ENTREPRENEURS: being online IS A PROFITABLE BUSINESS
MYTH: “The internet and having a website or social media are not for my company. Look, we’ve been in the market for x years and we haven’t needed it.” – Traditional entrepreneur.
REALITY: “The internet is a tool that directly impacts the productivity, competitiveness, and positioning of companies in Colombia and around the world.” – Visionary entrepreneur.
Without a doubt the internet has revolutionized all our habits. Being “online” is no longer just about being entertained, finding a friend on social media or staying updated with the latest happenings.
Now it has become one of our NEEDS, especially in the business world. We’ve been saying this for many years, but now with the Coronavirus and the quarantine being experienced worldwide, IT HAS BECOME ABSOLUTELY CLEAR:
The internet must be configured as a channel to increase your sales, reach more customers, and generate greater brand recall. In other words, taking your business online IS A NECESSARY INVESTMENT.
Eduardo Santoyo/ General Manager .CO Internet S.A.S
What we are telling you is not made up, digital marketing has found the most effective ways to achieve a positive return on investment (ROI), for example : THE MARKETING AND SALES FUNNEL
However, despite the great opportunity that the internet represents for businesses, by 2015 only 34% of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in Colombia (which are approximately 1.6 million) had a conscious participation in this scenario according to a study conducted by the National Consulting Center.
NOT EVEN 50%!
And I believe that even today, these statistics have not improved much. In fact, I was able to verify this in a digital campaign I conducted for Milmanerasdeviajar.com at the beginning of 2020.
The goal was to bring together entrepreneurs and business owners from the tourism sector in a region in northern Colombia and create synergy with them to position that region on the internet as a recommended vacation destination.
The challenge was huge:
- Most of their businesses did not have a solid digital structure. They only had Facebook, and it was not managed within a digital strategy. Or they had various digital assets that did not communicate with each other…
- But more worryingly, many of the entrepreneurs did not see the importance and necessity of the internet. They literally saw it as an expense, were not very educated about it, and dismissed it instantly without even analyzing what it was about.
The amount of opportunities they were missing was incredible!
Thinking of them and those business owners who consider that the Internet does not apply to their business or do not see its utility as a sales machine, I share these reasons why you should be strategically on the internet.
11 reasons why your company should be strategically online:
- Having a website and a digital marketing strategy is much more economical than setting up and maintaining a physical service location.
- The website is an office open 24/7 that anyone can access from anywhere in the world.
- You have the opportunity to reach more people with a lower investment.
- Implementing ad campaigns through Facebook ADS and Google ADS is more economical and effective than traditional forms of advertising.
- You can open markets in other cities and even in other countries.
- You can get to know your user very well, their tastes, interests, and behavior. This facilitates personalization and decision-making.
- Each of the actions you take on the internet can be measured, therefore, you can improve them
- You can create a semi or fully automated system that works as a sales machine or a constant lead generator.
- You can position your brand and consolidate a community of people who fall in love with your brand through blogs and social media.
- You can have permanent, agile, and two-way communication with your customers.
- The Internet democratized the opportunity to create an online business or adapt to it, no matter if you are an individual, an SME, or a large company, everyone can make the Internet a constant source of income.
WARNING: It’s not about just being on the internet; that would be very irresponsible.
As stated by Rivier Gómez, Manager of the MiPyme Vive Digital program, at the last Enter.Foros meeting in Medellín: “Having a website and being on social media requires equal or even more responsibility than having a physical service location”; it is an issue that requires commitment, discipline, consistency, and STRATEGY; otherwise, it could become an expense and, worse, a risk to your brand’s reputation.
