How visible do you need to be online? It’s a question many business owners ask themselves, especially when they’re starting out. The online world can be an incredibly crowded place, rife with influencers and big brand businesses. If you’re a small business owner trying to grow your business, it can all seem a little overwhelming, noisy and feel like a bit of a lost cause.

So do you really need to be online if you want visibility, or are there other options available to you?

As a business, you need to be visible

No matter the size of your business, visibility is essential if you want to grow and scale. You need to be marketing yourself in order to attract clients and make sales, as they’re the bread and butter elements of business success. And no matter how you feel about being visible, you can’t attract clients or make sales if you’re hiding yourself away.

However, visibility can be achieved in different ways, and it all comes down to what best suits your business.

Being online isn’t your only option

When you hear about getting visible, it’s easy to assume that it involves social media and online marketing. But they’re not the only available options. You can limit your online presence and even avoid social media altogether, and you can also focus on SEO rankings and paid search engine advertising. Email marketing is another excellent option if you want to limit your online presence. [Check out How to drop the overwhelm around social media for help managing your online presence.]

If you want to limit the amount of marketing you do online, you can use offline marketing methods to get visibility for your business too. This includes traditional targeted mailshots, in-person networking, conferences and trade shows, radio advertising, PR, as well as hosting your own events, seminars and workshops.

These traditional marketing methods can still work very well for many businesses. However, bear in mind that when you connect with someone offline, such as a potential new client, the first thing they are likely to do is to check you out online! There is a tendency to be suspicious of any business that does not have an up-to-date and active presence online these days!

Also, many of the traditional marketing approaches mentioned above have not been possible in recent months due to the pandemic or have had to be adapted and taken online!

Decide how you want to market your business

There are so many different options and opportunities for getting visible. You don’t have to be on social media if you don’t want to, nor do you have to spend lots of money on paid advertising. You can even avoid going online altogether, although this could be a risky strategy as mentioned above. 

It all depends on how you want to market your business. So decide how you want to get your business visible by asking yourself the following:

  • Where do my ideal clients hang out?
  • What platforms am I comfortable on?
  • What mediums am I comfortable with?
  • Is it essential that I’m the face of my business?
  • Do I want to invest time or money into getting visible?
  • Do I want to focus on getting visible myself – or would I rather hand it over to someone else?
  • What marketing activities have and haven’t worked in the past?

Each of these questions will help you decide on your next steps, as well as the way you want to be visible.

A combination of both online and offline marketing activities may be the best way forward. If you are just starting out and building up your confidence, then start small.

Become a visibility expert on your chosen platform

The key to success is mastering one platform. Utilise all functionality within your preferred platform and master it before you consider adding additional platforms to your marketing arsenal.

Also, decide whether you want to become the expert on your platform or if you want someone else to manage it on your behalf. If you’re really against being the face of your business or being seen on video, could you still post images and videos without you in them?

If you don’t want to spend lots of time on social media, could you limit your time or hand it over to someone else? Don’t hesitate to book a Discovery call with us if you would like help with your social media or online marketing activities. 

And if you’re looking into utilising offline marketing activities, are you happy managing them yourself, or could your Virtual Assistant research opportunities, carry out mail drops or book speaking engagements for you? [Check out 30 tasks a Virtual Assistant can do in an hour or less for additional outsourcing ideas.]

No matter the size of your business, visibility is essential if you want to grow and scale. But how visible you are online is entirely within your control. You get to choose how visibility looks to your business and what platforms, channels and methods you use to achieve your desired results.