According to Alibaba's Jack Ma "It is evident that 80-90 per cent of future business will be based online; only those who know how to use and utilize the Internet will win." This says a lot about the future of business. Unless you want to close tomorrow, then you truly have no otherwise. Traditional Marketing courses taught us that customers have preferences and tastes. It further taught us about segmentation and choosing your business niche. These are essentials of any business even in modern day. However, the internet has enabled businesses to connect to the customers better in this digital age. Businesses should therefore look at connecting to the internet and embracing it not only as a research tool but also as a critical marketing tool. In the last decade, online marketing was viewed in form of ecommerce applications and online shopping websites. In modern world digital marketing covers all aspects of the internet including social platforms like your Facebook page, your Pinterest, the Instagram, YouTube, among others. Around the world, there has been a very high uptake rate on these social platforms thanks to the smart phones. The mobile phones have made an indisputable contribution in connecting the world and making it a digital world. Today, everybody irrespective of their age wants to own a mobile phone. This reminds me of my three year old daughter saying she will save the twenty dollars I gave her to buy a phone next time she will be on holiday. Yes she loves playing games on my Android phone, Thanks to Google! The phones are also becoming cheaper with higher capabilities. With everyone having a phone, it’s true that almost 95% of phone users are on the internet. Statistics have shown that half of internet users access it on mobile devices. With these social platforms it’s very simple to reach all kinds of people in the world. The digital age actually enables all businesses to target customers based on different factors. Marketers will confirm that it’s very simple to study consumer behavior with the enhancement that comes with digital age. This can be achieved based on demographic and geography, and even languages. Further, you can be able to classify consumers based on what they like researching on, what they post on their social media. Based on the clothing style on someone`s profile picture, a designer can classify their clothing line and possibly offer suggestions on their Facebook page. So what businesses need to know is that there are lots of opportunities online. Using the internet they can be able to know what exactly their customers need, how they need it, and what time they need it. Let me illustrate to you how your business can achieve this. You will be amazed it’s simple! Let’s say you are in catering business and you own a chain of restaurants across major towns in Kenya. All your branches are open today and you are wondering how to drive all those people passing by your restaurant into your business. It’s pretty simple. You`ve been running your restaurant like any other traditional business man because you inherited it from your Grand Pa and you put effort to expand it and you now have several outlets thanks to your excellent management skills. But that’s not enough. To start, you need to hire someone to develop a very nice Advert on Google AdWords for you. Now you are a step further. But how often does it run and who sees it? And what is the campaign type? Google has several analysis formulas you can employ to know what time to run the Ad and in which pages. You can for instance target people near you and searching for places to eat! Also, you can use Google my Business free directories and list your business. So many people are searching for places to get their favorite Pizza and who knows they could be looking for you. Essentially, there are enormous opportunities for businesses online. All your business needs is the right attitude and effort to get online. This is the future and you either join or cease to exist References:image:http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2017/07/20/speed-up-grab-internet-opportunities-jack-ma-tells-kenyan_c1601212
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In My previous articles, I took you through the Basics of online marketing and we discussed why it’s vital for businesses to embrace Digital marketing. In this Article, I will take you through different ways you can establish online presence for your business. We will explore each and based on the information you should be able to decide on one or all of them. Websites I assume you have a general overview of what a website is. This is a great way for businesses to have an online presence. On a website a business can communicate to its customers who they are, what they deal in and the hours of operation. Basically, it allows your customers to read more about you. There are a number of tools you can use to build your websites. You can as well contract a Techie who is good to advice you on the best website building tools. However, you first need to define what you want to do with the website, is it to sell, to make customers aware of your existence, or just share some general information like blog post of what you sell. Whatever it is that you need to do, just be sure to choose the best tools that will enable you achieve your goal. Social Media You definitely have a Twitter Handle, or an account with Pinterest. Social media has taken the world to the internet and almost everybody is on Social media. The Mobile phones we use nowadays have basically been designed and installed to accept almost all social media Applications. In our previous article Is Digital Here to stay, we analyzed uptake of internet in the world and there is clear indication that all customers will most likely by the year 2018 will be buying from their phones. This is the power of social media. Everyday Internet users are being served with so many advertisements on Applications they are using. I mean, there are so many advertisements that we see on our Facebook page. As you look at your friends Tweets, there are so many advertisements running on that page. This is the power we are talking about. Therefore, you can as well take your business online by registering a Social media account and hire a Social media marketer to manage it for you. Online Listing For those of you who remember the yellow pages directories, this works essentially the same. However, there are a number of additions that have been done on the online listings. Google my business is an example of online listing. With Google my business, you can take your business online by simply registering and adding the details such as location, Your address, your operating hours etc. With Google my business the advantage is that you can integrate it with Google maps and give directions to your customers through Google Maps. Imagine how many new people visit your neighborhood. The world today is full of people travelling. Now, say those people need refreshments and they are just passing by your town. Then someone searches Refreshment joint near me. Luckily, you just registered on Google my business and Pap! You land yourself a new customer. If this is a frequent visitor they will defeinetely think of you next time they are in your town or near you town and they need to grab that cold Soda. That way you have increased your customer base. Next, we will focus on Advertising and increasing traffic to your Business.
