If you are a business owner, having a digital presence in some form is a must today. This article covers 4 tips on how to digitally transform your business.
Many have experienced setbacks from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the current world situation.
Some industries such as hotels and restaurants were hard hit by layoffs and, in the worst case, bankruptcies. But other industries such as eCommerce experienced growth. For example, Amazon hired 100,000 extra workers to handle the increased volume of sales.
If we look at the situation from another perspective, what can we learn and how do we get out of this stronger than before?
Something good usually comes out during difficult times, and in this case, maybe that is about starting an online store that you have been thinking about for a long time. Or it could be about getting started with a newsletter.
Many business owners today still don’t have a website updated with the latest information. The last post was made several months ago on the Facebook page of some of the companies.
Digitally Transforming Your Business
Take the opportunity in these times of social distancing to make your business even better. If you are already digital in some areas, look at how you can develop and improve further.
Here are 4 tips on digital transformation and how you can develop a better online presence.
- Build a good website
- Establish an online presence on social media
- Blog and show your expertise
- Start a newsletter
These steps will provide results well into the future if you follow up regularly with updates.
1. Build A Good Website
You may already have a website today with a simple product and contact information.
What I mean by a good website is one that in addition to the nice design is simple, up-to-date, and keyword optimized. It is something that is well thought out in terms of the customer and buyer persona.
Simple Design
There is nothing worse than websites that are cumbersome and make visitors frustrated.
We have all landed on that type of website before and know how fast we move on. They lead to high bounce rates and missed opportunities for customer acquisition.
Be clear with your call-to-action and create a website that is tailored to your ideal customers and how they think.
Do not go directly into describing your products on the first page. But instead, focus more on what problems you can solve and how you can show your expertise.
Mobile-Friendly
Having a website that is mobile-friendly (responsive) is a must today.
Back in 2015, Google announced that “Mobile First” is an important ranking factor. Pages that are not optimized are likely to be penalized.
In 2018, mobile-first indexing was announced by Google. This means that websites are indexed based on their mobile-friendly version and not the desktop variant. It is simply because we mainly search via our smartphones these days and not using our desktops.
Therefore, you should check and make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. This is especially important if you have an older website that has not been updated in a long time.
You can run a Mobile-Friendly Test to find out what needs to be fixed.
All websites built today are made to be responsive and mobile-friendly. For example, if you have a website that is built on WordPress, the theme is what determines the appearance on mobile.
If you have an older theme that does not adapt to the screen size, update the design with a new theme that is responsive.
Keyword Optimization (SEO)
There is no point in having a store that no one can find when they search online.
Therefore, you need to optimize your website for keywords. This includes using the right keywords, customizing title tags, using alt text for images, and much more.
The optimal result is that your website ends up on the first page of Google when customers search for a service that you offer.
WordPress has plugins like Yoast SEO that make this job easier when you work on a blog and put out articles.
There are several different websites on the internet to see if your website is ranking for keywords.
You can just do a simple test by launching an incognito window using the Chrome browser and searching for the relevant keyword in Google. How far up is your website ranked?
Online Store
A big part of the digital transformation strategy is selling online and therefore you need to set up an online store.
For example, if you use WordPress, you can install WooCommerce to get started quickly and sell products.
2. Establish An Online Presence On Social Media
Being active in social media is something that small business owners should not dismiss.
I have written about the benefits of being visible on social media. This is not only to sell products but also to build a relationship with customers.
If you are just getting started, create a page on the platform where you think your customers are present.
In the beginning, you do not have to be everywhere. You should focus on one instead of spreading yourself thin on several platforms. Facebook is always a good option to start with.
Advertise on social media to reach new and existing customers. For example, Facebook offers opportunities to advertise to specific target groups at a low cost.
If you install the Facebook pixel on your website, you can also run retargeting ads and lookalike campaigns.
A lookalike audience is something that I recommend trying. If you have an online store and have the pixel installed, you can advertise to a target audience that is similar to your existing customers. This is an effective way to further target the audience based on interest, age, or location.
For those of you who run a restaurant, you can look at advertising based on location to all mobiles users that are nearby. For example, you could use your menu or other images that attract visitors.
3. Blog And Show Your Expertise
If you run a company in a specific industry, you are certainly an expert in your field. Why not share your knowledge, drive website traffic, and build a name as a thought leader?
Therefore, you should start blogging and create content about the problems you are able to solve.
Here is an important aspect to keep in mind. Do not just write about how good your products or services are. Instead, focus on the challenges your customers are facing.
Familiarize yourself with their situation and talk about how they can solve their problems. You can also create how-to guides and show how your product or service is a good fit for solving the problems.
You should blog regularly and post valuable articles. Ultimately, this could result in your content being shared on social media.
Content marketing is what works today, and it is one of the most important digital transformation tools available today. Your page will get ranked higher by Google in the search results as a result of this process.
4. Start A Newsletter
If you are not already doing it today, start sending out a newsletter to your customers.
Some people think that newsletters are considered spam. But if done the right way, you can expect good results.
This means setting up segmented lists and sending content that is valuable to subscribers. You can use an emailing service for your newsletter.
There is also a large selection of plugins in WordPress for integration like WooCommerce that you can take advantage of.
Building a newsletter list from scratch can be a challenge. Make it easy for visitors to subscribe to your newsletters.
You should collect as little information as possible in the forms, such as just an email address and name.
Try to include a call to action in your blog posts where you offer visitors something in return for subscribing.
If you run an online store, then make it possible to subscribe during checkout. You could offer an e-book to download as a lead magnet.
Facebook offers lead generation campaigns for getting new subscribers. This makes it possible for users to sign up for the newsletter without leaving Facebook (making it as simple as possible).
Marketing via email is effective and often leads to a high conversion if you have a good strategy in place. This is recommended for businesses in all types of industries and you should include this in your digital transformation roadmap.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many ways you can digitally transform your business. Hopefully, you have gotten some ideas for business transformation that suits your industry.
There is always an opportunity for you to develop things further in your organization. Set a goal, start somewhere, and fix things along the way.
It can seem like a big project to build a new website or an online store. But you need to get started right away by putting together a digital transformation framework.
Remember, this is a marathon and not a sprint.