Considering the fact that digital marketing has been around for more than 2 decades, adoption rate by small businesses in India is surprisingly low.Though it is a proven fact that more than 60 percent of the population is mobile/android/ tablet or iPhone savvy! A popular survey measuring the digital marketing propensities of small and medium sized businesses in India reveals a lot. For one, most organizations have no or a shoddy website. Some have websites that were built 15 years ago and never updated since. There are others with maintenance issues; in most cases organizations allocate little or no budget for website maintenance and digital marketing. Small enterprises across India have been slow in adopting online marketing strategies; this despite the ecommerce boom and proven advantages of advertising online.
High time small time entrepreneurs and businessmen understand certain things:
- The online world has revolutionized human communication to an unbelievable extent.
- Just because you don’t sell online doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have an online presence. In fact your location, address, services and products should be out there on the web space. This will help those searching for your kind of service to locate you and physically visit you. Branding of course happens naturally.
- Businesses should realize that more than 80 percent of the population in India is dependent on the web for information. Whenever they want to purchase or avail a service in a particular area, they search online for information. So you must ensure that though your store is open at designated working hours, your information is out there in the public space 24 x 7.
- Gone are the days when a simple banner ad outside your shop window would attract customers. Today you can extend your outreach by using online media to advertise your services and products. So those who under normal circumstances may not visit your store, will; because they have read about your business online!
- If not anything else, your contact information and email ID should be widely advertised.
- No small business should ignore the fact that there are others selling similar products with extensive online presence. By not advertising online you are losing business to the more tech savvy.
- Oftentimes businessmen tend to ask “why should I ape others?” The simple answer to the question is don’t! Create something unique and present it to your audience. Remember people prefer fresh and new stuff. If you have a solution that caters to a specific need then you are all set to go.
Top Reasons why you cannot do without a website
A good website is as good as or better than printed ads and brochures. Designing, printing and distributing brochures can be a very expensive process. Once you distribute pamphlets there is no guarantee you’ll get a better ROI. Pamphlets eventually find their way to dustbins, drawers and chests. What a waste of paper, effort and money. A good website on the other hand is out there 24 cross 7. Prospects can read about your service offerings and updates anytime. In case your business is dependent on networking and connections, then in most cases people may want to check out your website.
Business Loans
Small enterprises often have to make loan applications in banks. Not having a proper website can turn into an unprecedented roadblock. The existence of a website increases the value of your enterprise. A good and optimized website can influence hundreds of readers. In the long run it helps a great deal in branding.
Effective Customer Support
A list of FAQ’s or a good ticketing system can help you reduce customer support costs.
The above mentioned are just a few reasons why your business needs a website. There are plenty of other advantages apart from the ones mentioned above. A well-built site gives credibility to your business and in many cases break barriers with the bigger players in the market.
