Six business secrets you wish you knew as an online startup

If we go back a few decades, running an online business was only possible in movies. But, the world of business has evolved immensely, where entrepreneurship is the way forward towards personal success.

Even though many business owners still prefer the old-school way of working offline, it is a stale way of moving through the 21st century, where business is online. 

So, as a business owner, you must grab every opportunity to increase profit. One of the most common ways of making any profit is by ensuring an online presence where people can reach you. 

If you’re not online, you don’t exist. In addition to that, thinking that online business is a costly venture is wrong too. 

Why? Because it’s the opposite. The conventional way of doing business is expensive because it involves employees, warehouses, etc. But, an online business setup is convenient, meaning you can operate from any part of the world. 

There are several benefits of running an online business, but you have to make additional efforts to reap those benefits. 

The first aspect is knowledge, which is gained through educational qualifications. After graduating with a degree in business administration, experts advise pursuing a postgraduation degree. 

A master’s degree in business administration covers all the basics of finance, economics, and other business functions. 

With several accredited online mba programs available, finding a degree that focuses on a specific marketing area is easy. 

Remember, apart from a strategy and an investment, starting an online business includes several factors and processes you should know about. 

What are they? Read on to find out.  

1.   Plan out your SEO strategy:

Let’s start from the basics. Most people believe as soon as you set up an online business, customers will immediately begin buying. This isn’t true. 

In fact, it wasn’t true for brick-and-mortar businesses, and it isn’t true for online businesses either. Your business should appear on the first page of every search engine to be visible to customers looking for the same product/service. 

Depending on your requirements and budget, you can either go organic or paid. The best way to increase organic reach is to work on the website’s content. 

Since organic is time-consuming, try investing some money in PPC ads. Hence, it would be best to plan out your SEO strategy and monitor the performance of your business to know if you need to invest more or move onto organic marketing. 

2. Power of social media tools:

Social media is an excellent way of reaching your target audience in any part of the world. Using it to increase visibility and engage with customers is crucial for every business

Start by evaluating which social media network best suits your business. Is it Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp? You can cross-promote your social media accounts through posts, email, newsletters, etc. 

You can also engage influencers and celebrities if you have the budget, but your content must be unique and engaging. 

3. Good quality content marketing:

Suppose you started a business and want to increase its presence. In that case, content marketing is the best way to grow your audience and increase brand recognition. 

Content marketing refers to creating engaging content for the audience and increasing traffic on your website. 

Your content can include infographics, blog posts, videos, webinars, etc. You must ensure your content corresponds to your customer’s needs to divert the traffic to your website. 

4. Discount offers and promotions:

Who doesn’t love discount offers and promotions? According to research, 90% of customers buy using discount coupons globally. 

So why not use this stat as motivation to make an effective promotional strategy for your business? By offering discounts and introducing a loyalty program, you can still profit. 

Even offering a small incentive impacts the buying decision of your customer. In the same way, you can also hold contests on your social media accounts to appreciate your customers. 

5. Prioritize your customers:

Customers are your business, whether your business is online or offline. To have a better idea of how a customer thinks,  put yourself in their shoes, and analyze their needs and problems from their point of view. 

Evaluate your business and see how it attracts the customer. Note what additional facilities your company provides and why they should shop from your website. 

Also, don’t forget to support and appreciate your customers when they visit or purchase from your website.

When you find the answer to these questions, you will automatically improve the overall customer experience. 

Be responsive to your customers and engage with them as much as possible. You can also enable live chats on your website and reply to the comments to encourage building trust with them.  

6. Differentiate your business from others:

The world of online business is getting more and more crowded. With thousands of online stores fighting for attention, being unique is crucial if you want customers investing in yours. 

As competition gets tougher, being affordable and profitable is challenging, even for seasoned business owners

To increase the value of your business, you must do more, engage more and be unique in your way to encourage customer retention and loyalty. 

Focus on customer services, be accountable and be vigilant towards new marketing trends to get closer to your customer and understand their needs. 

A take-home message:

Starting up an online venture isn’t a walk in the park. It is thrilling and complex at the same time. 

So don’t be afraid to make mistakes; instead, take calculated risks. Always do your research and identify areas that need work. Next, plan out a strategy and focus on upgrading customer experience.

Work on your website and make it more friendly. Invest in organic and paid marketing tools to make a lasting impression on every user who clicks on your link and stays to make a purchase.  


Related Articles

Leave a Comment