Eight Ways to Stand Out as a Business Online

Standing out as a new business isn’t easy, here are 8 ways to stand out as a business online to help your business succeed.

Standing out as a business was always important, but nowadays, you don’t have the same ability to rely on foot traffic as you used to. Today, all businesses, both online and brick-and-mortar, need to stand out online. They need to connect better with their local customers and, in general, do their best to win the hearts of their customers to encourage ongoing, repeat business. 

There are bills to pay. Some costs just seem to keep going up. You need to permanently rethink your business strategy because succeeding in 2020 is the perfect way to future-proof your business. 

There are so many ways you can stand out from your competitors but aim to start with these eight methods. They are your foundations, and they will help you stand firm and thrive. 

1. Communication 

Communication is one of the most natural things in the world, and with all the tech and tools we have at our disposal, it should be easy. Unfortunately, not all businesses have got on board. You need to do more than just answer phones. You need to be efficient with processing, you need to keep in touch, and you need to offer all correspondence with personalization. 

2. Be Efficient and Fast with Work Orders 

Today, almost all businesses will be dealing with some form of online order. This may be for a product or service, but either way, you need to process that order and get it on its way to your customer, fast. If you cannot do fast, then you must do it consistently. Have a cutoff for orders. This way, anyone who made an order before the cutoff will have their product or service shipped to them on one date. If they ordered after the cutoff, they would get their product on the second date. 

3. Keep in Touch With Your Customers 

There are so many instances where your customers will want to be kept in touch. If you have shipped them a product, then they will want to be kept in the loop of where it is and, ideally when to expect their package. If you have a member of your team making a house call, then they should be updated when the tech has been dispatched and when they are set to arrive (try to make this as accurate as possible). 

These sorts of solutions will need the right software. Tracking software and a great shipping partner are key when it comes to product shipment, but what about managing a remote team? For that, you will want to invest in service dispatch software. It will allow you to assign work orders to your team without schedule conflicts, send out dispatch notifications and updates automatically, and even use GPS features so that your customers are wowed, and your employees are efficient. 

4. Offer Personalization in Correspondence 

Providing live updaters isn’t the only way you should work to keep in touch with your customers. You will also want to offer personalized correspondence (this is typically done through email or text). At the very least, personalized correspondence should contain their name. If you can, however, provide custom discounts, shopping suggestions, reminders, special sale invitations, and more. 

You need to give customers a reason to accept ongoing emails from you, so figure out your price point and how you can offer them this value in ways that encourage an increase in revenue for the lowest cost. 

5. Diversify Income Streams 

The next few tips to help you stand out and stand strong as a business relate to diversifying your business model. By expanding your services, you can bring in a greater customer population and encourage existing customers to buy or hire you repeatedly because they know you, trust you, and offer multiple solutions. 

6. Collaborate with Small Businesses and Artists 

Diversifying your income is a smart way to survive as a business, and it’s also how you can stand out. If you are a restaurant, you can work with local artists so that they can sell their plates, mugs, and homeware through your online store. You get a small percentage, and give your customers reasons to return to your online site again and again and hopefully order another food kit or meal. 

This solution works with almost every business type. Plumbers can change their site so that they also sell taps and showers. You don’t have to provide or keep this stock on hand. Simply by partnering with a local plumbing store, you can earn a small commission and work to become a one-stop-shop. The best part? It works both ways. Local businesses that advertise your services as the go-to plumber to install their products can get a small commission for referring you, and in turn, you get more work. 

7. Online Content for Additional Value 

To see more sales, you need new and existing customers to visit your website often. Rotating artist and local business products can do this, but it’s a good idea to go one step further. Create how-to guides, style inspiration, offer online classes, and more. For more premium website content, like those online classes, you can even offer paid. Just remember to also have free, valuable content to keep customers visiting your site often. The more they visit, the more likely they will buy from you. 

8. Become a Community Hub 

Not all businesses suit becoming a community hub, but if you operate locally, there are opportunities available to you. By working with other businesses in your area, you can work to create a newsletter that outlines all there is to do, from sales to events (digital or otherwise) to online classes and beyond. You can do this for free, as it is a great way to build up a massive mailing list of your customers, or you can do it for a small fee. You’ll reach so many of your customers, be able to help your whole community, and boost your own sales. Such an initiative is a great way to showcase your commitment to your community and your customers and how you can stand out as a business. 

Starting a business is the easy part, finding ways to stand out as a business will prove to be a difficult task. The 8 tips will help you focus on the essentials to make sure your business stands out online. For more insight on how to market your business, bookmark this blog.