The use of search engines for an online business
The social media websites that I will look at are - Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn.
How do they operate?
How can Facebook be used for a business online?
Facebook is the largest online social networking website and has currently over 1 billion users.
More and more
businesses with an online presence will link users to a Facebook page. They
will also frequently use twitter and RSS feeds. Knowing how to use Facebook
for business has become an essential skill to have in the job search and a vital
part of online marketing strategies. Facebook has found a way to make
itself the link between the brand and the consumer.
Fan Pages are targeted
more toward a specific entity rather than an individual social networking with
friends and family. Just because they are labelled Fan Pages does not
necessarily mean that the entity is a celebrity, a band, etc.
Fan sites can be created for anything, especially online stores. More and more businesses are making use of Fan pages to target their users to a Facebook entity that represents their enterprise.
How can Twitter be used for a business online?
Twitter is a good way to promote your business online in my opinion. These facts will help you to understand why:
You will be able to connect to your customers as they themselves will be using Twitter. Twitter has become a daily routine for many people as an unsatisfied customer will leave feedback on there and then you can help them.
Branding is one of the main uses for Twitter, this allows you to connect with people and allows you to create an account.
Once you have connected with your customers you will for sure be getting
feedback on how you can improve your product, your services and maybe even
improve your customer’s service. Listening to them will help you in the future.
Marketing is one of the reasons to use twitter as it gets your market your product or
services to more people and the best part about that is its free. You don’t
have to pay.
If you have succeeded gaining some popularity with your Twitter account you will know how viral Twitter can be. This will be part of your marketing strategies that you can use in the future.
Twitter can help you increase sales and help make a profit.
Once you have engaged with Twitter then your customers/followers will be loyal to your brand for a long time.
This is a link to my Twitter account, @tampsett10
LinkedIn is the biggest professional network in the world with 100 million members. There are a lot of reasons why LinkedIn could be really valuable to your business, so let me share with you some reasons you should use LinkedIn.
To attract business clients, accelerate go to market opportunities, generate new leads & fill pipelines, shorter sales cycles, larger per deal purchases, longer clients lifecycles, to create an online community, to maintain "Top of mind awareness" and to establish cutting edge social strategies.
How to use them effectively?
The use of social media can be very useful in online businesses today as everyone goes online and most people nowadays own a computer.
It is a fact of corporate life nowadays that more and more businesses are waking up to the potential of social networking and how they can exploit it in order to gain a competitive advantage.
This could mean that Facebook or Twitter can be used purely as a marketing tool or as another customer-facing communication channel.
Did you know that around 83 percent of people in the United Kingdom own a computer.
To see some fascinating statistics about the internet and how many people use it from different countries then click on the link below:
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats4.htm
Banner Adverts
All businesses with an online presence can use banner advertising. It can be efficient for any business that aims to expand their brand awareness, drives targeted traffic to their website and to generate sales in the long run.
Banner Advertising can be really effective as it is easy to target specific groups of customers for small businesses. This vastly targeted growth makes it more probable that you will catch the attention of customers who will be engrossed in what you are offering. Therefore, you can keep your costs down by only spending money on advertising where it is very likely to be successful.
Larger businesses can benefit from enlarged brand awareness using banner ads. They can also use quality banner adverts as a component of a wider web marketing strategy, potentially alongside pay per click advertising, search engine optimisation and engaging with social networking tools such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
For businesses of any size with an eCommerce function on their website, banner advertising can help bring potential customers directly to the right area of your website, where they can easily convert to a sale. The best strategy is to aim at one particular product or service and endorse it so it becomes an eye-catching prospect.
Podcasts
A podcast is basically an audio file that you broadcast or listen to. Similar to a magazines subscription, podcasts typically have a subscription option whereby updates can be automatically downloaded to computers or mp3 players and can be a great strategy to grab the attention of a potential audience.
Podcasts enable you to listen to what you want, whenever you want. There are podcasts available that cover topics varying from gardening to programming, so whatever your interests, you will almost certainly be able to find something that you want to listen to.
Despite the name, you do not need an iPod to listen to a podcast. A business's audience can listen to a pocast on any MP3 player, or a computer with an internet connection.
It is reasonably easy to make your own podcast. To get started all you need is a microphone, a computer and a few innovative thoughts.
Benefits of making a podcast for a business online:
Attain a new audience
People like to consume media differently, so including another media option could help to reach a new audience. Unlike video podcast, audio podcasts allow a listener to mutli-task, so they could end up listening to you on the way to work while they brows the web.
Construct positive relationships with potential listeners
Podcasts increase a business's popularity by talking about something new and interesting so that people who listen to the business's podcasts will be more entitled to like their business.
Increase advertising prospective
If a business's podcast becomes trendy, then there is a chance of being able to start selling advertising slots.
Response to customer feedback
A business is able to use a podcast for the change to address any customer concern on feedback that has been received.
Trends
Rising demand and limited supplies means that it is
crunch time for the main resources such as energy, food and water. Sustainable
business models are becoming a value-added imperative.
New digital platforms allow people to share information
instantaneously. Privacy and security concerns will accelerate which means that
companies are no longer able to hide from demands for transparency.
Nations are rapidly emerging in economic, political
and cultural power. Immense opportunities are arising to meet the social
environmental and economical needs in these markets.
Competitor Analysis
Competitor Analysis is
a significant part in the strategic side of a business.
Competitor
analysis has numerous roles in strategic planning:
•
To help management understand their competitive advantages/disadvantages
relative to competitors
•
To generate understanding of competitors past, present and future strategies
•
To provide an informed basis to develop strategies to achieve competitive
advantage in the future
•
To help forecast the returns that may be made from future investments
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