North Carolina has a lot to offer in terms of natural beauty and culture. The most famous state symbol, the Mount Everest, is actually a volcano. There are a few million people that call North Carolina home, and many of them are online shoppers. If you want to reach more customers, especially those that are living in the state, you need to set up shop online.

Build A Brand

One of the first things you need to do to reach more customers online is to establish a brand. You can take your pick from a variety of famous brand names when it comes to establishing a brand – Pepsi, Coke, Red Bull, etc. Whatever you decide, make sure that it is easy for customers to identify with your brand.

When potential customers find your brand online, they will often see other companies’ logos and think that your brand is just a copycat or a smaller fish in a bigger pond. You need to establish yourself as a serious contender in your industry. Nobody wants to do business with a brand they think isn’t taking them seriously. You can use several tactics to make sure that customers identify your brand as the one they need to deal with. For example, you can

• create a sense of urgency around your brand by offering limited time deals or discounts
• establish yourself as an industry expert by frequently updating your blog with helpful articles
• get noticed by potential customers by participating in industry-related groups on social media (e.g. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook)
• get noticed by potential customers by creating a compelling online store experience
• establish your product’s benefits (e.g. Pepsi’s ‘Zero Calories’ claim or Coca-Cola’s ‘Drinkable Sunshine’ capsule)
• create a clear call to action in your offers (e.g. ‘Order now’ versus ‘Check out our website’
• make it easy for customers to understand how to get what they want by providing clear photos and descriptors
• offer free shipping if they order online (e.g. Amazon and eBay)

Grow Your Audience

You never know how many people you will reach with your content, so the more the merrier. To grow your audience, you need to participate in as many platforms as possible. While some people are content to sit back and let the internet do the work for them, you need to be actively participating in social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram to get the most out of them. You should also be establishing an online store as we mentioned before, but you can’t forget about Facebook either.

If you are running an e-commerce store, establish yourself as an expert in your industry by frequently updating your blog with helpful articles. Many online stores suffer from information overload – your customers will feel overwhelmed with too much information about your products. Make sure to regularly provide them with helpful content that will keep them coming back for more.

Getting noticed online is easy, but it takes time. The more you put in, the more you will get back. If you are wondering how to get noticed quicker, you can consider some of the free tools available online. For example, you can create a simple blog in less than 10 minutes with the Bluehost web hosting platform. Then you can use the free Google Analytics platform to track website traffic and gain insight into the performance of your online property. If you want to take your blog to the next level, you can consider purchasing a premium theme from a reliable source like ThemeForest.

Build Trust

Having a trustworthy brand is a huge factor in your online success. Whether you sell your own products or use a third-party service to help with the shopping experience, your customers have to feel confident that what they are doing is safe. You can gain credibility by providing a safe and secure way for customers to conduct their business with you.

Establishing a physical address for your brand is also a good idea. This will help customers feel that they are dealing with a legitimate business. If you have a store, they can also come into contact with one of your employees who can answer any questions they may have. In today’s digital world, it is easy for customers to find your competitors’ websites and compare them to what you are offering. If they feel that what you are offering is not worth what your competitors are offering, they will quickly move on to the next prospect and leave you in the dust. Give your customers a reason to stay and trust you; establish a brand that they can feel confident in.

Use Digital Marketing Techniques

As we mentioned before, North Carolina is home to many online shoppers, and they are looking for products that they can get at a good price. This is where you come in. What you need to do is to find the right balance between driving traffic to your site and converting it into paying customers. You can use several digital marketing techniques to achieve this.

The most popular one is SEO, or search engine optimization. This involves making sure that your website shows up in Google when potential customers search for the keywords or phrases you are targeting. For example, lets say you want to sell running shoes online. Potential customers will type in ‘running shoes’ into the Google search bar, and your website will show up in the results – if it isn’t showing up now, you need to do some SEO work. The same goes for any other niche you are entering – make sure that your website shows up when potential customers search for ‘your niche’ keywords or phrases. This will drive a lot of organic traffic to your site. When you have an audience, you can use SEM, or search ads, to further grow your audience.

Blogs and social media platforms can be incredibly effective when used right. Established brands like Pepsi and Coke use this medium to great effect, frequently engaging with their audience on platforms like Twitter.

Make Sure To Measure The Results Of Your Campaign

Finally, don’t be afraid to measure the results of your campaign. If you want to grow your audience, you need to make sure to track the effects of your work. The easier way to do this is through analytics platforms like Google Analytics. What this will do is allow you to track the traffic to your site and measure its success. For example, if you wanted to track the results of ‘running shoes’ in terms of getting you customers, you would enter this keyword into the Google Analytics platform. Then you can see the effect of this campaign in terms of the types of shoes and brands your audience is interacting with.

Creating an effective SEO strategy for your brand takes time, and it is very important that you put in the correct keywords and phrases. The harder you work, the more you will see results. Make sure to track the results of your work and revisit your strategy if you want to see further success.