7 tips to strengthen your startup's online presence

The impact of COVID-19 continues to transform our lives, and within a short amount of time, online solutions have become an integral part of our personal and professional activities. Thus, being able to use online tools to connect with customers and suppliers has become more important than ever for startups. In another episode of the Venturelab Webseries, Denis Libouton explained how startups can establish and energize their online presence. 

Denis Libouton, VP sales and marketing at sharingbox, drew from his more than 20 years of hands-on sales and marketing expertise and discussed ideas and strategies that can help startups grow a strong online presence during and beyond the new normal. In the webinar, Libouton recommended seven “workouts” for a company’s online presence.
 

1. Focus on the basics

With the changing priorities, cost-cutting, and risk evaluation, you need to make sure that you can get as much performance out of your online channels as possible. Start with the basics to build a solid foundation for your online activities.
 

• Improve the quality of your user journey and the conversions.
• Get to know your website performance: Analyze your bounce rate, top pages, page views, average time spent, conversions, calls to actions, etc.
• Refine your SEO and backlinks.

When putting together the performance evaluation, keep in mind that the “lockdown weeks” are not necessarily representative. When you analyze your online performance, make sure you isolate those weeks to get a more realistic perspective. Nevertheless, the restriction period can also illustrate challenges and opportunities that need attention in the future.
 

2. Clean up your CRM

You might have taken some time to organize your closets or drawers in the last few weeks—now use this possible down-time to clean out your customer relationship management (CRM) system to make sure you build and maintain strong relationships with relevant contacts.
 

• Delete any email addresses that keep bouncing back.
• Update customer information such as job titles, languages, etc.
• Review (where possible) why people unsubscribed from your emails and adjust your content strategy accordingly.

3. Gather consumer insights

Just like you might have more time to spend online, so do your customers. Take advantage of this transformation and use online surveys to find out what customers and suppliers think of your company, product, and brand.
 

• Launch a market study to understand your target audience and their behavior, purchase drivers, etc.
• Learn more about their plans and expectations for the new normal to make sure you are prepared for the time after COVID-19.

4. Manage your digital ad budget

Even though cost-cutting is often necessary, your advertising budget does not need to be slashed completely. The increase in online activity offers excellent opportunities to get people’s attention and strengthen their loyalty with relevant content. That way, your brand or solution will be on customers’ and suppliers’ minds when the situation returns to normal.
 

• Keep “talking” and use your channels to communicate with your customers and suppliers.
• Do not sell but build and strengthen brand awareness.
• Launch a retargeting campaign to work on low conversions.

5. Create relevant content

To stay visible and keep the online channels busy, companies need to have useful content. Even though there are a lot of entertaining and interesting posts out there, make sure that you stick to your brand values, remember your content strategy, and focus on your audience.
 

• Keep your messages simple, clear, and concise. Infographics and visuals are a great way to get people’s attention and share relevant information.
• Adapt your visuals: Make sure you do not use images of large groups or of people shaking hands.
• Do not leverage the consequences of COVID-19 for your brand. Customers and suppliers will most likely see right through your strategy, and your posts will backfire. Best practice: Describe the safety actions that you have taken. Be realistic and emphatic.
• Be open and direct, and let your customer and suppliers know what their business means to you and how it supports your goals.
• Gather and share testimonials to generate momentum.

6. Adapt your promotional tactics

Strengthen your soft-sell strategy and get new customers interested in your product. That way, you already have a relationship you can work with when sales start to pick up.
 

• Offer free trials, first orders, delivery, or demos.
• Launch contests or provide discounts.
• Focus on non-binding offers.

7. Continue your employer branding

Even though you might not hire at the moment, it is important to also focus on your reputation as an employer. Make sure that you post on career-related channels and continue to strengthen relationships with talents.