Importance of Online Media for Startups

World is getting smaller and into the reach of a palm, thanks to online media. Now it’s easier to reach to the right audience through different online mediums. Especially through the online media network which are now familiar to all age-groups of audiences through popular sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, google, etc. where each and every action becomes transparent leading to build the trust factor. All these while you still have the chance to discuss openly on the related topic. Let’s discuss the different ways we can use online media for startups while building it. Rise of technology introduced new business activities which are highly growth oriented as well as profitable. Specially new & small business have limited resources and some can't afford high end costing for advertising. For those online media is playing a vital role for startups growth. Popular online media platform which are helpful for startups for many reasons: • Website • Mobile App • Social Media • Video Ads • Forum discussion From the above points you may have already started thinking about your experiences where social network has helped your business and you benefited, either knowingly or unknowingly. Now, we will take a dive into each way to understand how online media for startups can really add to build or even drive success for you in innovative way.

Website

The content writing, copy writing all can come under this section when you create a blog under your niche website. A website generally provides a detailed information about your product or services with unique photos, client testimonials, videos etc. Let’s say you are running a travel and tourism company then you can provide a blog article on topic like “A Tour From Dubai to Norway In Cheapest Way” where you can write the tour itinerary. Also what the tour package includes and excludes, other places to visit near buy, a little history, etc to create a total impact on the readers mind. The reader may end up buying package tours if he likes your information. Website is the most important and a must-have element of online media for startups.

Mobile App

A mobile app is a way to access information, to do your banking, monitor your home, to communicate and interact with local businesses and play games. Business owners with the insight to adopt mobile apps marketing channel to display their ability to understand where the customers are and how to effectively engage them. There are number of benefits for small and medium size businesses to adopt this marketing channel like increase in sales, improve efficiency, helping to build a loyal customer base, fast processing, easy access to services and many more. Mobile apps today are same like websites in 15 years ago, and in the same period when websites were costly to small and medium size businesses, mobile apps seem to have that stigma today. But that is no longer the case. Mobile app platforms now level the playing field, and smaller enterprises can now have all of the features of a Fortune company's mobile strategy at a fraction of the price. Mobile application with the option for online order fulfillment can readily provide another revenue channel, aside from your website and physical store. For example, make restaurant reservations, book concert tickets, buy goods and services, etc. are possible with few clicks. Popular mobile app platform are Android, IOS, Windows and many more in the queue, but majority of things depends on the Android and IOS. Rise of Mobile apps also create business opportunity and introduced the new ways to take the business to next level.

Social Media

Interacting with customer on social media is an important marketing strategy for small businesses. Social media will helps you to build brand awareness, increase customers, and connect with existing customers. Study revealed a whopping 90% of marketers say social media is important to their business and 82% percent of survey participants worked in businesses with less than 100 employees. Social media does not depend on how many followers a business has. Instead, it depends on customer engagement. Below are some main reasons why small businesses can have more success on social media than big companies.

• Small businesses are community and individual focused
• Less expensive advertising
• Personalized attention
• Option to customize audience
• Measurable and result oriented platform

Popularity of Video Ads

People believe in what they see and then probability of sale increases. So it’s an impact full way to present your new products and services through Youtube Videos, video posting on instagram, FB, etc. Lately, people have started spending their time on apps like Tik Tok, Vigo watching user generated videos. Creating promotional videos with helpful information can definitely boost up your business. You just need to follow the trend here while making videos. The commercial breaks on television are sometime irritating, but many times you find some ads become instantly hit breaking all the barriers. They earn the attention of all age groups through the video they present while also creating awareness about their product. Hence, always it should be kept in mind that it must be having a little entertaining aspect as well. The main motto of using online media for startups is to spread the name of your brand among your target audiences.

Forum Discussion

Now a days the open discussion forum is not limited only to the editorial column of newspaper but it has spread over internet. It allows people from different part of the world to ask queries and then people around the world can actively take part on the discussion by providing their own opinion or answers. While answering you can mention the website link or contact details of your own company if the discussion has any kind of relevance to your brand. The audiences who will visit your website through the link are part of the discussion and maybe interested in what you have to offer. It’s a great way to collect their email and name and to send them newsletter later to give more information about your product or services. You need to give an honest and informative feedback while putting up query or answering one, so that people don’t feel the promotion too pushy. Many forums allow to provide a link which may insist few audiences to redirect to your website. You never know, they might end up buying more than one products just based on your feedback and website. These forums are powerful online media for startups and there are plenty of them available. All the above points help you to build relationship with your targeted audiences. There are several paid and free online media tools are available in the market which can help you draw audience more efficiently. But one thing for sure, you need to keep yourself updated with latest trends. Online media has changed the way business is done in 21st century and it is the need of the time to align your business with the new way for the best results! This blog post is written by Ms. Ananya Business Advisor at Flyingcolour Business Setup, VAT and Accounting Services in Dubai and across UAE. For more details, please contact us at +971 4 4542366 or email us at info[at]flyingcolour[dot]com.