4 Reasons Your Online Presence Isn’t Growing Quick Enough
Today, your organization can either fail or succeed based off of how well your company
does in your digital marketing. Your sales online dramatically affect your growth. When
companies release their Quarterly Reports, the growth of the business online affects
whether investors buy or sell shares in that company.
We live in a time of unparalleled access. Billions of people are logged on the Internet
and social media as you read this article. There is opportunity, but there is also a lot of
competition. If you’re going to turn leads into customers, you have to stand out.
If your organization’s online presence isn’t growing as quickly as you’d like, it may be
because of one or all of these four reasons.
1. You’re relying on old marketing strategies.
Technology and digital marketing strategies move fast. What used to work might not
even work in two months. There are some tried and true strategies—such as email
marketing—but if your organization is relying on old school tactics to grow your online
presence, you will be disappointed.
SEO strategies come to mind and social media is following the same path. There’s a lot
of advice that’s been passed around like it’s law, but it’s not and it won’t help your
business. Buying links and followers are all old school strategies that won’t grow your
online business or presence.
2. You’re trying to copy the industry leaders.
It’s natural to see another successful organization and want to copy what they’re doing.
The problem is that your potential leads and customers will do business with the
original—not a clone. What worked for someone else doesn’t necessary mean it will
work for you. Your goal is to get potential customers to know, like, and start to trust
you. That process can’t begin if you’re not being authentic.
3. You’re relying too heavily on social media marketing.
In the last ten years, social media has been great for businesses all over the world. In
the last few years, however, the landscape has changed. What used to be tired and
true tactics don’t work because today you have to pay to reach your audience.
Most of the popular social media platforms are now public and need to generate profits
for their shareholders. Social media is a rented platform and a lead generator that
should be directing potential customers towards your website. That’s where the sales
will happen.
4. You’re trying to be the “expert” company instead of building connection.
The standard (and bad) branding advice is to make your organization as unavailable as
possible. That way, you can command a higher price for what you sell. Maybe that
worked at some point, but not in today’s connection economy.
Today, if someone doesn’t feel connected to your brand or message, it’s very unlikely
they’ll do business. Don’t be the ‘”expert” company that’s on a pedestal. Do what you
can to connect with your audience as much as possible.
Large organizations such as Delta do this well. If there’s an issue, you can send a tweet
and get a quick response. It’s that more personal connection that creates customer
loyalty.
If your online growth has stopped or slow, take some time this week to go over your
marketing plan and the strategies you’ve been using.
