Today the trend of marketing has shifted from traditional (newspapers) to digital (online). Over the recent years with the advent of the Internet more and more people are increasingly dependent on it looking for any information or assistance they require. This makes it all the more important for small business owners who want to reach out to their prospective customers. If small businesses fail to leverage online community, they are surely missing on a big opportunity. The truth is much of the world looks for products and services online. The following are reasons why small businesses should go online.
Traditional marketing has come down
Gone are the days when people used to search business information over telephone directories and newspapers. People are now looking for the easiest and quickest way to find information, it is the online way. And if you are still dependant on traditional methods of advertising, you are missing out on a huge business opportunity.
Your prospective customers are online
According to research firm ComScore, over 74 million people are using Internet in India, which is the third largest in the world. With the Internet accessing feature over handy devices like smart phones, iPad, netbooks, etc., people are able to find and shop anytime, anywhere in the world. According to Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, India ranks fifth in number of smart phone users with an estimated 67 million subscribers in 2013.
Why SMEs should go online
- To establish online presence: Most of the SME owners feel that there is no need for online presence. They assume that website building and its maintenance requires a lot of resources such as money, time and effort, which is not true. The cost of creating and maintaining a website is not very expensive. Having a business website is the best way to enhance your online presence to the Internet users.
- Exposure to local and global customers: Internet is the right platform to serve your local and international audience. It has no boundaries for promoting your business unlike traditional advertising. You need not go abroad to advertise your products and services. Your presence over web is enough to reach your local as well as global audience.
- It is cost effective: Compared to traditional marketing, Internet marketing is cost effective. All you need to do is, promote your products and services via search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo. These search engines charge minimal prices for advertising. There are different methods of Internet marketing like social media marketing, pay per click campaigns, web-banner advertising, email marketing, etc. They will serve as viral to your business over the Internet.
- Advertising over Internet is flexible: Advertising over Internet is much flexible compared to traditional advertising. You can update or modify your offers, products or services descriptions whenever you want. You can reach your customers with the updated information in a short span of time.
Taking the above factors into consideration, SMEs should go online. It’s an easy and sensible way to make your online presence a big success. If you are unable to do it all by yourself and not sure, take help of a professional Internet marketing company.
Reproduced with permission from Marvist.co.in.