Duke Creative, LLC

IN TODAY’S TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN WORLD, traditional sales tactics are gradually becoming a thing of the past. Most small business owners relying on the outdated promotion strategies of door knocking, cold calling, and direct mailing are finding these methods to be fruitless. As the world at large continues to make the move from physical to virtual networking, today’s business owner must seek new venues to connect to potential consumers.

One of the most essential and successful of all sales approaches involves little investment: conversation.

Business owners engage in dialogue with current and prospective customers out of an awareness that conversation drives commerce. In other words, every sale begins with a discussion. In modern terms, finding your audience online and connecting with them repeatedly in conversation through social media can drive your sales to new heights. Your ideal customers may congregate regularly through several of these online social media platforms such as forums, blogs, Facebook or Twitter.

What is your business doing to start conversations?

Are you only using one or two tactics? How effective are your current methods? Has your cold calling market frozen over?

Social media outlets allow you to connect on a more personal level with your current and potential customers. Not only will you acquaint consumers with your brand, your unique selling proposition, and your news, but you will also have the opportunity to listen in on what your customers are saying about you and your competitors. Consumer trend research of this type would have cost your business thousands of dollars only a few years ago. Now all that you require to put this knowledge to work for you is a little time, some free technology, and skilled individuals willing to manage the technology for you. In fact, if your business lacks the time or manpower in-house to keep up with the daily flow of online conversation, this job may be outsourced to others who will keep you continually updated as to what is important to your customers and ultimately to your business.

Whatever strategy you may wish to implement in order to increase sales, be sure to start with a baseline look at your business. How many visits does your website currently receive? How many of those visits convert into sales? What is the average value of a sale? These metrics (and others like them) will be invaluable as you decide on the allocation of your business’s marketing expenses over the next year.

In the business world, knowledge is power.  At this very moment, key business prospects may be discussing your business, your products, and your competitors through online social media, providing powerful insight which could drive your sales to new heights. What is it worth to you to join in their conversations?

Stop missing out on the conversation.  Contact Duke today to find out how we can develop a comprehensive web strategy for your business.