Developing an Online Presence: Tools for Business Administrators

As consumers continue to use the internet to locate and compare new products and services, it is more important than ever to have a solid online presence. If you don’t invest in your online presence, it is more difficult to attract customers, build your reputation and cultivate a positive public perception.

With that said, sometimes developing your online presence is challenging. Here’s the good news: it doesn’t have to be! On the contrary, there are a few steps to take and a few areas to focus on that can help you develop the online platform you need to boost your business. This article explores how to develop a business’s online model and how business administrators use online platforms to deliver products.

What is a business’s ‘online presence’?

Put simply, an online presence is your reputation and reach online. With a good online presence, you will have an easier time reaching potential new customers. It helps you build your brand and establish your company as an expert in your field so that you can interact with past, present and potential clients.

Are you interested in building an online presence? While we’ll take a look at some specific tools to use when creating your online presence below, it is worth noting that the best way to foster and maintain a healthy presence is to take some classes. A Marymount University DBA in Business Intelligence online, for example, is an excellent way to begin. Universities such as Marymount make it their mission to produce effective and successful business administrators with an eye for online presence building. Marymount’s program has a specific ‘Maximizing Digital Transformation’ course, which develops students’ strategies in digital technologies and examines the principles behind digital business models.

Does establishing and maintaining an online presence help businesses?

You now know what an online presence is, but why is it important? There are many reasons why an ever-increasing number of brands are choosing to emphasize their digital presence. These include:

●Reaching new customers

●Building brand awareness

●Establishing credibility

●Improving customer service

Let’s take a closer look at each of the above.

Reaching new customers

It’s no secret that many people use the internet to find the perfect product or service for their needs. Nearly 80% of consumers examine a company’s online presence before they make a purchase. Instead of being more or less confined to local sellers, it is now typically possible to pick the best provider for the job regardless of where its physical headquarters are located. For both of these reasons, online presence is a crucial part of success in today’s business landscape.

Leveraging channels such as social media, search engines and online directories allows businesses to improve their visibility and, as a result, attract new customers.

Building brand awareness

Building a strong online presence is important for more than just boosting visibility. A growing number of consumers are paying attention to business ethics before they make a purchase. By developing your business’s digital footprint, you have control over what they find when they research your company. You have the opportunity to fine-tune your brand and image so that like-minded customers feel good about supporting you.

It is important to ensure that your brand message is consistent across all digital channels so that potential customers have no problem understanding where your business falls on specific issues or values. 

Establishing credibility

We discussed this briefly above, but customers are always online looking into the product they want to purchase and the brand selling it. In addition to reassuring them that your business adheres to the morals and ethics they find important, building an online presence allows you to establish yourself as an authority in your industry. You are not just another seller, in other words, but rather an expert in the field with the experience necessary to develop quality products or deliver useful services.

Establishing trust with your customers (and potential customers) is an important step toward landing a sale and growing your business.

Improving customer service

The last way that establishing an online presence benefits your business is customer service. Customer service is the backbone of any business. You are only successful when your customers are happy, in other words, so ensuring that they have a quick and easy way to reach out to customer support is critical. Increasingly, this means online. Many customers prefer to talk via live chat or email instead of calling someone and speaking on the phone. This means that if you don’t have a healthy online presence with customer service channels ready, you could be losing out on business.

Customer satisfaction is not an area to gloss over when building your business. On the contrary, you should value your customer service team and make it easy for customers to reach out to them.

How do I build an online presence?

Building an online presence doesn’t have to be difficult. There are a few tools to use when establishing your business online:

●Brand website

●Social media

●Search engine optimization (SEO)

●Email marketing

●Paid ads

●Monitor analytics

The first step is to develop a brand website. This website will serve as the hub of your online presence. A comprehensive website should be user-friendly and visually appealing while also providing visitors with the information necessary to make an informed purchasing decision. Your website should also use SEO to ensure that it is easily discoverable by your potential customers.

