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We’ve already talked about What’s the biggest challenge for most businesses when going online in this article, so today we will go a little bit further into the subject.

The digital marketing era is here to stay. If we want to increase our chances to sell more and become great brands within our niche, we must have a strong digital presence. Otherwise, we will be leaving money on the table.

However, it is a challenge for most businesses to step into the digital world.

But why is that?

Is it because there are too many things to worry about?

Because they do not see the importance of it?

They think they are doing “fine” or “okay”.

What’s the biggest challenge for most businesses when going online?

From Inspiral, we want to add our insight to this topic and help others understand the value and the importance of taking your business from the traditional world to the digital era.

More than just “one big”, we think is more about a series of misconceptions that lead to wrong beliefs about the digital world. Let us dig further into this theme.

Thinking the digital world works the same as the “physical world”

If we were to highlight the “biggest” challenge, we would say this is the one. Conventional businesses tend to think that the principles and variables from the “physical world” are the same as the digital ecosystem.

They are not the same. They do not work the same way.

It is crucial for businesses looking to go online to understand this is a different type of environment and that people nowadays are looking for different things. Let us illustrate this with an example:

You have a restaurant that is very famous within a community. Perhaps you think that going online for you would be as easy as launching a website and opening some social media profiles. After all, your restaurant is very famous and has a privileged location. Yet, when you open your social media, nobody follows your account; nobody interacts with the content on your website.

Why? Probably because you are thinking people will go to your digital channels the same way they had been going to your physical location over the years.

Sadly, there is no such thing as privileged locations in the digital world. You must earn your visibility and awareness. Search engines and social media profiles have their own set of rules you must play for if being successful is the goal.

Having the “it is free” mentality.

This is a derivative from the last point. Having a physical location costs “real money” right? You have to pay bills and employees, rent, and so on.

But opening some social media profiles and even a basic website costs you nothing. Since it is for free, you do not put in any extra work; any extra effort to optimize those profiles and make the most out of the tools you have available.

And these days, we have so many tools, right? Phones with top-of-the-line cameras, high-speed internet, wifi almost everywhere, several social media platforms, etc.

In the end, nothing is really for free. The bill always comes, and somebody has to pay it. Make sure you do not pay for it with time-wasting strategies.

Just like in the real world, you have to spend some money to make money. You have to do social media and SEM ads; you have to spend money on your website to keep it optimized; you need to have an SEO strategy or pay someone to draw it for you, and so on.

Focusing ONLY on selling.

We understand that, for most business owners, the main concern will always be sales.

It is very common for traditional businesses to grasp the importance of search engine marketing and how it helps you sell more and then go online thinking only about selling.

However, as we said before, the digital ecosystem has different rules. People care about the community, quality content, good reviews from other members/users, experiences, and feelings.

If you want people to buy things from you, you first need to give them a reason why. In other words, you must give before you ask.

You have to spend time and resources on building your space, your community.

• Give them quality content.
• High-quality photos and designs.
• Great customer experience and service (they are not the same)
• Be transparent.
• Answer their questions.
• Be there for them.

You are not doing this “for free”. You are doing it because it needs to be done before asking people to trust your product or service. The selling process will always be a contract between two parts. Be sure to keep your side of the arrangement.

If you are thinking about going online or enhancing your digital presence, Inspiral is the place for you. We understand the significance of building something with your hands and wanting everybody to see it.

You have a voice, and we will help you find it to step firmly into the digital jungle. We hope we’ve helped you understand more about what’s the biggest challenge for most businesses when going online.

Growing is a path. Take it with us.