When it comes to starting your own business, the biggest initial challenge you will face is establishing that initial group of people who will be the makings of your loyal customer base. More and more of us are opting to start our own businesses, as the road to self-employment is becoming increasingly accessible to those who haven’t had any kind of formal education on the subject. Read on to find out the best ways to engage with a customer base online.

Your Online Shop Front

The first place you need to consider when bringing a brand or product online is the website. For those who have come across your business from an online channel, this will be the first glimpse into your business offering. It is useful to think of your website as an online version of your shop if you had one. It should be designed in such a way that it gives a positive first impression to those who land there.

There are lots of guides and templates that can help you design a site that looks professional, but the content you include is also vitally important. A clear call to action, relevant information on your products, and useful contact information are the three pillars that support the usefulness of any website. Keep these criteria in mind as you develop your online presence.

Creating a Social Buzz

Along with an engaging and well-designed website, you can use effective strategies with some of the popular social media platforms to cultivate your customer base with shareable posts and content. Some of the big social media players for business include Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have specific business account options allowing engagement with users based on social demographics like age and location.

While it can be a costly exercise to promote your business through a social media channel, using the features that come free can be just as effective. At the end of the day, it comes down to how much free time you have to invest, as anyone who is starting a business will know that the delegation of tasks in those early days can often leave you spinning a lot of plates, trying to keep everything in good order.

Learn and Continue to Grow

Ask anyone who has started their own business, and whether they employ 1 person or 1,000 people, they will likely tell you that they haven’t ever ‘stopped learning’ about what goes into running a business. Everyone has to have the strength of character and the instincts to be able to navigate the inevitable ups and downs that come with running a small business, but they also need to be able to learn from their failures.

Developing a strategy that is born from overcoming issues that your specific business has faced will effectively futureproof you from falling into the same traps again. It can be difficult to find out things the hard way, but remember that there will always be learnings to be had that will ultimately improve the overall health of your business.