How to take your offline business online

Taking a ‘real world’ brand online is an exciting new challenge, but it also a task fraught with issues. The most important of those is maintaining your branding, and expanding your customer base while retaining customer loyalty.

On the surface it is a simple task – after all, most of your marketing collateral already exists, you have an established customer base, and some sort of brand traction and identity. All of these are true, and they are advantages, but the online world is a very different one to the high street and there will be challenges ahead. Consider what has made you successful and unique, and bring those elements with you.

Web design is a good place to start. Try to find a designer who understands your business, and grasps the essence of your brand persona – after all, this is key to your online presence. You want to be recognisable to your existing customers, while attracting a new following. This is a good time to look at your branding, your look and feel. While you do need to be familiar, it might be time for a refresh of your style. You also need to consider how your logo will work online, for example – the logo that works well on a letterhead or a packaging label doesn’t necessarily work for your website. Is there an element that would work for a favicon for example (the small icon that appears at the side of tabs in your browser)?

Unless you are going for a complete rebrand, keep your colour schemes – they are great shorthand for your customers, and immediately recognisable. Use your ‘About Us’ section to establish your longevity, and emphasise that you are a well established business – direct your customers to your studio, shop or showroom. Keep the content in a tone that your existing clients will recognise and respond to (a legal firm will have a different tone of voice to a children’s entertainer, offering two extreme examples).

Social media – a way of communicating directly with your customers – is also very important, and here you have a significant advantage over a new business, in that you can convert your existing customer base, and even casual observers, into active followers. Make sure that your page reflects some of the design elements of your website to encourage familiarity, and make it attractive. The same advantage is true of email marketing – with an established business you can actively recruit subscribers, as well as having the option on your website and social media.

By taking an established offline business online you have the opportunity to have the best of both worlds – keep yourself consistent and recognisable, and take advantage of it!