In my recent travels through London I saw this sign in one of the many H&M stores I visited. My very first thought was Yes! Anything I don’t buy today I can buy online. But being a digital marketer, the message struck a chord with me. Here are the 3 things it made me think:
1. It’s not just fashion that never sleeps
Shoppers are now online at all hours of the day, purchasing everything from books to computers to cars to real estate to anything and everything else in between. And for this reason businesses can’t afford to snooze. If you have a business, you should have a website or an online presence. It’s one way to make sure your business doesn’t miss out on being exposed to the night owls, the stay at home mums, the impulse online shoppers or the person looking for an emergency plumber.
2. Brands need to come to life even after store doors shut for the day
An online presence is an extension of your shop front and can help assist in making sure you don’t miss out. In order to stay competitive it is essential that you are available even after your business’s doors close for the day. You should have a presence on the web so that customers, potential employees and business partners can quickly and easily find out more about your business and the products or services you have to offer. Sometimes people may be looking for something as simple as your location or operating hours. Having this information easily accessible when your phones are unattended and your receptionist has finished for the day can mean that you are still providing the information that people are searching for.
3. How can businesses do it well?
It’s one thing to be online, but are you getting found? Are you providing your visitors with the right information? Are they having a good user experience and finding it easy to get in touch with your business? These are all important factors to consider when building out your online presence. SEO, live chat, informative social media channels and claimed local listings are all digital marketing tools that can assist.
Hopefully, these three points have given you some inspiration in making sure your business doesn’t sleep, but like H&M, gets found online with a great online presence and digital marketing.