"When you're finished changing, you're finished." -Ben Franklin
Online Presence
the trend of businesses moving from offline to online was accelerated by at least 5x because of Covid. This was a trend that had already been going on for a decade. Traditional brick-and-mortar businesses like restaurants, yoga classes, exercise programs, cafes, and bars started realizing that they needed a strong online presence to compete.
The things that make a brick-and-mortar business successful translate really well to doing business online. Let's look at a few and see how they translate:
Having a good reputation
Get your customers to give you reviews online
Having great branding
We're assuming you have a strong brand for your physical presence. If so then by all means bring it online and people will love it even more. If your physical branding is a little lackluster, then maybe time for a refresh.
Have a clear message (value prop)
Don't loose sight of why people come to you. Get good at understanding what your key value prop is (it's what distinguishes you from your competition). Make sure it's clearly communicated online.
Understand your audience
The main thing to remember here is that if you have customers that love what you do and want to pay you for in-person physical goods and services, chances are you can either move sales online or make an online version of the experience (even restaurants can have a great online experience).
Online Strategy
So how do you get a great online presence? With a strategy of course.
When trying to figure out your online strategy ask yourself "How can I add more value to your customers with your online presence"
SEO
Makes it easy for your customers to find you
Social Media
Gets the word out about what you do.
Digital Marketing
like fishing for new customers, when you get good at it you can target them better.
Case Study - Unity Jiu Jitsu
A good example of a job we've done recently to help a company go from brick-and-mortar to online is Unity.
We've been helping Unity with their branding and online presence for years, but when Covid hit, they were still a bit behind some other fitness startups we work with in that they had no online product, just in-class bjj sessions. So when the world shut down during Covid, Unity Jiu Jitsu stopped being able to interact with their customers.
A lot of businesses just curled up in a ball and hoped for the best. Not Unity, they took this downtime as an opportunity to create an online training platform for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Condensed is a big part of our business because all the artwork, merchandise, and designs that we’ve been doing stem from our website and brand. They’ve done a great job right from the beginning. Anytime we think something isn’t working for us or is confusing, they have a solution. They’ve been a great part of our business’ success.
Ana Lowry - Co-founder Unity Jiu Jitsu
