Keys to starting your digital business
Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2024 4:25 am
For many years now, the digital environment has become a priority for many companies, which are fully dedicated to offline business or companies that combine the digital and in-person business model. But following the crisis that began in mid-March due to COVID-19, it seems that the trend to promote a digital business model has increased significantly. Selling online has become a necessity.
I recently participated in a round table organized by El Periódico where, with the head of e-commerce at BBVA and various entrepreneurs, we talked about the situation of increased digital activity in recent months. El Periódico wrote an article about it.
It is clear that promoting business in the digital environment is usually a good idea, and even more so now, when in-person activity has been greatly affected, but be careful, there are some clear risks that must be minimized.
Based on my years of experience in the digital environment and advising a wide variety of companies, I believe there are 3 keys or elements that must be taken into account before starting the digital journey and starting to sell online , especially for those who do not have any type of experience in this environment:
1- The paradigm shift between the digital and physical world.
When you consider opening a physical store, you are considering an investment, which implies planning and a strategy. In other words, before you spend the first euro, you already know what you will sell, how you will sell it, you have chosen an area to locate the store, based on the demand you expect to have, you have studied said area, to see the competition, etc.
Once you have everything planned, you choose a location, pay the transfer fee, fix it up, putty, paint, construction work, etc. You probably hire someone to run the store, you have to have stock available, etc. In short, you make the necessary investment to be able to open the store. Once the store is ready, you open the doors and you are ready to start selling.
To start selling online , you should follow the same steps, but the big difference is that while in the physical world you first make the important investment in the store and when you are ready to sell, the investment is reduced, in the digital world it is totally the opposite.
If you want to sell online , you will need a store, that is, a website, and this will be the smallest investment in your project. With a website posted on the Internet you will not sell, so now you need to invest in visibility, if nobody visits the website, you will not be able to sell, it is like having a physical store in the desert, no matter how good it is, without people there are no sales.
Investing in visibility is the part that will require the most investment. The more you invest, the more potential visits and sales you will have. The cost of generating this visibility can easily triple the cost of investing in the website.
2- Development of a strategy for online sales:
Since your online presence will require an investment, the best thing you can do is be clear about what you are going to do. In order for this investment to bring you greater chances of success and profitability, it is essential to be clear about some aspects of the project before you start selling online :
THE 3 KEYS TO START YOUR DIGITAL BUSINESS AND BOOSTING SALES THROUGH THE INTERNET– Analysis of the competition and your sector in the digital environment.
– Establish your differential value , that is, what you are offering to the market, what selling point you have to get them to buy from you. Without being very clear about this aspect, it will be very difficult to communicate to the potential client why they should buy from you.
– Define your target audience or buyer persona as best as possible . This is essential to know where to find them and what channels you should use to find and impact them. (Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.)
– Once you know where your target audience is, you must define what type of actions you will carry out: organic actions, advertising, presence on social networks, etc.
Whatever you do, having studied the target, your actions have greater potential for success.
– Develop the tactical plan, marking the times and investment that you are going to dedicate to each thing.
– Be clear about the variables you want to control in order to analyze the evolution of the project. These variables can be visits to the website, sales, interactions, registrations, among others.
If you define all these elements in a strategic document before you start, you will be able to see, among other things, if your project is viable, otherwise you will be investing blindly. This is one of the main mistakes that are made when selling on the Internet .
3- The 3 pillars of the tactical plan for online sales:
Once you have defined the strategic approach, you must activate the action plan that will have the 3 main elements of any digital project and that allow online sales :
Visibility:
Depending on what has been defined in the strategic marketing plan, you can activate various actions to generate visits to your website. In summary, there are 4 ways to generate visits to your website:
From Google, either through organic traffic or Google Ads campaigns
From third-party websites, either through Display (banners) or content.
From social media, through advertising or thanks to the engagement of your followers.
E-mail, and either with your own databases or through external databases.
The Conversion:
Conversion refers to what you want a user to do on your website, whether it be calling you, filling out a form or making an online sale , for example.
To boost conversion you must take into account 4 major elements:
The quality of the visit . You won't convert if you don't manage to attract your target audience to the website.
Communication on the web must be very clear and direct. When users browse, they neither think nor read, so you have between 3 and 5 seconds to convince them to continue browsing.
The usability of the website is key; the user must be able to find what they american people whatsapp number are looking for and be able to navigate the website in an intuitive and fast way.
Your brand and the price of your product are basic elements for conversion. Surely if you sell a product cheaper than the competition, you will have conversions, but if not, you will have no choice but to work on your brand to be able to add value to your commercial offer.
Loyalty.
online sales sell online calves el periodico mediaclickAnother element to consider when planning your digital strategy is to see the possibility of carrying out some type of action that will allow you to retain your current client portfolio. This point is very relevant for local physical businesses that move into the digital world. It will always be easier for a client who knows you to buy from you online than for one who doesn't know you yet.
In addition, any loyalty strategy that can be implemented is positive in terms of the impact on the return on the investment you have made to attract that customer. If we get a customer who has bought from you once to do so again, the cost of attracting that customer decreases, making the investment in attracting new customers much more profitable.
It is therefore recommended to analyse the option of planning actions that allow you to stay in contact with your current client portfolio to promote cross-selling or repetitive online sales .
The basis of loyalty actions is the contact, more or less continuous, with the client through e-mail, always trying to offer something that benefits him, such as exclusive discounts, preferential sales, etc.
If you are going to start a journey in the digital world to be able to expand your sales horizons beyond the offline world, before starting I recommend that you take into account these 3 key points and that you get advice from a specialist who can help you. With your knowledge of the market, the product and the sector and the knowledge of the digital expert, you can come up with a viable digital sales strategy that minimises errors and projects the best possible result for your new investment.