Around the world, billions of people use social media every day and according to World Economic forum, by 2018, 2.44 billion people will be using social networks, up from 970,000 in 2010. People are generally spending more time online either Shopping, researching, Checking for Directions, or simply relaxing online! With the mobile devices, the number of internet users is increasing every day. World Economic forum 2015 research shows that more than 1.6 billion mobile social accounts were created by 2015. With the current trend in digital life, reaching people through the internet is actually very important Businesses are actually competing for people as they surf the internet. As I write this article, in my mind I see a world where people will order for everything they need from the comfort of their seats, or lying in a bed. People have embraced internet and it’s the way of life now. We even have digital jobs. Yes, you don’t have to walk into an office to submit that report. Simply download Apps, and submit it at the comfort of your couch. While on holiday, or a long beach line people are communicating with their clients and making money. It’s truly a digital lifestyle What does this mean for Businesses? We can’t deny that digital marketing is now a reality and way of doing business. Traditional stores have been replaced by online stores. Before anyone can walk through your door, they have to know you exist. I don’t have to leave my office to do window shopping in the streets of Johannesburg. Neither do I have to experience the long queues my dad took me through trying to Book a bus to Maputo. I can simply check for available flights to Mombasa and conveniently book and pay and even check in online from by bathroom! I can even request for a Tax to my favorite joint in Kiraa online- Ask UBER. Online presence is actually a must Do! There are different channels to achieve this. They include: Listing your business in local directories – There are people out there who are actually looking for the services you offer or for the products you sell. So why not try out Google my business? Considering that you are a small startup, This is a free directory where you can list your business and its easy to use. We will later dwell into this. Secondly, you can build a Website. There are thousands of consultants you can approach. But am the best here. Simply check out on my Contacts and reach me. We provide free website construction and reasonable hosting cost. Thirdly, you can set up social media page. You have a Facebook account. Right, Then you can as well create an account for your shop. Whether a Barber shop, a Chemist or simply a grocery shop, this can work out very well. Regular campaigns are important and can be done to ensure as many people as possible know you exist. Read my article on essentials of digital marketing. In my next article we will be tackling how businesses can craft an effective Digital marketing strategy. online Marketing is made up of very powerful tools and methodologies to promote products and services via the internet. Unlike traditional marketing, online marketing makes use of wider marketing elements, because there are a wide range of marketing channels and mechanisms at disposal of marketers to use to reach potential customers. Choice of the correct channel is dependent of the special business requirements. When choosing which channel to advertise on, it’s important that the business understands its own goals and compare the potential of various available channels to determine which best suites the need that the business is trying to achieve. Another important factor that each business needs to put into consideration is the unique consumer behavior. Customers have different tastes and preferences when it comes to products. Similarly, these customers use different channels when browsing the internet. To run an effective online marketing, it’s essential that the business strives to understand those two factors. So how can you understand your Consumers? My Customers DNA Number one is from customer data through Customer Relationship Management System (CRM). A CRM system is a tool or a practice that any business uses to manage and analyze Data and customer behavior. This can be as simple as the Questionnaires filled by customers when they visit your shop. Second example would be by following the customers on social media to understand which channels they use, What they like to talk about (identifying a niche) how they like it (How to customize to meet the customer need) and what time they are actually searching for it. From above, it is therefore important for us to analyze best methods for achieving this. Say you are a business that wants to improve an online presence. You are a small business and you already have a website. However, since publishing the website, you have many visitors since you have already embraced SEO. However these visits don’t make or lead to meaningful conversions. The simplest method would be to analyze through the Google analytics to know what people are looking for. Read more about Google Analytics and understand the customer behavior. This way you will gain knowledge on how best to improve your services. There are several advantages of online marketing. These include:
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AuthorDavid is a Senior Business Consultant at Njuri Consultium Archives
November 2018
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