5 Steps to Utilize Internet Technology for your Business

Today, the Internet has helped solve most of the challenges involved with starting a business. Gone are days when entrepreneurship was an incredibly complicated affair. It’s no longer a requirement that you should have millions of dollars and networks before you can start a business.

Many people have started businesses online with a handful of dollars. To make it more interesting, people with limited business knowledge have managed to set up enterprises in the digital space.

So how do people utilize the internet to start and grow their businesses?
According to Samantha Harrington, a guest contributor at Forbes, she does 80 percent of her job online. When she started, her team conducted a market research online. Samantha focused on building a social media presence and sent hundreds of emails to potential clients.

The Internet has made fundraising simpler. Through crowdfunding, startups can secure the resources they need to scale up. It has simplified the process of starting businesses and scaling them up.

The Internet powers millions of businesses. In case you are wondering how this technology can help your business start or grow, here are some ways through which you leverage the World Wide Web for your enterprise.

1- Market Research

Most businesses provide solutions to various problems. Before you start a business, you need to prove that the problem you are solving exists. Market studies are an efficient way of testing whether a particular problem exists. Enterprises can utilize the Internet to obtain data from as many people as possible.

Once you’ve identified that a problem is present, you also need to ascertain whether the problem is big enough to support your business.

With services such Google Forms, an entrepreneur can quickly create surveys which they can share out through emails, social media or texts. A comprehensive study should include demographic data.

2- Build a website and establish social media presence.

Any business that is keen on competing in the digital age requires a site. There are a lot of service providers who offer cheaper and more accessible ways to a business website. To set your enterprise’s website, you will require a web hosting service and a Content Management System. A CMS will help you organize your enterprise data for viewing by your customers.

If you have a professional background in Web development, you can create your enterprise website without the need of a CMS. Ensure that your site communicates to your clients. Also, provide a way through which your customers can give you feedback. A website will help you acquire new customers.

Once you’ve identified the target market for your business, use social media to reach out to them. Facebook pages and Twitter accounts can help your enterprise reach a broader clientele. The more you interact with people who’ve shown interest in your products, the more you are likely to win them over. Engage your audience frequently with information about your products and services.

Social media is one of the biggest drivers of organic traffic to your website. When done correctly, social media publicity will attract more customers to your business.

3- E-commerce Services

According to Bill Gates, you cannot talk about the Internet meaningfully without talking business.

Enterprises can rely on information technologies to offer a modern shopping experience to the customers. Giant corporations such as Amazon have grown significantly because of E-commerce.
Once a business has defined its product, it can offer the product to customers through e-commerce. Studies have revealed that more people prefer online shopping because it’s flexible.

4- Get peer reviews and customer feedback in real-time.

The use of crowd-sourced reviews is the most straightforward technique through which small businesses with limited marketing capabilities become popular. Most people believe the opinion of other consumers on a given product.

Customer reviews have a significant impact on your business. They help you establish the needs of the customers. Peer reviews push companies to maintain their reputation by offering quality services.

A business can leverage review platforms such as Yelp to boost its online reputation. The marketing team of a company can also get a chance to respond to queries raised by customers through comments.

5- Track the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

When you use a marketing technique such as a TV ad, there is a good chance you will not get detailed analytics. You won’t know the exact number of people who viewed the advertisement and whether it resulted in actual sales.

Analytics tools on the internet offer detailed information on the number people who viewed your ad, the time they saw it, and their location. This information is essential when you’re examining the effectiveness of your advertisement campaigns.

To build a disruptive business, startups must leverage the power of the web. According to Andrew Grove, future leaders in the corporate world will be internet companies.