instance, YouTube only permits video content while advertising is done with graphics on Pinterest. It is good to study the mode of operation of various channels, to determine which the one that best suits your purpose and target audience. Business adverts may also be placed on these platforms.
It is also important to network with other vendors in your niche, or whose goods and services complement the one you offer. This will provide many opportunities to learn new things in your industry, and to some get contracts too. The top players in an industry called influencers already have a large community of people who trust their judgments on many products. Hence, influencers may be leveraged to spread the word about your product to many more people. This is known as influencer marketing.
Another digital marketing strategy is to advertise on popular online marketplaces like Facebook, Linkedin, Udemy, Jumia, Amazon, Etsy etc.
• Sales funnel strategy
The strategy is used to make people that visit your website come back again. The sales funnel strategy is effective to groom the visitors who come in contact with your brand until they make a purchase. Do you need help setting up your Sales Funnels? Start a conversation if you need help setting yours up
• Email marketing
This is another effective way to nurture customers. When designing a website (e.g. homepage, a specific landing page, or other web pages), it is very important to include an option for visitors to enter their contact information, especially an email address. Relevant information and promotions are then passed on to them via emails.
A final step to learn more about how to start an online business that will not fail is to invest more in digital technology and knowledge. Digital marketing and technology is constantly evolving. New applications are developed everyday that make it easier to start and run a business online from scratch, even if you start today. For instance, some applications are used measure business progress using key performance indicators (KPIs), and let you know what you need to improve on. Also, Google’s algorithms change quite often. Hence, it is necessary to always acquire new skills and digital tools in order to remain relevant and successful in your field.
In conclusion, it is possible for your idea to become a big successful online business even if you started today. You just have to create a product that solves a problem, drive traffic to your store or product with a detailed marketing strategy that consists of a blend of SEO and unique content marketing tactics, and invest in more knowledge and technology as you grow.
This maybe a lot if you are just starting out. You may have burning questions you need clarity on. Schedule a Discovery/Solution call here today
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