It’s been a challenging year for both businesses and their owners dealing with the mandatory shutdowns stemming from the coronavirus outbreak. While some parts of the world are beginning to re-open, there’s one thing these closures have made fairly clear: a robust online presence is essential—it can even be a lifeline. However, we are not all digital marketers, website architects, or software engineers. It can be tough to carve out time, resources, and money to build up your online presence. We know it’s critical, but the question arises: where to start from? Vivian Carolina Sanchez, CEO and founder of The Lighting Studio, shares some tips and highlights the importance of why building an online presence for your business is the need of the hour.
The Venezuelan native gives out four key reasons from her personal experience of how Web presence makes a difference.
**Creates an impression**
“Close to 100 percent of potential clients or customers are bound to check your work online prior to picking up the phone, dropping an inquiry email, or stepping into your office,” says Sanchez. She adds, “Today’s clients are self-educators and they don’t easily purchase products or avail services without conducting adequate online research.”
**Attracts attention**
“Gone are the days when you could avoid or postpone the idea of embracing digital marketing for your business. The onset of technology has transformed how clients seek out products and services,” shares Sanchez. She further states, “Our present and potential clients are online and so are our competitors. If we don’t reach out to our potential customers by means of online marketing strategies such as social media, content creation, and SEO, our competitors will.”
**Presents information**
According to Sanchez, “we no longer live in times when our potential customers would rely on sales representatives to seek information on a particular product or service—they have mastered the art of educating themselves.” She further says, “If you don’t leverage the digital space and use online content to reach to the audiences, you fail to offer the self-educated customer the information needed to choose you.”
**Offers powerful client servicing tool**
“Managing your Web presence is a function of the marketing process; at the same time, it’s also a function of client servicing. Customers use social media to get in touch with brands when they encounter queries, concerns, or problems,” says Vivian Carolina Sanchez. She suggests that prompt and effective response to their online inquiry is an absolute must. “If you fail to track your online presence, you are certain to miss out on opportunities to provide high-quality service to your clients,” adds Sanchez.
Building an online presence for your business is a significant undertaking, but the benefits attained in turn are well worth the effort!
