“A WEBSITE that looks great but doesn’t do a lot is really just a brochure and it won’t drive much business”.
That’s the view of Eoin McKenna, managing director of Golden Spider-winning web design agency Tribe Digital.
“The example I give to clients is, ‘We’ve built your online store, but it’s as if we’ve built it in the middle of the desert. We now need to tell people about it. We need to build roads to your store,” he says.
“Paid search such as Google Ads is a quick way to get traffic to your site within minutes but other, more guerrilla-like marketing methods on social media can bring the same results for free. But you have to work at it.
“Knowing your customer, hanging out online where they are and using the right tone of voice will bring results.
“The local butcher shares pictures of their beef products to local Facebook groups, and says he hopes everyone is doing okay in these hard times. Members respond warmly, sharing recipes and images of how they have cooked his beef. His video announcing the winner of €50 worth of beef for those who liked and shared his Facebook posts will get hundreds of views.
“No one is really interested in an unimaginative sales pitch. The idea with social media is that you can join conversations other people are having that are relevant to your brand, chipping in in a really relevant way that’s useful to them,” says McKenna.
“The power of recommendation is huge. We won’t buy something until we see someone else has bought it first
“Instagram is another great place to cultivate a community of like-minded people. If someone visits your website, they are interacting with your brand; if they see a Facebook or Instagram post, that’s your brand. It’s important to maintain the same messaging and tone of voice across all these touch points.
“Your posts might not be perfect, but they might be endearing and that will draw customers.”
“The power of recommendation is huge. We won’t buy something until we see someone else has bought it first. That means a review or a testimonial, somebody mentioning on social media that they bought your product or booked your service, linking to your site, works extremely well.”
“Once inquiries and orders start flying in, you need to be responsive. Retailers will be used to spending their time on the shop floor, perhaps responding to emails when there is a lull. Selling online can turn this on its head. Online customers, just like those coming through the door, expect attention.
“If they are going online, it’s not going to be this dream set-up where orders just come in and stuff gets shipped out – it needs to be manned. You need to prepare to resource that side of things,” McKenna explains.
“If online customers don’t get a timely response, they will go elsewhere. Likewise, if you are shipping products, you will need to allocate time to packaging them for dispatch and dealing with returns.
“The explosion in online shopping during the pandemic means more competition among delivery companies. Small business options are available from the usual providers, including An Post, which offers tracked and untracked options for small businesses with an online shop.
“So whether Covid has closed your doors or not, make sure your customers can find you online. Pandemic lockdowns will end, but online shopping is here to stay. In a world where your customers can shop anywhere, Irish small businesses must make it easy for them to shop at home”.
Read the Limerick Post Newspaper’s guide to local retailers HERE
