DIGITAL MARKETING

YOUR ONLINE GOALS

All business has different aims. It’s good to know exactly what you want to achieve online, as it can help you set the right priorities and put your plan into place. Because you don’t want to feel too overwhelmed.


There are lots of clear ways digital can help your business. Such as, building relationships on social networks, selling online, finding new customers. Or even keeping existing ones. It’s good to start by asking yourself a simple question: why, exactly, do I want to be online? Imagine you own a hair salon. Your ultimate goals could be: to cut more people’s hair, sell more premium services than the standard haircut and sell more of the products you offer. But before anyone can walk through your door, they have to know you exist.


This is a great goal that digital can help with. So let’s start with that one: getting the word out in the digital world. One easy win is listing your business in local online directories. So, when people look for hairdressers on search engines or online maps, your business will show up. Then you might decide to build a website to share information about your business.


This could be things like your opening hours, your location, your prices and the services you offer. Maybe even photos and videos that could entice new customers to walk through your door. You could set up a social media page on Facebook or Twitter where you could post photos of your creations, offer special deals and really connect with your customers. As you start achieving these goals, and more people become aware of you. Your goals may naturally evolve and you might want to shift your focus toward turning visitors into paying customers.


You could add new features to your site. Things like online appointment scheduling, a “reviews” section where people can say nice things about you, or even an ecommerce store to sell your hair and beauty products online.


Now that you’re using digital to attract visitors, and turn them into customers, you could start expanding your business by investing in online advertising.
Whatever your ultimate digital goals are, or where you currently stand, your priorities will naturally change and grow with your business. Now to make sure you’re meeting your objectives, it’s really important to measure your progress along the way.


This is called “analytics”. Analytics lets you know what’s working well, and what could be tweaked.

But with digital you’ve got lots of options for measuring your success. Before you dive into the digital world, think about exactly what you’d like to achieve. Then, prioritize different online opportunities to help you accomplish your goals.