The digital age has opened up a wealth of opportunities for businesses to connect with customers and reach a wider audience. For small businesses especially, one of the best ways to broaden their reach is by establishing a strong online presence. A strong digital presence can help increase brand awareness, build customer loyalty, and drive business growth. By increasing their digital presence, small businesses can distinguish themselves in a competitive marketplace and make a lasting impact on their target audience.
With so many different digital platforms to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to start. This article will guide businesses through the process of building a digital presence.
What is Digital Presence?
Digital presence is the online representation of your business. In other words, it’s the impression a business makes online. This includes all the ways that a business may interact with its audience through digital platforms like websites, social media, mobile apps, and online advertising.
The Value of a Strong Digital Presence
A strong digital presence can provide many benefits to small businesses, such as better brand recognition, improved trust and engagement with customers, and traffic growth. On the other hand, a weak online presence can negatively impact a business’s ability to reach its target audience and can make it appear less trustworthy.
More specifically, a strong presence…
- Makes it easier for customers to find your business online.
- Increases brand awareness and business growth.
- Improves a business’s reputation and credibility.
- Increases customer loyalty.
Whereas a weak digital presence…
- Makes your business hard to find online.
- Decreases credibility for your brand.
- Shows a lack of professionalism.
Overall, a strong online presence can help differentiate a business from its competitors. When given the option, people are more likely to choose a business with an established presence than one without. Plus, a company can set the narrative on who they are, what they bring to the table, and in calling out to their ideal customer.
The Top 5 Strategies for Building a Digital Presence
It’s clear that having a strong digital presence is beneficial for small businesses. That being said, it can be overwhelming for small business owners to get started in their digital marketing efforts. While there are countless strategies a business can use to improve its online presence, Vervology considers the following five to be the best for small businesses.
1. Invest in a WOW Website
Perhaps the most essential component of a business’s digital presence is its website. It’s estimated that about 60% of the buyer’s journey happens before they even contact a business, meaning a website is often the first opportunity for customers to interact with the brand.
Vervology fundamentally believes that every business needs a website– specifically, one that represents the company’s brand values, displays its expertise, and allows the customer to easily consume the product– as a foundation for success. That’s why it’s a crucial step in Vervology’s 377 Protocol.
To be considered a WOW website, a business’s website must do the following:
- Encapsulate the brand’s culture.
- Promote brand awareness.
- Build brand trust and loyalty.
- Guide the customer before, during, and after the sales conversation.
Building a WOW website is the best way for small businesses to create a strong digital presence because it takes customers on a personalized journey with the brand and gives them the power to alter the way their brand is perceived.
2. Produce High-Quality Content
Content refers to any form of information or media that is created and distributed to an audience, such as blog posts, videos, and podcasts. Producing content is key when it comes to increasing digital awareness.
There are multiple factors that go into producing high-quality content. First, publishing content frequently and consistently can help businesses engage their customers. Companies with blogs get more website traffic than those without. In fact, according to Hubspot, businesses that publish blogs four times a week get 3.5 times more traffic than businesses that only post once a week.
Additionally, businesses should ensure their content is relevant to their audience. To do this, companies have to research the needs and interests of their customers. Having a solid understanding of their target audience can help businesses create more engaging content and reach more customers.
Finally, high-quality content is accurate and trustworthy. This means businesses must conduct thorough research before publishing content. They should cite reliable sources and find specific data to back up any claims whenever possible. Taking these steps can help businesses establish and increase credibility with customers.
All of these components are needed to produce high-quality content. By providing valuable and informative content, small businesses can extend their digital presence and further develop their brand.
3. Implement SEO Best Practices
One of the most effective tactics for increasing online presence is search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is the process of optimizing a website to rank higher with search engines, which improves its overall visibility. Essentially, this process makes it easier for potential customers to find a website and extends a company’s digital reach.
Some SEO best practices include:
- Keyword research: Keyword research is the process of finding common and relevant search terms to target. This research should then inform what content businesses create to ensure it’s relevant to what people want to know.
- Content creation: Once a business has selected its target keywords, it must incorporate those terms in its website content so that search engines can recognize them.
- Website usability: Ensuring a website’s speed and usability are optimized can make it more accessible to search engines.
When used together, these practices can help small businesses widen their digital reach, leading to more meaningful business growth.
4. Employ Email/ Content Marketing
Email marketing is a form of direct digital marketing that involves regularly emailing newsletters or promotional content to a target audience. This strategy aims to create a relationship between the business and the audience so that the customer feels connected to the brand and is more likely to engage with it in the future.
Employing email marketing can help businesses grow their digital presence in a few ways. Mainly, it enables them to reach a large audience and, as a result, increase brand recognition. On top of that, email marketing gives businesses a way to track statistics such as open and click-through rates. This allows companies to track their success and adjust their marketing strategy accordingly.
Some of the benefits of email marketing are that it’s cost-effective, easily scalable, and can be highly targeted, making it a very accessible way to reach potential customers.
Small businesses interested in developing an email marketing strategy can get started with the following steps:
- Build an email list: Create a list of email addresses from customers or other potential leads. To find more leads, businesses can create opt-in forms around their website or use sign-up forms when hosting company events.
- Choose an email service provider: There’s a range of email providers to choose from, so businesses should choose one that best meets their needs.
- Create a content plan: Decide on the frequency of sending emails as well as what type of content to include.
- Write effective subject lines: Subject lines are what get people to open emails. When getting started with email marketing, businesses should make sure to write short, attention-grabbing, and relevant subject lines.
- Design the content: Before starting to send out emails, companies should make sure to apply their branding and use a visually appealing design.
By following these steps, businesses can get started with email marketing and extend their digital reach.
5. Utilize Social Media
Most people these days use social media in some capacity – it’s often one of the first places people look when researching a business. That’s why social media is one of Vervology’s top five strategies for increasing online presence – it’s a cost-effective and scalable way for businesses to increase their brand image and community.
Small businesses can benefit from utilizing social media because it helps them build a community around their brand and establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry.
The social media landscape is constantly changing, so it can be difficult for small businesses to choose which platforms might best benefit their needs. Vervology recommends these social media channels for small businesses:
- LinkedIn: for Business to Business (B2B) brand awareness and engagement
- Twitter/ Spoutible/ Mastodon: for brand awareness and engagement
- Instagram: for brand awareness and image
- Facebook: for brand engagement
No matter what, a small business should plan on using multiple channels so that it can reach a wider audience. Having a strong social media presence is another way for a business to build trust and credibility, showing customers that they care about their opinions.
Partnering with Vervology for Success
By utilizing these strategies together, businesses can establish a far-reaching digital presence. Of course, this can be a lot for small business owners to take on themselves. For small businesses looking to increase their digital presence, Vervology can help. Vervology uses proven methods to develop personalized digital marketing strategies tailored for small businesses.
Vervology offers solutions that encompass the effective digital marketing strategies outlined above, drawing on the Vervology team’s expertise to design and host WOW websites and develop a customized plan for content marketing designed to improve SEO. All in all, partnering with Vervology can help small businesses grow their digital presence and maximize their potential for success.
Small businesses interested in growing their digital presence can book a meeting with Dave to learn more about Vervology’s digital marketing strategies.