Whether your marketplace is based online or not, there is no doubting the power of online tools when it comes to improving your business. Thanks to the increase of tools and software available, more and more companies are starting to turn to these online sources for every aspect of their workflow. However, this can sometimes lead to committing to resources that promise more than they give. Therefore, we have broken down online tools that actually work to improve your business, all of which you can potentially get started on today.
SEO
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is one of the most powerful marketing tools currently available for companies who have already set up a website for their brand. Essentially, it relies on analyzing the content of a customer’s search and the intent behind it on a search engine, before directing them to sites that match both. For example, if your company sells fruit, then you would want your SEO to direct those who search for something like “where to buy fruit” to your website. One of the most effective companies when it comes to SEO implementation is BigCommerce SEO. We recommend reviewing a guide on BigCommerce SEO to get more search traffic, especially if you are new to the world of SEO and are looking for somewhere to get started.
Social Media
In recent years, social media has leaked into every aspect of our lives, including how we run our businesses. Therefore, it is important that you take some time to ensure that your company has a presence on social media and that you are using it to the best of its capacity. A common pitfall for many businesses in this area is simply setting up a page but never engaging with it, leaving it more as a place for their contact information than anything. This can actually serve to be detrimental to your business, as customers will see this inactiveness as either laziness or your company no longer being operational. If you choose to boost your social media presence, then you need to be prepared to invest the necessary time and effort into ensuring that you are regularly active, whether by doing it yourself or by distributing the work elsewhere.
Mailing Lists
Mailing lists are a great way to engage with your customers about new products you are introducing or any other update that you think is important for them to know. However, it can be tricky to get your customers to trust you with their email address, thanks to recent concerns with data protection and the unfortunate habit of some companies to spam these mailing lists with irrelevant or saturated content. One strategy we recommend is to offer something in return for them signing up. For example, many companies will offer a free eBook on a topic that is relevant to the product or service they offer, or a discount on the customer’s next purchase.
Online Survey Tools
Understanding your customers is crucial to understanding how to approach your marketing strategies. Therefore, you should be taking advantage of any tool that allows you to gather information on your customers, such as the wide variety of customer survey tools that are available online. Surveys are a great way to obtain customer feedback, especially if they have the option to complete them anonymously, and should be something that you regularly conduct. More importantly, however, is ensuring that you take the feedback into account and work on the suggestions, rather than doing the survey as a way of presenting the appearance that you are listening.
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