With the advent of Artificial intelligence, robotics and intelligent technologies, it is no doubt that more businesses will be affected with these advancements. Will an existing pattern of managing business particularly small and medium scale business stand the litmus test challenge technology has brought to the table?
With the current dynamics and unstable economy across the globe, a business owner is saddled with the responsibility of being proactive and vigilant to the times and changes in the business world.
It is no business as usual, as the parameters for measuring business advancements are becoming more sophisticated. What then is the plight of a budding business owner? How can one get ahead despite the unpredictable business world and become a brand with a unique identity?
Creating a niche for one’s business as an entrepreneur is not a walk in the park. It requires persistence and willingness to do due diligence towards positioning one’s business in an evolving world.
Having a defined brand sells a business faster than any form of marketing strategy. How does an entrepreneur creates a Visible brand that gets attention at all times?
Companies like Alibaba, as taken up the challenge to adopt these approach in order to scale up and deliberately position His brand for what the future holds.
Here are what makes you stand out as a new or existing MSMES despite the dynamics in the business world.
- Put your business in your target audience face consistently: Branding is crucial for every business. However, before you can form a strong brand image, you first need to make sure that your brand is visible to the right audience. This is a key precondition when it comes to generating engagement. Having branded content to one’s audience once per week is twice as visible as another company that only shows branded content to its audience every other week. When someone recognizes a need in their business, they’re much more likely to reach out to someone they already feel familiar with and have a level of connection.
- Engaging Content: As a follow-up with the former, branded content should involve the target audience and move them from observer to participant. Get them salivating for more information and values that would improve their lives. Keep track of the number of people who engage with your brand across social networks.
- Ask for Feedback: The success of your business is as good as the feedback you get from your client. Having your customer rate your goods and services gives you an avenue to make them involved in the affairs of your business. This is a higher level of engagement. Respond to questions, highligh unique user-generated content, and reply to comments or reply to your tweets or posts. Your followers should feel like they’re interacting with you rather than merely reading your content.
- Run Contests or Giveaways: An interesting way to increase your brand visibility is to get your audience to share content for you. Contests and giveaways are straightforward ways to generate large amounts of social media traffic. Furthermore, the cost of a prize for the winner is quite less in comparison with free exposure you’ll get from social shares. For example, points could be awarded based on number of shares, likes e.t.c.
- Have a ‘growth’ mindset: Growth is a crucial aspect of every business. It is important that SMEs drive growth which in turn increases revenue and expands clientele size through skills and knowledge advancements. A striving business is hinged on a resilient mandate of improving consistently no matter how well its income statement is.
- Use referral programs at intervals: Considering the high lead acquisition costs of most B2B fields, referral programs are an efficient way to bring in new customers. You can use feedback from NPS (net promoter score) surveys to identify the customers who are most likely to make referrals.
- Be prepared for ‘Change’: Regardless of how well or how much a business is struggling, being prepared for a shift should be part of the building block of an emerging SMEs. The pandemic brought about a paradigm shift that we are yet to recover. Business operations had to adjust and businesses that were rigid only counted losses. Get a futuristic binoculars that captures beyond the present and be flexible with the structure of your business. Embrace technology. Seek better ways in solving problems with less hassle.
Positioning your business in an evolving space is quite tough and will take steps but these tips will help put you in the right direction.
Janet Oluwatosin Olowoyeye is a business enthusiast, communicator, researcher and writer . She can be reached via email : [email protected]
