When businesses first start up, a good marketing tactic is gaining some traction through word of mouth, especially if you’re in a particularly niche or tight-knit community. Having friends and family members spread the word about you can be a great way to get your foot in the door and land you your first few gigs or sales. After some success in this, you may think to yourself “I have a customer base right here, what do I need digital marketing or social media for?” Then all of a sudden, your customers move or switch to another seller, and you’re left with nothing to show for your work. Word of mouth can get you pretty far, but let’s go into why every good marketing strategy has an online presence to back it up.
Our founder, Mindy, knows this situation well. A few years back, her photography business was going steady, making booking after booking for weddings and other events. Customers recommended her to others and there was almost no reason for her to document all of this on social media, her marketing could rely just on word of mouth! Then her husband got a job transfer and they moved to a new town, in a new market, with whole new people. Since she hadn’t updated any of her profiles or her website, from an outside perspective, it looked like she was completely new when she had actually photographed over 125 weddings and events.
In a new city, while at a bridal show, Mindy quickly realized there was a big difference between the portfolio books she was showing to customers and what was on her website/social media. That gap left her with no bookings from that show. Mindy went to work updating her website and social media but after getting sick, they ended up having to return to Colorado, but that move to California changed the direction of Mindy’s business and business model forever.
The moral is, whether it’s a sudden move or a pandemic, we never know what is next. The pandemic has made an online presence even more crucial than it was before. If you aren’t meeting your customers online you are losing sales your competitors who are.
THE ERA OF OMNI-SHOPPERS AND WHAT THAT MEANS
In this post-Covid landscape we’re in, a new type of customer all businesses should be aware of is the “omni-shopper”. This consumer is one who prioritizes convenience and uses technology to make most of their purchases. They’re likely to do research on sellers and compare them to others. If you don’t have some form of digital marketing presence, there’s nothing for these shoppers to trust you on. It’s not enough to just take your word for it, there needs to be some form of evidence for all of your hard work.
It’s more important than ever to work out a marketing strategy and to take these sorts of shoppers into consideration. You can’t just rely on the same customers coming back and bringing their friends, but you need to keep in mind how you’ll pull in future customers and get them to trust you.
Of course, you still might be thinking “well I don’t want to post every day” or “I don’t want to keep up with a lot of profiles.” The good news is, you don’t have to! Your marketing should be unique and tailored to your business needs and goals. Your digital media presence can be as heavy or as light as you want it to be, and we’d love to help you figure out that balance. Book a full business strategy with us here and we can work together to build your digital marketing the way you want it to be.
