21 January 2022
By Roger Kennedy
roger@TheCork.ie
According to a recent report, the past few years have been more profitable than ever for online businesses. This growth can likely be attributed to changes in consumer behaviour and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, one thing is clear: ecommerce businesses will continue to thrive into 2022. That being said, your business will not survive on its own merits, and even the biggest companies in the world need to put effort into their growth if they want to stay afloat.
Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
With that in mind, here are some top tips that you can use to grow your online business in 2022 (and beyond).
- Set up a virtual address. One of the biggest issues that online businesses face, particularly during their infancy, is establishing credibility in the market. After all, customers cannot see your products in person until after they have made a purchase, meaning a certain level of trust must be built up ahead of time. One way in which you can do this is by using business address services to set up a virtual address for your business. Not only does this prove that you are a reputable company, but it also gives customers a physical address to direct mail or payments towards.
- Work on your branding. No matter what industry you work within, your ability to market your brand is often the difference between success and failure. As a result, you should ensure that you work on developing your branding as much as possible so that you are able to stand out from the crowd of other online businesses.
- Work on your website. One of the easiest ways in which you can grow your online business in the new year is by improving your business website. After all, in the absence of a storefront or workspace that clients can visit, your website takes its place and, as such, impacts how customers perceive your brand. A poorly designed website will most likely fail to bring in any income, as it will drive customers away instead of bringing them in.
- Learn more about SEO. Once you’ve given your website a bit of an upgrade, it’s important that you ensure your content is also up to speed. For example, you should ensure that any products that are no longer stocked (or sold out) do not feature on your website, as this will only lead to frustration when customers try to put an order in. Additionally, you should also ensure that you are making the most of SEO tricks and tactics to improve your website traffic and ranking.
- Work on your ‘virtual’ customer service skills. When running a business, you must be able to connect with your customers – which can be that much harder when you are working from behind a screen. That being said, you must still ensure that you give your customer service the human touch. Thankfully, there are various ways in which you can do this – many of which are relatively straightforward. For example, greeting customers by name when responding to emails or messages is a lot more personable than a generic greeting.
- Brush up on your remote working skills. While remote working became popularised during the pandemic, it does come with its own complications. For example, it can sometimes be hard to focus when you are sitting at home and surrounded by distractions. As a result, it’s vital that you take this time to brush up on your remote working skills so that you can continue to drive your business growth in the new year.
- Expand your team. Despite popular misconception, running an online business is just as (if not more) difficult than running a physical one – which means that as your business grows, so will your workload. This means that you’ll be unable to handle all of this work independently and should begin to expand your team accordingly. Ideally, your hiring strategies should focus on welcoming team members into your company who bring something new to the table. For example, if you’re a product design-whizz but don’t know a thing about social media, you might want to bring in a social media manager.
- Use social media to your advantage. Another way in which you can start to grow your business is through your social media presence. While you may currently only use social media in your personal life, your presence on these platforms could be integral to your success, especially when you consider the fact that 1 in 4 adults use social media to shop online. It’s worthwhile to have some kind of presence across all of the major platforms; you should focus on those that your target audience use most frequently.
- Ask your customers for feedback. Whenever you look over your website of products, it’s likely that you will view them in a much more positive light or regard than others. After all, this is your business. However, this positivity may not always be reciprocated with your customers – meaning that it’s crucial that you not only seek out their feedback but put it into action when necessary. Again, there are plenty of ways in which you can ask for this feedback. For example, you could host focus groups or send out follow up emails whenever a customer makes a purchase.
- Put the work in. The easiest way in which you can grow your business is to simply put in the workday in and day out. Running your own company is not a part-time adventure, and while you should allow yourself some time for rest and relaxation, you should ensure that your eyes always remain on the prize. Set yourself weekly and monthly goals and do whatever it takes to achieve them.
In short, there are various tips and tricks you can use to take your business to new heights in 2022. However, it’s important to note that this list is by no means exhaustive – and you should always be on the lookout for the next step you can take in order to succeed.
