It used to be the case that small, local businesses could focus on in-person community engagement. Think advertising on notice boards, presence at sporting events or just seeing the faces everybody knew. But today, people are busier than ever, and often rely on big-name stores who advertise straight to their phones. If you want to succeed in the current business climate, you need need to bring your business to where your customers are: online. Let’s take a look at some tips you can use to get your local business’ online presence up-to-speed in this fast-paced digital era.
The Struggle of Competing with Giants
It’s always been difficult for smaller businesses to compete with larger companies. While there is a lot of nuance in the reasons for this depending on your market sector, there are a few common threads:
- Larger organisations are known entities: When life is busy and stressful, people start to go into autopilot. You look for things you know, and that you don’t have to think about too much. No matter the market sector, it can feel like the big players are a ‘safer bet’, especially if it’s difficult to find information about your business online.
- Bigger order volumes allow more competitive pricing: While this is more applicable to lower-margin industries, it can be true for a wide range of markets. It’s a fact of modern capitalism that by ordering more of something, it costs less per item. And smaller businesses often don’t have the customer-base to be able to order products in high enough quantities to compete.
- The allure of the ‘one-stop-shop’: In recent years, this has become less of a concern, with most consumers visiting multiple stores when shopping. However, busy lives demand tighter schedules and saving brain capacity. When you can get everything you need at a single place — or a small selection of places — that option becomes far more attractive than having to travel between many different stores which are potentially a significant distance away.
How to Improve your Local Business’ Online Presence
Improvements are often a lot of small things that together have a large impact.
1. Get the Basics Right
One of the most important steps you can take is to get the basics right. We’re not talking about anything fancy of innovative here: your business simply needs to be discoverable online and potential customers need a reason to choose you.
- Make sure you have set up a high-quality website that is more than just a some basic information. This should include information about you and your business, why you set it up, and what you offer that’s different to the competition. Consumers are now also more interested than ever in brand values when choosing where to shop. Use this space as a showcase for the work you do, and the values of our business.
- Also create social media accounts and post regularly. Potential customers want to see your business is alive and thriving, and socials make that easy. Whether you’re posting about new developments, local events or industry news, it gives the impression you care about serving your local community.
- Finally — and maybe most importantly — keep this information easily accessible and up-to-date. If you move locations, change your opening hours or change your offerings, make sure this is reflected online. Seeing specific and up-to-date information — especially contact information — can help build confidence with your community and it let’s them know your serious about building your business.
2. Step into Digital Advertising
Now you’ve got a digital space for customers to discover you, you need to start expanding your reach. Your local business’ online reach can be strengthened through digital advertising or marketing. In today’s world, it’s often that you have to come to the customer.
- Set up a Google Business Profile so your business has a much higher chance of being discovered through Google Search. While there are other search engines’ solutions, Google is still the default, so start there.
- See what advertising platforms can do for your discoverability. You can target potential customers by location to be served your ads, and tailor ads towards certain demographics. This can make it possible to target the exact people you are looking for.
3. Enrich your Online Presence
A strong online presence for your local business is more than static information: it’s dynamic and highly functional. Not everybody is going to want to travel to location to interact with you, so give them a place to do that where it’s easiest for them.
- Set up an online store to let customers shop from the comfort of their own home. We are firmly in the age of shopping online, so you might find this is a much successful way of connecting with customers. You don’t have to set this up yourself: platforms like Etsy or Shopify can help you with this.
- Bring other functionality online through custom apps or web portals. We’re specialists at building custom software, which can further attract new customers who prefer to do things online or through their phones.
- Give customers more reasons to visit your site, such as setting up a blog or other media. This can help your discoverability by giving potential customers more avenues to end up on your site. Once they’re there — and they like what they see — they might feel inclined to see more about who you are.
4. Listen to Your Community
Being a local business, your community is vital to your success, even online. It’s only by listening to their needs and their pain points, and adapting to them, that you can find long-term success. This isn’t a once-off either: it’s a continual processes that you’ll never truely be ‘done’ with:
- Provide customers a way to contact you through quick online forms. If they’re struggling with something and cannot find a way to contact you, they’ll feel more inclined to give up. Instead, have an obvious and pain-free way for them to get in contact if they need help.
- See what others are offering. Whether it’s other businesses in your community or those in other communities, seeing what others are doing right can give you pointers for what you can try out. The best places to do this are on social media where many businesses are advertising their ideas.
5. Change with the Times
Technology doesn’t stop. It’s actually one of the fastest moving phenomena we have today. Trends come and go, fads explode and die, and it’s up to you to stay on-top of that.
Being a local business, it can be easier for you to understand the technology changes within your community, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be obvious. It involves spending time with them and realising when things change. If you’re running your business alone, this can be tough, so consider bringing somebody in who specialises in this, or partner with another company who has the experience.
Conclusion: Bring Your Local Business Online
Being a local business in the 21st century is no longer about the physical aspects. Digital experiences have bled into every corners of our lives, so if you don’t have a active online presence, your risking being left behind. Your business visibility is key to attract new customers, and the ease and completeness of the experience you offer is paramount to keeping them.
And it doesn’t stop here: once you’ve got these covered, you can start to explore how technology can further benefit your business behind the scenes.
Do you need help bringing your local business into the online era? We at FONSEKA are a local Brisbane software development, and can build a custom app or website to give your customers a great experience. Contact us today and see how we can help transform your business’s online presence.