I recently participated in a round table organized by El Periódico where, with the head of e-commerce at BBVA and various entrepreneurs, we talked about the situation of increased digital activity in recent months. El Periódico wrote an article about it.
It is clear that promoting business in the digital environment is usually a good idea, and even more so now, when in-person activity has been greatly affected, but be careful, there are some clear risks that must be minimized.
Based on my years of experience in the digital environment and advising a wide variety of companies, I believe there are 3 keys or elements that must be taken into account before starting the digital journey and starting to sell online , especially for those who do not have any type of experience in this environment:
1- The paradigm shift between the digital and physical world.
When you consider opening a physical store, you are considering an investment, which implies planning and a strategy. In other words, before you spend the first euro, you already know what you will sell, how you will sell it, you have chosen an area to locate the store, based on the demand you expect to have, you have studied said area, to see the competition, etc.
Once you have everything planned, you choose a location, pay the transfer fee, fix it up, putty, paint, construction work, etc. You probably hire someone to run the store, you have to have stock available, etc. In short, you make the necessary investment to be able to open the store. Once the store is ready, you open the doors and you are ready to start selling.
To start selling online , you should follow the same steps, but the big difference is that while in the physical world you first make the important investment in the store and when you are ready to sell, the investment is reduced, in the digital world it is totally the opposite.
If you want to sell online , you will need a store, that is, a website, and this will be the smallest investment in your project. With a website posted on the Internet you will not sell, so now you need to invest in visibility, if nobody visits the website, you will not be able to sell, it is like having a physical store in the desert, no matter how good it is, without people there are no sales.
Investing in visibility is the part that will require the most investment. The more you invest, the more potential visits and sales you will have. The cost of generating this visibility can easily triple the cost of investing in the website.
2- Development of a strategy for online sales:
Since your online presence will require an investment, the best thing you can do is be clear about what you are going to do. In order for this investment to bring you greater chances of success and profitability, it is essential to be clear about some aspects of the project before you start selling online :
THE 3 KEYS TO START YOUR DIGITAL BUSINESS AND BOOSTING SALES THROUGH THE INTERNET– Analysis of the competition and your sector in the digital environment.
– Establish your differential value , that is, what you are offering to the market, what selling point you have to get them to buy from you. Without being very clear about this aspect, it will be very difficult to communicate to the potential client why they should buy from you.
– Define your target audience or buyer persona as best as possible . This is essential to know where to find them and what channels you should use to find and impact them. (Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.)
– Once you know where your target audience is, you must define what type of actions you will carry out: organic actions, advertising, presence on social networks, etc.
Whatever you do, having studied the target, your actions have greater potential for success.
– Develop the tactical plan, marking the times and investment that you are going to dedicate to each thing.
– Be clear about the variables you want to control in order to analyze the evolution of the project. These variables can be visits to the website, sales, interactions, registrations, among others.
If you define all these elements in a strategic document before you start, you will be able to see, among other things, if your project is viable, otherwise you will be investing blindly. This is one of the main mistakes that are made when selling on the Internet .
3- The 3 pillars of the tactical plan for online sales:
Once you have defined the strategic approach, you must activate the action plan that will have the 3 main elements of any digital project and that allow online sales :
Visibility:
Depending on what has been defined in the strategic marketing plan, you can activate various actions to generate visits to your website. In summary, there are 4 ways to generate visits to your website:
From Google, either through organic traffic or Google Ads campaigns
From third-party websites, either through Display (banners) or content.
From social media, through advertising or thanks to the engagement of your followers.
E-mail, and either with your own databases or through external databases.
The Conversion:
Conversion refers to what you want a user to do on your website, whether it be calling you, filling out a form or making an online sale , for example.
To boost conversion you must take into account 4 major elements:
The quality of the visit . You won't convert if you don't manage to attract your target audience to the website.
Communication on the web must be very clear and direct. When users browse, they neither think nor read, so you have between 3 and 5 seconds to convince them to continue browsing.
The usability of the website is key; the user must be able to find what they american people whatsapp number are looking for and be able to navigate the website in an intuitive and fast way.
Your brand and the price of your product are basic elements for conversion. Surely if you sell a product cheaper than the competition, you will have conversions, but if not, you will have no choice but to work on your brand to be able to add value to your commercial offer.
Loyalty.
online sales sell online calves el periodico mediaclickAnother element to consider when planning your digital strategy is to see the possibility of carrying out some type of action that will allow you to retain your current client portfolio. This point is very relevant for local physical businesses that move into the digital world. It will always be easier for a client who knows you to buy from you online than for one who doesn't know you yet.
In addition, any loyalty strategy that can be implemented is positive in terms of the impact on the return on the investment you have made to attract that customer. If we get a customer who has bought from you once to do so again, the cost of attracting that customer decreases, making the investment in attracting new customers much more profitable.
It is therefore recommended to analyse the option of planning actions that allow you to stay in contact with your current client portfolio to promote cross-selling or repetitive online sales .
The basis of loyalty actions is the contact, more or less continuous, with the client through e-mail, always trying to offer something that benefits him, such as exclusive discounts, preferential sales, etc.
If you are going to start a journey in the digital world to be able to expand your sales horizons beyond the offline world, before starting I recommend that you take into account these 3 key points and that you get advice from a specialist who can help you. With your knowledge of the market, the product and the sector and the knowledge of the digital expert, you can come up with a viable digital sales strategy that minimises errors and projects the best possible result for your new investment.