The next step is to make a name for yourself on social media. This can include any of the popular (or even niche) platforms, but does not have to include all of them. If your customers and potential customers don’t use Instagram, for example, then it’s fine to let this site go in order to focus more attention and resources on more relevant platforms. The idea behind using social media to build your online presence is simple: connect with your customers and make sure that they know you are an expert in your field. Whether you produce white papers, host a podcast, or post videos about your industry of choice, use social media to promote your content – which, in turn, promotes your expertise in the field.

Email marketing is a reliable way to reach current, past and potential customers. A well-crafted email campaign can really ‘humanize’ your brand and make your customers feel like they’re supporting a home-grown business, even if you’re running a multi-million-dollar corporation. Look into utilizing demographics, such as age and location, to help personalize the way that you interact with customers. Monitoring analytics, in particular, can help you track who opens and reads your emails, who is clicking on the links inside them, and who is making purchases. As a result, you can hone your campaign to get as much interaction as possible.

Along with email marketing, consider utilizing paid ads. These ads typically place your business at the top of a relevant search result so that more people see your business. If you are running a tire repair company, for example, and someone searches ‘new tires near me’, a paid ad could pin your company to the top of the search results list. This, in turn, expands your reach and helps boost your online presence.

 

When building your online presence, the most important thing is to reach out to your customers and audience as often as possible and as authentically as possible. Using the tools that we discussed above can help you dramatically expand your reach and grow your business.

How do business administrators use online platforms?

If you’re trying to run a profitable business, then the chances are good that you’re in the market for a competent business administrator. Business administrators are responsible for a wide variety of tasks. The exact tasks vary from administrator to administrator, but in general include things such as overseeing and supporting teams, implementing and developing plans, problem-solving, meeting goals, and sending deliverables to both clients and higher-ups.

From business emails and video conferencing to online project management, the right digital tools can help businesses grow. There are many different ways that business administrators use online platforms to deliver products. Below, we’ll explore how they enhance product delivery and improve client satisfaction.

Cloud-based office suites

Collaboration is an increasingly crucial part of doing business. Whether you are working closely with clients to develop the perfect service or product or are sharing your documents between departments to ensure that everyone has the chance to contribute and correct information, collaboration is key in many different fields. Cloud-based office suites make it easy to work together.

 

There are a few main benefits to cloud-based office suites. First, files can be shared and stored online, meaning that everyone can have easy access to the most up-to-date files. They also allow you to collaborate in real time, regardless of where you and the other party are located. Finally, cloud-based tools enable you to access files from your mobile device or computer, regardless of where you are. If you have access to the internet, then you can have access to your important files.

Business email

Business email is another tool that allows business administrators to effectively deliver the product or service in question. Professional emails not only look professional but also make it simple to keep correspondence pertaining to projects or other work needs in one place. Some business email providers also allow their users to add members to their teams, which makes it much easier for them to keep in touch while working.

Video conferencing

Video conferencing is an excellent way for business administrators to deliver both updates and final products. It is especially useful for businesses that rely on visuals. Designers or data analysts, for example, might find delivery via video ideal if they cannot meet with their clients or team members in person. With that said, video conferencing is also a great way to interact with clients in just about any field imaginable.

Project management

To deliver the best product or service, business administrators must be able to track their progress, as well as the progress of their coworkers and team members. Online project management software makes it easy to manage tasks for both businesses and clients. Platforms such as Trello, Teamly and Asana make it simple to stay connected with customers and coworkers.

Appointment scheduling

If there is one thing that clients always want more of, it’s your time. Most customers will want to reach out with a question or concern at some point while their order is being fulfilled. Online appointment scheduling offers an easy way to connect. These platforms allow business administrators to keep their clients in the know without requiring lengthy scheduling calls.

Online presence is key

If you’re interested in delivering the best products to customers and attracting as much interest as possible, online presence building is a must. Keep the above tips in mind as you craft your online strategy to boost your image.