Businesses face many challenges on the road to success. Standing out in a sea of competitors is one of the primary goals of businesses in a saturated market. For businesses in Australia, the struggle remains the same. Differentiating the business and creating a unique presence in the Australian market is difficult, but not impossible. With the help of statistical analysis and proper business practices, any business can potentially increase their presence and attract more consumers. Below are a few practices that would help Australian businesses prosper and differentiate themselves from competition in the market.
Establish A Presence On Instagram
Social media platforms are essential parts of any digital marketing strategy. Every Australian business should have a foothold in social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter. This is the case for most businesses nowadays, regardless of their size. Unfortunately, getting up-to-speed with new trends is not a strong point for most businesses. While they might be utilizing some of the most popular social media platforms, they aren’t entering new ones that have gained traction.
Such is the case with Instagram. This platform is popular among all demographics, but it’s especially important for younger audiences. It’s also a marketing goldmine, as 60% report that Instagram has helped direct them towards products and services that they needed. It’s a staggering number that shows the true potential of advertising on Instagram.
What makes it so effective is the massive presence on the platform. Users spend an average of 21 minutes on Instagram every single day. This might not seem like such a large number at first, but it’s the average out of all the users on the platform. Even some of the less-interested individuals spend a ton of time browsing Instagram. It’s more than enough time to go through dozens of advertisements.
Ads are quite subtly-woven into the core feed of Instagram, making them more attractive and engaging. Hence why such a large percentage of users end up checking them out and finding products. The algorithm used to direct users based on their preferences helps as well. It’s a great way to match the wants and needs of users with the needs of businesses advertising.
Secure A Business-Relevant Domain
Most businesses will aim to register their website on a generic top-level domain (TLD) because they believe it’s the most effective way to increase their presence on search engines. This is a common misconception that only ends up costing businesses more in the long run.
There are only so many unique domain names that you can use to register your website. Creating a unique name becomes even more difficult when your business already has a short name. Because of this, outright buying a top-level domain to match your business will be costly. Searching for .com or country-equivalent TLDs is not an absolute necessity.
New and business-related top-level domains aren’t penalised by Google in any way, nor are the less desirable for consumers. A majority of domains are registered as .com variants, and estimates put it at around 40% of total domains. This can paint a deceiving picture of what businesses need. You can just as easily create a business with a domain that features your market as an extension. This allows you to avoid exorbitant domain name costs while also being able to choose a unique and accurate domain name.
Acquire Natural Backlinks
Backlinks are the backbone of every SEO strategy. Backlink numbers have the highest correlation to website traffic out of all SEO metrics. You want to draw users to your website organically, and this requires interactions with the rest of the web. When your pages and content are featured on other websites and social media platforms, you can acquire more backlinks. This is a difficult task that requires proper optimisation for both content and websites.
No backlinks means no business. Around 66% of websites don’t have a single backlink, which leads to no traffic at all. Without referring domains, you aren’t likely to get natural traffic and you allow competition in the market to establish a strong hold. This means you won’t have consumers that are interested in your products and services.
This often leads businesses toward purchasing backlinks. While it may seem like a good way to acquire lots of backlinks from the start, it’s not exactly a clean practice. Google considers backlinks “votes” for a website, which is why buying backlinks is considered a kind of vote manipulation. Organic backlinks are seen as good for traffic and SEO, while bought ones are looked at unfavourably. You can even be penalised by Google if you resort to buying backlinks.
Instead of doing this, you should focus on creating attractive and shareable content and web pages that feature things users are interested in. A strong social media presence is just as important, as social media is a goldmine of backlink generation. Make sure you utilise these platforms to spread your content and create more backlinks.
Market Strategically Online – Stand out from the Competition in the Market
Marketing is a crucial part of doing business, especially on online platforms. Online and ecommerce businesses in Australia heavily invest in marketing campaigns that will secure them increased traffic and conversions. Quality products and attractive advertisements are the core of these marketing campaigns, but they quickly prove to be inadequate.
To gain a foothold in online markets, Australian businesses must practice proper SEO for their websites and pages. Many marketers have caught on to this requirement. It’s estimated that around 64% of marketers invest in SEO practices to improve their business’s rankings and stand out from competitors in the market.
Improving SEO requires extensive knowledge and experience in the field. Google introduces changes to its search engine algorithm on a regular basis, meaning that this must be actively monitored for adequate results. This often proves to be too much for Australian businesses to handle on their own, which is why they can employ an SEO agency to handle their online marketing strategies. With assistance from outsider experts, businesses can divert more resources to other parts of their marketing strategy and apply them without delays.
Improve Customer Feedback
Far too many businesses only focus on the transactional aspect of their work. If you’re able to make sales in the short term, this is seen as a success. However, looking out for the short-term is not necessarily good business practice. You need to be able to retain customers and keep them engaged with your brand in order to see better progress compared to your competitors in the market.
Customer feedback and support is a big part of proper business practices in today’s market. There’s no opinion that should interest you more than your customers’. While they might not know what’s best for the business, they know what their wants and needs are. This can help you determine how to expand your business further.
While most customers don’t voice their complaints, they most certainly voice their wants, in some way, shape, or form. This is something you can figure out through purchase numbers. If a product or service offers something different compared to similar iterations, and it sells better, this is a surefire sign that this feature is crucial to consumers. Others will take to social media and express their needs. This is another reason to actively monitor your social media.
Surveys have shown that customer support and feedback is something that customers appreciate greatly. Quality customer service was considered the deciding factor for 66% of consumers in a 2017 survey. This number is projected to rise, which is why businesses are investing in and improving their customer service and carefully listening to feedback.
Conclusion
The deciding factor for the popularity and influence of a business is strategy. Having a sound marketing and business strategy allows businesses to better acquaint themselves with the wants and needs of consumers, while also creating a stronger brand. With the help of the aforementioned business practices, this can be achieved with minimal effort.
For some tips on standing out from the competition in the market and how you can get your business found online, check out these recent Marketing.com.au articles: