Want to know how to upgrade your online marketing to achieve your business’ growth goals?…
Are you struggling with sales at the moment and trying to work out why? When sales are slower than you’d like, it’s usual to try and figure out why you aren’t generating the desired volume of sales. It’s easy to accidentally assume that sales are slow because ‘your pricing is too high’ or ‘not enough people know your business exists’. But what if it is something else? What if you have a silent sales killer? Something that isn’t as obvious to detect, but still is causing a barrier and stopping people from buying. Keep on reading to find out why you might have a silent sales killer – a a poor online presence – and how it may be costing you sales.
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THE SILENT SALES KILLER: HOW A POOR ONLINE PRESENCE IS COSTING YOU SALES.
What Does a ‘Poor Online Presence’ Actually Mean?
Having a strong online presence is vital for businesses nowadays, but what makes a poor online presence and what makes a strong online presence? There isn’t a hard rule about this makes a strong online presence and this makes a poor online presence. What one person classes as a strong online presence another will class as a poor online presence, but the here is one thing you can ask yourself “Is your online presence reflecting the quality of the service/experience you deliver?”. If it isn’t then it means there is room for improvement. Your online presence should reflect the quality of the service/experience you deliver.
Here are some other signs that you have a poor online presence.
- No or a bad website – A website is the online home of your business and having a good website is a core competent of having a strong online presence
- An inconsistent brand – Whether someone watches a video, reads an email or sees a social media post they should know they are interacting with the same business
- Poor content – Content that isn’t valuable to the consumer or that doesn’t position you as an authority and expert. Also content that isn’t strategic. It isn’t helping you to generate sales.
Why a Poor Online Presence is Costing You Sales
A poor online presence will cost you sales for a number of reasons. Firstly, a poor online presence is likely to mean that you aren’t making new people aware of your business on a regular basis online. Obviously you can make new people are of your business offline, but if you are relying solely on offline you’ll be missing out.
Secondly, a poor online presence will put off people who have been introduced to your business and are trying to find out more. Maybe they were recommended by a friend, saw your business mentioned in the press or had spoken to you in person. Regardless the majority of people will then want to find out more information. So they’ll head online and search. If what they find doesn’t match their expectations that will stop them going further.
Thirdly, the chances of your business being the ONLY solution for a person are slim. People have options and if someone is actively searching for the service you provide (such as a website designer, accountant, online business manager etc) and they come across multiple it is key your online presence helps your business stand out and be chosen.
| GET A PERSONALISED MARKETING STRATEGY TO STRENGTHEN YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE – FAST!
If you know you have a poor online presence and you want to get it sorted asap then a Strategy Day is perfect for you. In just one day I’ll create a personalised marketing strategy based on your goals for the next year. You come with the goals, I’ll do an online audit beforehand and then on the day I’ll map out exactly what needs to happen marketing wise to raise your online presence so your sales targets are achieved. All you have to do is fill in a questionnaire beforehand and then turn up on the day. I’ll then lead you through the whole process and write everything down – making it super easy for you! |
Why is it a silent sales killer?
No one is going to tell you that they checked you out online, didn’t think you looked that great so decided not to work with you. Instead, they are going to check you out, not be impressed with what they see, and decide to work with someone else. You will never know. And that’s why it’s a silent sales killer. Whereas it is much more likely someone will tell you that your prices are too expensive and it is easy to feel as if not enough people know about your business.
However, just because something is more obvious doesn’t mean it is the biggest problem. A poor online presence could have been holding your business back for years. And can be especially hard to detect when you are in the inbetween sales stage. If you are making no sales you know you’ve got a big problem and will do everything possible to sort it out. But you are making sales – just not enough. So figuring out exactly what is causing the issue can be tricker. But when in doubt assume that you can make improvements and strengthen your online presence.
Why This Happens (Even to Smart, Successful Business Owners)
If you think you’ve got a poor online presence please don’t beat yourself up. Having the awareness is the first step. Now you are in a place to be able to improve. But I also want you to know that it happens for a number a of reasons.
