From the 1920s, Smith’s crisps were market leaders, and supplied almost every UK pub and hotel with their products; however, by 1991, they were phased out by Walkers after wrongly assuming brand loyalty from their customers. Perhaps if they had been around in today’s marketplace and had access to the technology, tools and knowledge that are readily available, they would have weathered the storm. How can you ensure that your business does not suffer a similar fate? Build an online presence.
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Develop your personal branding
Personal branding has become ‘the’ new concept for businesses online and surprisingly, most businesses fail to include it within their strategies to create opportunities, but also competition. So, what is personal branding? Personal branding is the impression that you give to your users/customers. You establish an identity and personality, and you socialise with your customers. We are in the social media age, and you must remember the ‘social’ aspect of this. The time of faceless corporations has come to an end; instead, people want to interact with one another, whether it is in the comment section of your blog or via your Facebook page.
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Understand your customers
Use social media to understand your customer’s and client’s wants, needs, dislike and likes. By developing an online survey that targets your customers, you can learn how to improve your product or service; their constructive criticism will not only make your company’s products or services stronger, but it will also impress your customers.
Creating a survey is extremely popular, and requires very little effort from the user, which ensures a higher response rate; however, you must react to the information that you glean, whether it is a follow-up e-mail or telephone call. While this is time-consuming, you are once again engaging with the customer and reinforcing your personal branding: a win-win situation.
3. Understand that it takes time
Rome wasn’t built in a day. The best relationships develop over time, and organically. Think about the content that is on your website: it must engage your audience and excite them enough to return to your site. Over time, and once your personal brand is established, your customers will return to you, having learnt your standards. Persevere and never give up; build a strong reputation and become a trustworthy brand.
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Develop your content
Your website’s content must reflect the same exacting standards as your business. 2017 is seeing the rise of what has been termed as ‘dense’ content: a move away from the ‘fill belly’ content of bite-sized information, and moving towards focused content which is more relevant and condensed. This is a skilled area of SEO that requires professional services from marketing experts such as those at Click Intelligence. They can explain the benefits of SEO, keywords and anchor texts, and create bespoke content which brings traffic to your site.
Relevant and up to date creative content will slowly build a connection with your readers; building your popularity and online traffic. Make sure to maintain a good standard, and upload regular posts relating to your niche. Keep your customers happy with useful and germane content.
