There’s something reliable and much-loved about a local business. It’s small, characterful, and possibly runs in the family, and locals are loyal to their products and services. Nevertheless, local businesses are vulnerable to the market forces that are closing down city-center stores and driving small businesses into the online space. This vulnerability could, in practice, spell the end of the local business that’s not also finding business elsewhere – and that’s where this article comes in. With some simple hints to make your local business sell on a global scale, whether that’s hundreds of dollars or hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock, this article aims to prepare you to go digital, global, and more profitable with your local business.
Set Up Digital Channels
It’s time to turn your physical store into something virtual by uploading your business onto the internet. You can do this in a number of ways, but usually companies would choose to construct a website.html”>well-designed website to promote their business, accompanied by an e-commerce set of sales pages that can help customers easily choose and find the products they’re looking for. You should also take to the social media channels that can help drive business, especially with young people. Your top options here are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube; they’re all excellent for outreach and engagement in the digital age.
Get Digital Marketing
Now is that time for you to invest some cash in marketing your new site, your social media channels, and (most importantly of all) the products you think the global marketplace will value and cherish. Digital marketing is a difficult game to play in by yourself, and you may wish therefore to find specialists in the field, like those at Eventige SEO, who can help you boost the ranking of your site in the eyes of Google’s algorithm, which dictates where your business sits on results pages. Marketing isn’t just about SEO, of course. You might also choose to digitally market by:
Making partnerships with other businesses across the world to cross-promote
Paying for online advertisements on Google and Facebook
Paying a third party to set up targeted adverts to the web users you believe will love your products
Using company data to send out email marketing campaigns to existing customers
Uploading a sales banner and discount code onto your site to encourage sales
Digital marketing is a huge space with plenty of opportunities for those businesses making the shift from the local to the global – you’ll just need to invest your cash wisely.
Logistical Planning
Operating a small local business that sells internationally can be a logistical nightmare. One week, you might sell five products online, while the next you might sell five hundred, and your ability to cope with that scaling is crucial. Make sure you’ve got this logistical side well-oiled and ready to go so that all buyers are able to receive their bought product anywhere in the world within a two-week period. If they don’t get it before then, they’ll likely never trade with you again.
These tips should help any local business with global sales aspirations make the most of the opportunities of the online, e-commerce world.