Your business may have grown but your marketing hasn’t – If you’ve been in a business for a few years or you have significantly changes your offer suite then it is easy for your business to have grown but your marketing hasn’t. That can mean you have outdated information or there is just a misalignment between older content and newer content, or between the business that exists today and how you are marketing it.
You’re too close to your own genius to market it powerfully – This is really common with business owners who provide a service around their expertise. Marketing services (especially those that you are providing) is very different to marketing products. It can be feel like you are boasting or bragging, and so you play down the excellence you are providing – thus underselling.
You are focused on delivery – You are providing a 5-star service and believe that as long as you keep on delivering an exceptional service that is enough. But it isn’t. As discussed even if you are recommended by the person who had a great experience that person will check your business out.
What a Strong Online Presence Actually Looks Like
As mentioned already there isn’t a clear rule on what a poor online presence and a strong online presence are. But here are some commonalities seen amongst strong online presences.
- Consistent branding – It clear across marketing channels and platforms that you are engaging with the same business. This is achieved through having a consistent visual brand, but also having the same tone of voice and use of core key messages.
- A good website – Businesses with a strong online presence will have a good website. It will make it clear what they do, why they do and how people can work with them.
- Content that proves that they are an expert and / or authority in the space – This is achieved through a mixture of owned and earned media. It could be they’ve be featured in the press and won awards so there are mentions and features on other businesses website, social media pages etc. But this can also be create content that demonstrates expertise and thought leadership.
- Strategic content that takes people through the buyer journey – A strong online presence should enable you to generate sales (or as a minimum leads) without having to physical interact with someone. A strong online presence will have content for each part of the buyer journey – awareness, nurture and conversion.
| GET A PERSONALISED MULTI-CHANNEL MARKETING STRATEGY TO BUILD AN ONLINE PRESENCE THAT CONSISTENTLY GENERATES SALES
When you book a Strategy Day you’ll get a personalised multi-channel marketing specifically created to ensure you achieve your sales goals. Creating an online presence isn’t just about having a great website or social media profile. It is about how everything works together, which is why you need a multi-channel marketing strategy. And not just any random multi-channel marketing one that is created specifically for your business. When you book a Strategy Day I’ll create a marketing strategy across web, search, email, social, long-form content (and any other type of marketing you are doing) – ALL of that is covered and no extra cost! |
How to start building a strong online presence
Do a complete audit
The first thing you need to do is understand what state your current online presence is. It is great if you can get someone else who isn’t familiar with your business (I do online audits for clients who book a Strategy Day or 1:1 Mentoring) or if you are having to do it yourself try to focus on what comes up and imagine you aren’t familiar with the business.
Brand
Having a consistent brand is key for a strong online presence so refining your brand or just ensuring you are consistent with future marketing is key. Remember it isn’t just about using your logo, fonts and colours. Think about your use of visuals (photograph and video), your brand tone of voice, your brand personality and key messages.
Content
As mentioned you want content that helps will attract people to your business, nurture and then convert. Ensuring your have content for all stages of the buyer journey is key.
Press, Partnerships and Collaborations
You can build a strong online presence purely by focusing on marketing channels and platforms that you ‘own’ (obviously you don’t own social media platforms and there are lots of dangers in relying on social media which I’ve written about why you shouldn’t rely on social media to market your business here) but to make your online presence even stronger you can decide to focus on building a presence using other business’ online presence. Looking for opportunities to be in the press and collaborating with other businesses not only is great from an awareness perspective, but can be great for positioning and authority building too.
That’s it. You now know how a poor online presence is costing you sales and why it might be the silent sales killer in your business.
Creating a strong online presence isn’t going to happen overnight, but it is worth putting in the time, effort and possibly money. A poor online presence is costing you sales. A strong online presence will make your sales. Therefore, investing in building a strong online presence is worth it. It will growing your business – and when done right it can mean they sales don’t just come in from anyone, but the type of clients you really want to work with.
If you are serious about improving your online presence so it because a sales-generating machine that works day and night for your business then I’d love to help you.
A Strategy Day is perfect if you are looking to get your business growth and marketing strategy created fast – and you know once you’ve got a plan you’ll hold yourself accountability for implementing it.
Or if you’d prefer to work together for an extended period of time you can check out my 1:1 and group support here.
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