Consumer behaviour is increasingly moving into the online environment. Although most business owners believe that an online presence is necessary, many still treat their website as an item to be implemented… and then ignored.
Social media and cell phones have changed the experience people have online, as well as their expectations. The way in which small businesses operate has to match those expectations to make the most of its strategy online.
Filling a market need
There is a definite need to give social feedback. Customers are increasingly craving social interaction regarding products and services.
The key is creating accurate alerts feeds and knowing where your target market hangs out online so you can consistently evolve your strategies based on the feedback you get from ‘listening’. If you are not aware of online conversation and what is trending online, your competition will win.
Standing out from the competitors
Do it differently compared to your competitors!
Listia.com is an online marketplace where you can buy and sell items without money. Auction-style listings are posted to earn credits, and you can then use those credits to buy goods and items from other users. This is a great way to trade things you don’t use for things you actually want.
This company’s main competitive edge is being a truly free service, as opposed to eBay, that charges listing fees to sell your items. Listia.com also offers a charity donation feature so users can turn the things they don’t want into charitable donations.
Creating a culture of innovation
Love it or hate it, the real-time web is forcing non-profit organisations to change the way they do business. Organizations recognize that they must be more transparent with their successes and their failures. Many are also learning how to better handle public criticism of their brand and instead view criticism as opportunities to listen to valuable feedback from their ‘constituents’ - and to be responsive. Unfortunately many organizations still struggle with rigid top down management structures and teams that sadly squash innovation and collaboration.
The safest way to actively implement online innovation is to extend an existing store into an online store with appropriate web development, design and content marketing strategies. If you have a brick and mortar store you can easily extend it by opening an online store and save lots of money and effort in the process. Opening an online shop will also expand your ideas, widen your customer base and enable you to reach out to customers without geographic barriers.
Developing productivity
A business with higher productivity is able to sell its products or services at a lower cost as the production cost is less due to factors such as economies of scale. Small enterprises will benefit from using online tools such as Rapportive to increase the productivity of marketers and general office workers. Rapportive is a browser plugin that enables you to see more contact details and social network profiles for the people you talk to via email every day. This allows you to make deeper connections with potential clients and all the people you communicate with on a daily basis.
The online business domain is here to stay. Business owners’ ability to utilise this avenue effectively could be the difference between success and failure, and growth in spite of imminent economic challenges.