A couple of years ago, we had engaged a business school graduate as
part of her summer internship project to undertake a feasibility study
on the usage of social media (facebook, twitter, linkedin) in business
markets. The final recommendations were interesting. Majority of the
companies and individuals found in these channels were of profiles
similar to ours - looking for customers and business opportunity, while
the traditional business houses and owners spent time managing ir their
operations rather than spending time on new media related activities.
During the early part of my career, being among the
first to adopt Internet in this part of the country, I used to speak to a
few of my "brick and mortar" clients about its potential, who
hushed it as another "fashion" that would slowly fade away. Ironically,
some of these clients are no longer in business because their markets
died or they lacked innovation.
One of my greatest joys of embracing the Internet during its early
stage has been the exposure to international markets and clientile. The
learnings from servicing these clients were challenging and applying
some of the best practices in our backyard helped in acquiring domestic
clients as our economy grew at a blistering pace.
The importance of a website as an effective tool are often ignored
by small businesses. The global opportunities are tremendous for
companies in Malabar region, be it modern or traditional medicine, arts
and crafts, hospitality, natural products and others alike.
Currently in Europe, half the google search traffic originates from
handheld devices. Although Internet penetration in India is lower than
that of our friendly neighbours, the platform for growth is visible,
primarily due to the explosive numbers in the mobile connections and the
introduction of Android / Apple smart phones and tablets, which will in
the near future replace the desktop as the primary search device.
Internet can certainly cut time, costs and sales cycles, hence no
business whether big or small can afford to ignore its potential to be
left out for competition to swallow. As traditional market places get
more commoditised, it is imperative that businesses leverage the power
of the digital media in search of new markets and customers.
Today google has announced free websites for India specific
businesses. Although it could be a ploy to collect market information
for free and / or find new avenues for search advertisement revenues, it
remains a fact that ecommence and related activities have a huge
potential in our country.
Some tips to get started.
- The business owner has to drive the website strategy in alignment with the organisation goals
- Having an annual budget for new media initiatives helps planning
- Website visitors love speed. Ensure the hosting server is not the cheapest.
- Get a simple, quick pages and easy to use website built by a professional
- Get the website search engine optimisation (SEO) initiatives done through another expert
- Responding to website enquiries on time. We know that some companies never respond
- Be real about your business - who, what, where
- Clarity in communication is critical for your target audience
- Build credibility through contact numbers, real names, product users, credentials etc
- It is important that news content be updated on a regular basis.
There is no magic wand solution to enabling businesses through
new media initiatives. It is a cat and mouse game but a long term sales
and marketing strategy which can certainly bring a lot of difference to
your business if you are willing to invest your time
Originally published in Malabar Chamber of Commerce IT section
@DuleepSahadevan
