More and more customers today do their initial shopping on the Internet, and they won’t even believe you exist if you have no presence, or the content is stale. At minimum, that requires a modern website, and visibility on relevant social media sites, likely including Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
People today put great stock in the online feedback from other customers, and they note how and if you appear to be listening and responding. Don’t let the crush of daily crises, or personal emotions, lead you to ignore feedback. This could be the least expensive way to scale your business.
Advocates are your happiest existing customers, and you want them to use their social media and connections to attract more customers. Influencers are recognized experts and pseudo celebrities who can pick favorite products or start new trends. Be proactive is reaching out for support and help.
These days, a popular approach is to create a “pop-up” store or “flash mob” event in the midst of another gathering, like a Super Bowl, to get attention and scaling for your brand. Obviously, you need to promote these events via multiple digital and traditional marketing channels.
Trade shows and conferences can produce hundreds of new qualified leads for your business, as well as build relationships with industry leaders, outsourcing vendors, and potential partners. These also will keep you better informed on new technologies, trends, and likely competitors.
Effective scaling and growth often requires more investment than is available from early organic returns. You need to evaluate the tradeoffs of getting investment capital from angel investors and crowdsourcing. These are both a source of new marketing strategies and feedback.
Adopting a higher purpose, such as saving the environment or helping your community, and successfully communicating that to your team and customers is the way to make them all fans of your company and scaling the business. People respond to your purpose, not your profit.
Organic growth, without utilization of digital channels, is not enough today to stay competitive and achieve long-term success in today’s environment, especially against the large e-commerce players with a global reach. You need to use every digital channel available for marketing and visibility, no matter how dedicated you and your team are to customer service and satisfaction.
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