The coronavirus affects all businesses around the world. People no longer travel as often, fewer visitors come to the store and all kinds of events are cancelled. Fortunately, you can take steps to improve and expand your digital presence. This will help you mitigate the impact of this challenging time and prepare your business for the future – a more digital future of telecommuting, online services and communication!
Apply these 5 steps to improve your online presence:
1. Optimize your website
Take a closer look at your current website and ask yourself some critical questions:
- Is your homepage well structured?
- Are you currently findable on Google?
- Are you provoking action via your website and offer page?
- Is your privacy statement still up-to-date?
- What about security, accessibility & privacy on your site?
It can also help to put yourself in the shoes of your customers and scroll through your website with an objective view. Or to request feedback from third parties.
2. Create a user-friendly webshop
Focus on customer service and customer experience. Online purchases have increased massively in the past year. By making your webshop user-friendly, you can encourage your customers to buy products online.
Make sure your webshop has a strong online identity and offers a flawless customer experience . In order to offer optimal service to your customers, it is essential that your webshop is technically and organizationally well put together. It is now more important than ever to be aware of stock, orders and requests . This is vital to keep your company running at full speed. Especially now that offline presence and customer service are partially gone, online is your only channel to focus on your customers. Therefore, consider a thorough omnichannel strategy of paramount importance.
Your customers still expect their parcels to be delivered on time. As a store or webshop you are also partly dependent on suppliers, and it is essential that you know where your products or articles are located at all times . That way you won’t be faced with any surprises!
With Tailorfit ‘s delivery module , which provides fully automatic logistics, you ensure that every article, part or product reaches the customer on time.
“I don’t believe in a purely digital world, but we now have to learn what we can do digitally and what not. We will still go to the supermarket in the future to get inspired for what we want to eat tonight, but let’s just deliver the same bottles of water that we need every week.”
– Thierry Geerts, Country Director Google Belgium
3. Create more digital content
Since you may see your customers less often in person, it’s important to remind them that you’re still around and there for them. For example, think of blogs, videos, newsletters and webinars.
Original content, or content that you have created yourself, scores better with your (potential) customers and on your social media channels.
By alternating between photos, videos and articles, social media algorithms will reward you and show you more prominently among your followers. The same goes for advertisements, by the way: by responding to original, strong, varied content, your reach will be greater.
4. Be active on social media
Social media are the tools to keep your customers informed about the latest news about your company. If you monitor these channels, you can identify what your customers need and adjust your services where necessary.
Via your social media you can lure your customers to your website and stimulate purchases. You can also do community building, for example by setting up a Facebook group around a certain topic or by inviting your current customers to a private Facebook group, where you share exclusive launches or discounts.
5. Prepare for more online transactions
While the number of physical visits to stores and business locations is decreasing, a strong e-commerce solution provides an additional source of income. Even after this period of ‘forced online sales’, more people will continue to shop online.
Create an omnichannel presence with an online store that customers can reach through your website, social media channels and webshop.
In addition, ensure that your omnichannel offer is extended both online and offline. In this way, your customers will not be faced with surprises and they know exactly what to expect from you. The same benefits, discounts and information everywhere is not an unnecessary luxury. Your customer wants to be approached in the same way always and everywhere, and to enjoy his expected privileges.
Prepare for a digital future and optimize your inventory management and deliveries
Thanks to Tailorfit’s Omnichannel module, you ensure that prices, promotions and discounts are well coordinated. For example, if a customer has placed an order via the webshop, and later finds out that the same item was for sale in the store at a lower price, you have a dissatisfied customer. That is why it is essential that your information is always and everywhere up-to-date.
