Online Presence
Online Presence: The Competitive Advantage of the Future
Sears closing their brick and mortar stores? Macy’s following suit and moving to online sales? What’s going on? The Marshall School of Business at USC conducted a study a couple of years ago that revealed that by “2015, it is estimated that Americans will consume both traditional and digital media for over 1.7 trillion hours a year, an average of approximately 15 ½ hours per person per day.” Studies show that consumer-buying trends have shifted to the Internet. So, what’s a business to do? One thing they can’t 
afford to do is to ignore the fact that the future predictions of technology dominating our world are here. To ignore that reality is to invite your company to struggle and possibly perish.
To remain competitive, companies must spend time and resources building an online presence. Online communities, once considered futuristic and hazy, should be a core part of any successful business’s communication strategy today. Not only is it exciting, many successful companies have found it an extremely effective way of communicating with their customers. Many people’s primary way of learning about a business starts with the Internet. Word of mouth recommendations have been replaced by online reviews. Yelp’s recent blog, titled, 85% of Consumers Use the Internet to Find Businesses cites that “appreciation and value of online reviews is growing as more consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.”
According to a survey conducted by Search Engine Land, 72% of consumers give the same weight to online reviews as they do to personal recommendations. How many stars does a restaurant have? How many good and bad reviews? In the old days, the phone book coined the phrase “Let your fingers do the walking”. Today, that phrase could be “Let your fingers do the talking”.
Online communities are evolving, and smart companies are implementing outside the box ideas and bold tactics to catch their customers’ online attention. It is no longer about just having and occasionally posting on major social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. It’s about a robust, consistent, creative approach that dares your consumer to join you, not because they “have” to but because they “want” to.
Caution: Before starting any online initiative, do your homework. Who is your target audience? What do you want to accomplish with this online presence - awareness, sales or both? Once you know that, whether you are a small “mom and pop” company or a larger organization, you will be ready to jump into the online game.
Below are three tactics to gain that competitive online 
presence guaranteed to improve your customer engagement and boost your company awareness in today’s fickle “click of the button” consumer environment.
Tactic 1: Social Media Challenges
Social media challenges are engaging for your audience and a great way to attract attention. This innovative approach is taking the online community by storm. Audience members are inclined to participate in these challenges because people love to compete. Who doesn’t want to disrupt a daily routine to compete for a great cause or “fabulous” prizes?
Social challenges help build a larger audience because participants share their results or challenge their online “friend” community to join. Remember the ALS Ice Bucket challenge that went viral across the Internet community last year? It revolutionized the way of building online awareness. During the few months it ran it took over the Internet. The organization raised unprecedented national awareness by combining a wonderful cause with playful comedy. Who doesn’t want to see their friends and family dump a bucket of ice water over their head for a good cause? So challenge people. You don’t have to dump ice over people’s heads but you can do what other successful businesses are doing like tagging friends in online posts for deals, liking social media pages, or sharing certain content to be entered to win a prize.
Tactic 2: Communicate One-on-One
It’s no longer necessary to be in front of someone to have a one-on-one conversation. Online is the new way of conducting an in-person conversation. Done strategically and consistently, it can ultimately create more loyal followers and overall better business practices because you are tapped directly into the minds of your consumers.
As little as five years ago, the online trend for social media was to create a business page where the only one posting was the business. It did not allow for two-way conversations. However, in 2017 things have radically changed. To engage followers, businesses are building online communities. These communities encourage followers to communicate. They invite comments such as compliments, complaints and suggestions for improvement. They also encourage their followers to post articles, photos or questions that others can respond to.
Communicating with your audience will help grow your 
business because your audience becomes more invested in your business. For example, Starbucks has a virtual online “Coffee House” and encourages followers to submit new ideas, share, vote and discuss. This tactic takes down the walls around the concept of a company as a static building and builds a bridge between the consumer and the company’s employees.
We suggest openly having places for your customers to give online reviews or easy access to online forums with your customer service employees. People are more inclined to remain loyal to your business if they feel they are being heard. People join and follow people and want their perspective to feel valued.
Tactic 3: Build an Online Personality
Look at your brand, your company, your blog, yourself and tell your stories. Who doesn’t like a good story? Make your company real to your audience by making it a personality. Like the online “one-on-one” communication, people are attracted to like-minded people...so make your company a personality.
Building a name and personality makes your business approachable to new consumers while continuing to keep your business top of mind for your current audience. It may be outside your comfort zone to reach out to “strangers” and share personal anecdotes, but choose a tone and style of language that works for you and your audience and tell your story.
Each business personality is different and that’s what makes it an interesting concept. Some businesses have a 
conversational tone while others remain very professional. For example, NASA has developed a following for the Mars Curiosity Rover by making it a personality. They want to attract an audience interested in space exploration, so they created a bold social media campaign. Here is an excerpt from Distility’s blog:
Mars Curiosity Personality Connects with its Audience
Beyond the accomplishments of the actual Mars Curiosity mission (which are tremendous), the Mars Curiosity social media campaign is an excellent example of using social media to connect with an audience.
...above and beyond sharing its discoveries on Mars, the campaign has been particularly engaging because of the rover’s personality. The Mars Curiosity rover is a mobile robotic spacecraft (about the size of a car), which is remotely controlled by NASA scientists and engineers from Earth. Instead of being given the traits of a cold machine, Mars Curiosity has been imbued with a curious, friendly, accessible and playful personality; it seems to have a lot more in common with a pet (or maybe R2D2) than a cold scientific machine. NASA is doing an excellent job of letting that personality shine through in the @MarsCuriosity Twitter posts, Mars Curiosity Facebook page and in how NASA communicates about the Mars Curiosity rover.
https://distility.com/brand-promotion/mars-curiosity-nasa-brand-building-personality/
So what are you waiting for? Embrace this bold, innovative online approach and connect with your audience by utilizing one or all of the tactics mentioned above. Don’t be left behind. Join the online movement. You and your business will benefit.
Lorraine is a published author and business consultant. Learn more at: www.lorrainegrubbs.com
