Engaging Your EcoSystem in Online Marketing

Owners, employees, customers, creditors, and vendors are all part of the ecosystem of a small business. You rely on the relationships to build your business. The question is, how to get everyone to buy into your online marketing plan. For me, the most important groups that must engage in your online marketing plan are the customers and the employees. It is great to have your vendors and creditors involved on your website and social media accounts, however it is not imperative.

Offering good content to your current customers will result in them sharing the content on social media which will reach all of their friends. The friends will then view the content and can be converted to new customers. This cycle will continue to revolve and continuously provide access to new customers.

The customers are the most important group. Customers are the ones that can advocate for your business. By talking about you on social media and leaving positive reviews for your business they are helping to build you a positive online reputation. For example, if they like you on Facebook, all of their friends see that they liked your company. This will hopefully lead to their friends also considering doing business with you. Additionally, if they write a positive review for you on a site such as Yelp, or Tweet about your business, they are also helping to show potential customers that others have had a positive experience with you. For centuries businesses have built leads through referrals.

Now with the technology we have we can reach even more people. The question is how to ensure your customers are engaging with your business through social media. There are a variety of ways to do so, all of which will help online marketing. The first is through accessibility. Integrate social media applications into your business website. Ensure you have the social plugins for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and any other social media applications you have. Another way to get customers to engage in your online marketing plan is to offer them discounts. Offer a discount or a free item to any customer that likes you on Facebook, give an incentive for following your business on Twitter, offer them a chance to sign up for company newsletters. There are endless ways to get customers involved, share your thoughts with us as small business owners often have the best ideas.

Getting your employees involved with social media and online marketing is also key. They need to understand and follow what is being said about your small business online so they too can react to it, answer questions, and learn from criticism. I suggest that at least once a month small businesses should have a company meeting to discuss their online marketing campaign. During downtime, have your employees go online and post updates to Facebook, Google+, Twitter. Or you can even just have them browse your websites and social media accounts so they can answer questions about your content.

The more people you get involved, the better presence you will have, and the more beneficial this will be to your online marketing plan. Contact us for some more information and make sure to check back for weekly tips about online marketing.