Staying on top requires your brand to stay on top of your customers mind and constantly be under their preview. If you are effectively able to do this rest is taken care of.
First start with defining your average customer and then jot down the possible online activities he may perform. This may include sites of interest that he may visit, social networking interests, getting required information etc.
Now your job is to effectively be seen at all those places that he visits or gets information from. How to do this?
Feed useful information
Give valuable information which your prospects are looking for, it may even involve partly giving away your otherwise paid service but this will attract more prospects to your business. Information can be in the form of tips, informative articles, sample products, advices, surveys etc. Just remember to add value to whatever you give.
SEO friendly content
Internet users have now come to a stage that even to open a popular site like Yahoo.com they first type Yahoo in Google and then later click the first searched link. To me this is the real impact of search engines on every Internet user. So it's obvious that your prospects more often than not will use a search engine to track down the product or service or information that he is looking for. So create SEO friendly content and do not be left behind. Hire a professional if needed
Writing articles and blogs
This has turned out to be the most powerful crowd puller. Posting informative articles and writing customer friendly blogs is now surveyed as the single best source for pulling traffic to your business. Blogging software like Word Press can be effectively used to write blogs and stay ahead. Articles can also be published in social sites like EzineArticles to get more visibility. So wait no further and get going.
Use social networking
Everyone talks about Twitter, uploading photographs in Flickr, playing games in Facebook, meeting friends on Orkut, uploading videos in YouTube. This is just the beginning of social networking. It is estimated that of the approximate 1.7 billion Internet users around 60% of them regularly visit social networking sites. And most importantly the average age of these visitors is around 32, now this forms a substantial customer base to your company considering their high disposable incomes, an area that you absolutely cannot ignore
Use videos
Make it a regular practice to make a video on anything that can be related to your product, brand, customers, area of expertise, your niche etc. and post it regularly on sites like YouTube. This will give the finest exposure to your brand. You can also get instant and valuable feedback on your products and services
List in popular directories
Identify popular online directories and list your profile, services and offers on a regular basis. This will immensely increase your visibility and promotional value
Devise feedback mechanisms
Collect online feedback on your products and services on a regular basis by conducting surveys, quizzes, direct feedback etc. This will give you the true standing of your business from the customer's point of view. This will directly help you in making necessary and immediate changes to your products/services and make them more customers friendly
Online support
Online presence cannot be complete without a stable online support system. Visitors may seek additional information than what you have provided in your site, blogs and articles. This is where a well maintained support system, like live chat, phone and email support may come in handy. This also play a vital role in closing sales faster
That's it for now.
Sajith Kumar is a freelance copywriter and actively writes for Indian and US based clients. Visit http://www.saleslanguage.com or email to sajith@saleslanguage.com to more know more about his specialized services
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sajith_Kumar
