Using technology to grow your business.

In today’s world, most businesses interact with their customers online. Yet, do they really know how to leverage technology in the best way to benefit and grow their business? There are a number of mediums any business can use, and each one has its own return on investment. We’ll look into the following:

• e-Commerce stores
• Social media
• Website forms for lead generation (Examples: Contact or Get in touch forms)
• Apps

Some business owners use these tools and make money off their products by connecting with customers online, while other businesses (though well-connected) are not able to gain a lot of value. Why is this? 

Technology is a tool that needs to be used with the best interest of the business in mind. It’s not enough to just have all these technology mediums set up for your business. The system needs to be done well enough that it opens the door for more business with your consumers.

With this in mind, let’s look at a number of ways you can use technology for your business needs.

1. Setup the Right Business Website

a. Explain your services

Explaining what you do clearly and concisely is essential for growing your user base online. Moreover, the way you represent content helps your website visitors understand your services and contact you to get more information. You can use the various technology options to show your services.

For example, the following list shows what visuals will catch your reader’s eye.

• • • i. Visual statistics (charts etc.)
    • ii. Animated infographics
    • iii. Embedded videos (Youtube/Vimeo)

b. Gather leads

Writing a compelling Call to Action (CTA) helps any business get the best leads. For instance, a good call to action will grab the attention of potential customers and allow them to easily contact you via your website forms.

Furthermore, a number of services, like Jotforms and Gravity forms, can provide embedded forms to hook into your website. Place them in noticeable areas where they capture the attention of site visitors.

• • The more leads you have, the more business you close with your customers.

c. Allow site visitors to interact with your website

Don’t just create clickable CTAs. Provide an opportunity for your customers to interact with your website. Perhaps giving them a way to explore and provide feedback to you will build your business (all this depends on your business model).

For example, users can give their opinions about the business in a variety of ways.

• • • i. Taking a survey about your services or products
    • ii. Filling out a questionnaire about your website to provide feedback
    • iii. Logging in to your website to perform activities (like support tickets or contact forms)

d. Sell from your website

If your business has services or products that can be sold online, set up an order system, like an eCommerce site or appointment-booking calendar. Be sure it is easily accessible, contains quality images and gives a straightforward process to bring customers to the end of the purchasing process.

Obviously, every generation is moving more and more towards buying services and products online. While this requires less communication and discussions between buyer and seller, it also puts a weighty responsibility for the developer and business to make sure the process runs smoothly.

2. Get a mobile app (Target mobile users)

It is now the norm for most users to use their phones more than computers for work and personal shopping. Is it best for your business to grab the attention of mobile users to sell your services?

With a number of technology options available for Hybrid/Native mobile platforms, it’s easy to get a mobile app for your business and launch it on the app stores. Does your business need to grow its user base by targeting mobile users?

The following are the most popular and reliable technology options to get a mobile app.

• • a. React Native (Hybrid)
  • b. Flutter (Hybrid)
  • c. Native apps for iOS and Android

3. Reach out to users via social networks

Social media websites

One of the best, and maybe even cost-effective, ways to reach users is social media; Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (even Youtube!) and other platforms, which allow you to interact personally with people. These tools also provide business options to create your business pages and allow users to interact with you.

If you’re going the social media route, get the most out of these services by adding as many details as you can. Provide a strong CTA from the social side to your website landing pages so that users know where to go for more information.

Other social interactions include writing blogs and publishing on various sites including Medium.com and LinkedIn. Most people are interested in reading blogs and will contact you if they find your blogs helpful.

4. Use a Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) to manage your leads

One of the challenging jobs business owners face is managing their leads and customer information efficiently. In order to keep your business organized, store lead information at a centralized place so that you can run various campaigns (emails, text) with them.

CRM solutions help store leads in a readable manner. For example, the following various activities can be organized in a single workspace.

• a. Create tasks to contact your leads from time to time
• b. Run email campaigns to inform about various offers you may have
• c. Send text messages to inform about quick offers
• d. Run reports and see statistics of your conversions from leads to customers

Hubspot is one of the most popular CRMs being used by many businesses to manage leads. However, other CRMs, like SalesForce, SalesLoft, and Pipedrive, can be just as effective.

Conclusion

In summary, do you know how to leverage technology to showcase your business online? We know how overwhelming it is to process through what technology best fits your business.

To begin, there are many detailed questions we ask our clients as we work through which technology is the most beneficial. Although we are a software development company, we know that not every business should have an app or be on social media. As a result, Rubico helps businesses like yours choose the best option to fit their business. Reach out to us at solutions@RubicoTech.com to discover the right technology solution for your business.