In a world that is now immersed in a total digital revolution, businesses that are allowed not to face the challenges of online can be count on the fingers of one hand. And with the advent of everything that the future brings, they will have to adapt to survive too.
So you live in a situation where everything is in this huge container of information called the Internet, without boundaries in human eyes and ready to produce petabytes of information a day, with 4.3 billion global users connected.
And since everyone is in the same place, there are both disadvantages and advantages:
- the positive side is that you can reach anyone anywhere in the world with your products/services, thus having a potential unlimited market;
- the negative is that everyone is trying to do the same thing, so only the best can achieve success.
In fact, it is not a lie to be able to approach an audience in the millions or billions; Amazon is one of the clearest examples, born and developed only thanks to the network and its opportunities.
And we have thousands of examples like this, where everything starts from small to grow out of proportion thanks to the power of the online.
But one thing is certain: you have to know how to do things right.
So let’s see strategies, design, techniques and suggestions to pave the way for the success of your business.
Index
The GAF(A) have the power
Web gives the opportunity to build empires with the sole strength of a screen, it is undeniable, but you must always keep in mind who is currently leading the same network.
Google, Amazon and Facebook (Apple is not fully included) are the undisputed “masters” of the past years and probably for many more in the future. Everything passes under their eyes, the whole process of the chain:
- private user and preferences
- business and its infrastructure
- product/service on sale
- cash
- advertisinG
Therefore, considering the influence of these giants, playing with their rules will only bring benefits to the digital market.
Let’s start from the knowledge that Amazon holds 49% of the entire U.S. online market, while it sends an average of 1100 parcels every minute around the globe. Its influence is therefore enormous and when it comes to selling something, no one knows how to do it better?
If you have a product to sell and suitable for shipping, entering the Amazon Marketplace should not be a priority: but even more! Between reputational growth, advertising and word of mouth, you can create important results.
With regard to Google, the focus is mainly on its ranking, and therefore the need to position itself on the front page, as close as possible to the first position, knowing that more than 90% of users stop at this page.
SEO strategies, effective user experience and creation of valuable content are just some of the examples to achieve the goal.
And finally Facebook, with its 2.32 billion registered users, creating an immense basin, but more concentrated on a single platform, where competition is fierce. Being updated on the latest news is a must, knowing updates and changes of algorithms on the technical side, while trends and tastes on the marketing one, creating a perfect campaign.
And speaking of social…
Continuing with the social media giant, in recent times the famous Facebook has seen the loss of ground, especially among the groups of young users, and not so much for various scandals as Cambridge Analytica, but for a simple natural aging.
The social blue has become “old” and the new trend is now Instagram. How come?
- smells of novelty and youth, so colorful and full of captivating content;
- focus on photos and videos and less on text, creating an eye-catching environment;
- simple and intuitive, clean pages without keys, secondary screens or invasive chats;
- allows a total focus on the feed, as you have nothing but the other profiles, while Facebook has become increasingly dispersive, including games, groups, chats and more.
Facebook still has its importance, more as a pillar that gives guarantee and reputation to the company, while the strong impact of advertising is increasingly shifting to Instagram.
And if you are a private individual who wants to create his own identity in this cheerful community, you can do it, providing you to do two things: a strong strategy and a lot of consistency, day after day.
Who would love a black and white world?
We don’t judge anyone’s taste, we know that someone would appreciate the world without colors. But on average, colors are loved and have the strength to influence people in their lives.
Needless to say, as soon as a link between color and influence on people was discovered, it jumped into marketing.
Handling? Actually, that’s not the case; although colours have the power to arouse emotions and sensations, they actually accompany everything around them.
Because it is true that orange creates an idea of a cheap product and arouses the urgency of purchase, but it will hardly work on a jacket of 900 euros. In fact, in addition to not working, you will damage the image of the product itself, linking it to a color that transmits low prices, resulting in quality not at the top.
The science behind colors can bring great results if followed properly, transforming a boring and neutral website in a stimulating environment where the customer is encouraged to move.
What do people say about you?
Connected both to the website and the business in general, we now talk about an issue that has been repeatedly reiterated by any expert in the field, both by us and by any other: the reviews are gold.
Reviews have an immense power over the web reputation of their brand, being the opinion of what people have experienced on their skin. And almost every other user will trust these:
- on average 90% of people who buy online will not proceed to buy without consulting the reviews
- and 72% will need from 3 to 7 positive reviews to be really convinced
We therefore need a strategy to know how to have more, real and obviously positive ones.
Check out our in-depth two-part guide to find out how users interact in front of them and how to make more of it over time.
The whole situation under control
Finally, we now move on to the more general point of the matter, namely the top-down view.
It will not be enough to move on social networks, create effective websites, have successful campaigns and people who say good things about you. You’ll have to have general control of everything that’s going on under your own name.
What you need is an web reputation analysis. Thanks to this you can understand:
- the value of the brand;
- what people say and think about it;
- if there are risks of reputational crises;
- if the business is proceeding on the desired path.
Following some of the rules illustrated in the article linked above, accompanied by experts with decades of experience in the field, your online reputation will be in an iron cask.
And the success of the business can then exponentially increase.
