Having an online presence is essential for any business to be competitive. This is especially true around the holidays, as sales during this peak shopping time can make or break a business.
Building an online identity is not easy. You are not going to be able to spend a single day on it and have instant results. However, with some work, and a few tips, you can get online in time to have a healthy impact on holiday sales.
Website
The place to start is with a company website. The website is the anchor to your entire online strategy. Doing more than just providing a place to display your products and services, it is also a central landing point for all social media activity. There are many free sites to make a website, but to create a site that looks established and professional, you will likely need to hire someone to create one for you.
Blog
A company blog should be home to any press releases and product launch information. Blogs are also a great place to detail holiday deals. Any promotions or sales should be on the blog. You can also use the holidays to help generate new content for your blog. Do your products make great gifts? Feature a gift guide. Write about supporting a philanthropic cause for the holiday season. Feature any company holiday traditions or events. Blog posts can then be posted to social media accounts to increase their reach.
Social Media
Blogging is important, but it is not the only way to bring customers into your business. An effective online presence also requires some form of social media presence. Consumers use social media to make purchasing decisions — as many as 74 percent! You don’t have to have an account on every single platform, but you do need to have an account or two with some of the more popular services, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Whichever site you choose, be sure to post frequently and interact with customers who engage with your account. Facebook and Twitter are great places to post holiday ads and special coupons for the season. Facebook is an especially useful tool because you can maximize the reach of your ads by boosting and promoting them based on your target audience.
Creating an online presence takes work and dedication. If you don’t have time to do all the writing and social media activity to nurture an active following, contact BCI Media Services.