Whether your business is a small sole trader or, a mum and dad/husband and wife partnership, a growing medium-sized business with both part-time and full-time employees, or a large Australian corporate organisation, internet marketing is an essential tool for today’s growing business, global financial crisis or not.
More than 13 million Australians have access to the internet, and online consumer sales are expected to grow by some 24 per cent annually with predictions of over $30 billion in 2011.
Research revealed online retail shoppers want recognised brands, free delivery, strong after-sale customer support and the latest consumer technology.
Managing customers and sales efficiently and effectively is essential if small businesses are to survive the predicted downturn. One of the areas that is vitally important in this sort of climate is customer resource management (CRM) - the ability to drive new business sales and manage your existing customer base.
Where things will become competitive is the way businesses service their clients and looking after that customer relationship is critical. Technology is a relatively low-cost way to understand how your business is doing and fine-tune it.
It's always best to remember: if you can't measure it, you can't manage it.
Melbourne IT, which started its life 13 years ago as the sole Australian organisation marketing domain names has offered 10 tips to increase your customer base, grow your income and profitability.
- Build a website that sells
- Be seen by potential customers on search engines
- Get an email and collaboration tool
- Save on postage with an email marketing campaign
- Delight your customers with videos, forms, and Google Maps on your website
- Create an e-newsletter
- Build a customer database
- Advertise on Google's 1st page
- Protect your intellectual property on the web
- Capture the export market on the web.
