4 Practical Steps for Growing Your Business Online

Businesses are changing face. With over 4.7 Billion people being active users on the internet as of July 2020 which comprises about 59% of the world population. It’s little or no wonder that businesses are all competing to dominate the internet space.

Of course, we all know the story of how Jeff Bezos of Amazon made his fortune in this space.

Congratulations! If that's how you got the motivation on making the decision to improve your business visibility online.

But the question is, are you doing it the right way?

Running a successful business online can be tasking and challenging, but I hope these tips will make it less daunting and provide a practicable step by step guide for you.

Get to know your audience:

These days everyone wants to be on the internet and the first thing they do is create pages on multiple social media platforms, take pictures of their product, product designs and start posting it. It’s little or no wonder that these are the same set of people who complain about how the internet does not work for them and how much they spend regularly with no result to show for it.

The simple truth is that there’s almost no difference between them and the traders in a busy market who drag you by the hand and almost shove their clothes in your face.

I’ll quickly go over a scenario:

Imagine going to the market to get ingredients to make soup for dinner. And as usual, you got to the market and was about to turn the corner where you’ll get onions and finally be on your way but all of a sudden, this cloth trader dragged you and kept begging you to buy a pair of jeans. Of course, your first instinct will look at him in an absolutely irritated look and hope you don’t insult him. You came to the market to buy soup ingredients, not jeans.

Now imagine the second scenario:

You have a hangout with your friends, you dressed your best and “slayed” on your favorite pair of jeans, the black one you love so much with the red top you just got last week. And off you go. Until halfway to your destination, your favorite jean got ripped right at the bottom. Embarrassing right?

Let’s assume you are close to a nearby market and it would actually cost you more to go back home to change. You briskly walked into the market and the same trader from last time dragged you again and showed you the colors of trousers he has and how he has your size and even offered you a place to change. What would you do?

Yes! Ask him for the price, hastily collect the cloth, and find a place to change.

The first scenario is you posting randomly with no purpose and understanding of who your target audience is. Having an undefined target audience but being persistent might get you a customer or two, but you will never get to scale your business the way.

The second scenario is when there is a demand for your product and you’re right positioning your customer finds you.

Never jump the part of understanding who your customers are before launching your business online. It will save you the stress of reaching out to customers that do not care about your service and help you focus on those that are truly in need of it.

To get to the stage where your customers come rushing into your DMs, you have to be willing to put in the hard work. It requires you to be strategic in researching your audience, know the right positioning and so many other factors that I’ll be discussing further in this article.

One of the greatest entrepreneurs can make is thinking on behalf of the customers. To truly understand your customers, here are ways to go about it:

Ask Questions: One way of knowing your target audience is by making a short survey of what your customers want. Your questions should be centered around their challenges, pain points, and struggles.

The interesting thing about surveys is how it helps you see other challenges that you overlooked or never thought about. Answers to the questions you asked can help you see things in a different light, even sparkle up new ideas.

However, remember the questions should be more about them rather than about you or how cool your product or service is.

Get customers review: What does a customer say after patronizing you? Did you meet their expectations? Asking for reviews is beyond getting fancy testimonials to use for social currency on your social media platforms. It is a great way to get an inner glimpse of what your audience feels about the product/services you offer.

Leverage on social media platforms: There are several social media platforms that have made understanding your customers easier. Platforms like Quora contain several questions across different fields and industries. This is a cost-free way to get the questions your audience is asking and proffer solutions.

Great customer service:

My friend, Joseph, has not changed his barber for three years now. One day, jokingly, I asked him why. He laughed out loud and explained how he provides him with an exceptional haircut which earns him compliments. In addition to that, he randomly calls to check up on him and even reminds him about his next haircut.

What might seem like the tiniest can make your customers keep coming back for more!

Apart from what they’re paying you for, what else do you notice they’re lacking and can provide solutions to?

It’s way beyond just the services you offer.

Nurture existing customers:

Whoever came up with the idiom “a bird in hand is worth two in the bush” is absolutely right — especially in marketing.

In addition to offering a great service, it is important to nurture your customers as it’s less expensive to nurture old customers than getting new ones.

Ways to nurture existing customer:

Check in on them Consistently: Don’t wait till you have a new product before reaching out to your old customers. You don’t have to bug them to achieve this feat, it’s something that can be done occasionally with the sole purpose of staying at the top of their mind

Help them get maximum value for what they’re paying for: Are you over delivering on your promise? If your answer is no, then, you should start considering doing something different.

Appreciative Text: As I pointed earlier, it's the little things we do that really matters! Send a message to your customers to appreciate them for patronizing you.

Choose the right Social Media Platform:

Just because everyone has decided to go digital doesn’t mean you should appear on all social media platforms. Social media is a great tool but it’s just one of the numerous methods of marketing.

To get the maximum result from your business online, you have to understand the best platform that suits your audience.

Conclusion:

Purpose — People — Product/ service

Understanding the purpose you are online in the first place will save you a lot of trouble, go ahead and study the people before uploading your product or services.

Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and so many other social media platforms are at your disposal but it is your job and responsibility to recognize which will give you the highest return on revenue.