the dangling carrot
cultivating your business vision
Why Do I Need a Website and Social Media?
When customers are actively searching for information on the web, a website and social media presence is the most cost effective way for a company to attain and maintain a BUZZ about its’ business. The more information about your company present on the web will make you all the more interesting to the search engines, and in return all the more interesting to your prospective customers. Customers will become aware of you and your services.
Customers no longer drive from store to store to gather information, determine pricing, or product availability (most won’t even make phone calls). Information must be accessible when they are looking for it and doing their research online – most do their research after 10pm. Not many businesses are open at that time. Having an online presence, is like having another customer service employee who is available to help all of your prospects at any time. Your prospects can be gathering information from you – or your competitors – but they will be getting it. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to be the one educating my customers.
Customers no longer trust advertising. They want to hear from real people who have utilized your products or services. Successful companies today are using their websites and social media to establish market credibility. They are listening to what their customers are saying about their products, asking for input, and are even publishing negative feedback along with the positive steps they are taking to rectify customer problems. When it is time for customers to actually make a purchase, they will buy from a company who has proven to be responsive to their customers – YOU!
November 20, 2009 - 12:02 pm
What about negative comments? How do I control them?
November 20, 2009 - 12:08 pm
Comments do not have to be updated automatically – you can approve them first.
But negative comments can be great – if you respond to them and take action to improve the experience for the customer. Customers as well as prospects need to know that you care about them & your reputation will actually be improved if your business is responsive to the needs of the customers. Remember – it is all in the recovery!
And if you are getting a lot of negative comments – there may be an issue with your product, service, or message.
November 22, 2009 - 7:15 pm
How can I tell if Social Media is increasing the flow to my website?
November 23, 2009 - 8:47 am
You can tell if there is increased traffic by assessing your website analytics. There are a variety of free analytics tools (Google Analytics, etc.) as well as the tools available by your hosting company. You should see an increase in the “hits” to your site if your blog is part of your website, or an increase to the “hits” from the websites on which your social media lies – Wordpress, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. If there is no increase in traffic, reassess your target market’s interests and adjust your message to capture their attention.