My business doesn’t gain anything from being on the internet, does it?
Actually, it has a lot to gain. Your business model may be stifling your potential if it isn’t adapting to changes in society.
The truth is, the internet has been around for a lot longer than most of us have used it for. But now that internet speeds have reached a level fast enough to make it a useful medium, more and more consumers are using the internet to do things they used to do manually. The internet is often the first port of call for curious consumers, and businesses need to catch this wave too.
Having a website is a great start, but there is more to be achieved. If you’re a small-to-medium sized business, chances are you may not be the first or most obvious choice within your market. One way to edge closer to the competition is to increase your renown - “get your name out there”. Get in amongst the social networking platforms, place yourself in web directories, or send out a news feed with deals and details.
Let´s say you’re a local greengrocer, and your customers are mostly local and walk to your shop. The potential of a site like Twitter is that a passing motorist can search for a local business on Twitter feeds directly from their mobile phone as they pass through the area.
It’s not unusual for consumers to need to investigate a new industry. Even five years ago, most of us would have found a business by using a phonebook or asking a friend or relative. Today, we use web directories to do this same task, so not having a website almost certainly results in losing the sale.
News feeds are a growth area in e-commerce. Driving this growth is the technological advancements in mobile phones, which has expanded their use far beyond that of the function their name suggests. Todays’ mobile phones are small computers that are often optimised for presenting information from multiple sources in a single screen. News feeds make great use of this style of presentation, and may be worth investigating for marketing towards loyal consumers.
These are just a few ways your business can benefit from being on the internet!
At Firecrest we have everything you need to help you get the most out of the internet. Call us today to arrange a chat with an I.T. consultant.