More people shopping online translates into real opportunity for smaller companies that may have traditionally served local customer bases, or those whose online sales comprised just a small portion of their total revenues. It also presents new challenges for small businesses that want to stand out in the cluttered and sometimes oversaturated digital selling space.
“Building a digital presence has become a top priority for companies in the last few years,” one web development company points out, noting that a strong online presence requires time, skill, effort, dedication and consistency. “Furthermore, with almost every business rushing to become digital as soon as possible, the market is now even more competitive. This makes it challenging to both newcomers and established digital brands as they try to retain their position and their online visibility.”
5 Steps to Take Now
The good news is that there are tried-and-tested ways that small businesses can overcome these challenges, stand out online and attract more customers. Here are five good starting points:
- Leverage your “local” presence. According to Hubspot, shopping local and supporting your local community has boomed during the global pandemic, and the feeling is here to stay. Find ways to incorporate your local identity into your brand by partnering with local charities to make or sell products (with part of the profits being donated to those groups); sponsoring community sporting events, picnics or carnivals; or sourcing raw materials locally and proudly branding the final goods as “Made Here.”
- Make a great first impression. With more people shopping online, your company’s website may be its only chance to make a good first impression. Invest in a professional site that reflects your brand and mission and makes it easy for customers to do business with you. Be sure to include your company name, location, complete contact information, hours of operation, and product/service overview.
- Create an online experience that’s user-friendly. Use good photography, short videos and easily understood language to display and describe your products and services. Contact and online booking forms should be simple and easy to use and—knowing that more people are shopping and transacting from their devices—the site should be mobile-friendly for both iOS and Android operating systems.
- Don’t try to be all things to all people. With its worldwide reach, the Internet is a gateway to a vast pool of potential customers, not all of whom may be right for your company, products and/or services. To make sure you’re targeting the right audience, use platforms like Google Analytics, Hootsuite or Facebook Insights to gain insight into customers, track their behaviors and direct your marketing messages based on factual, accurate data. “Marketers have much more access than they have ever had to detailed insight, information and data,” MarketingWeek reports. “This enables them to build complex profiles of an audience and have the ability to carry audience segmentation much further into operations than before.
- Use social media to your advantage. This is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to increase the number of people who visit, engage with and buy through your website. “The core of social media's attraction to people is that they can access and consume content that feels personal and relatable,” NewsBreak points out. “And as a small business, you have a unique opportunity to leverage this preference for personal content by creating an image of your business that feels local.” Post photos or videos of your employees or customers on Facebook; develop short blogs to regularly post on LinkedIn; and use short videos on TikTok to reach the generations of buyers that are glued to this social media platform. These are just a few ways you can use social media to create a connection with your target customer base and build a loyal following.
With ecommerce sales volumes climbing in the double digits year over year, this is great time for Canada’s more than one million small businesses to begin claiming an even larger share of these transactions. By leveraging their local presences, tapping into the power of social media and creating sites that engage their customers and keep them coming back for more, companies can effectively position themselves for ecommerce success.
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or an opinion on any issue. It should not be regarded as comprehensive or a substitute for professional advice.