First impressions matter. Nowadays, most contacts with businesses happen online, so it is a must to present yourself in a professional and likable manner. Even more so for companies that offer very sensitive items, like firearms.

It would be disastrous for any business if you came off as untrustworthy or unreliable – who would want to purchase a gun from such a place?

Similar to a physical store, looking shady or unkept would probably not entice potential customers, so why would your online business be any different?

Today, we are going to look at the benefits of online presence management, and how to boost the online presence of your firearms business.

What Are the Benefits of Online Presence for Business?

It is important to understand that developing a good online presence is more than just having a pretty website and logo. It is about leveraging your business and taking it to new heights.

Here are a few major benefits of a decent digital presence:

Credibility. Looking credible is vital, especially for newer businesses. For example, if you are going somewhere, and looking for a place to stay, you will probably check online review sites, and avoid those with negative reviews. The same goes for firearms products, and perhaps even to a greater extent, since guns are expensive weapons that you don’t buy every day.
Branding. Most people would prefer to buy a Colt or a Smith & Wesson, instead of a gun they have never heard of before. The unknown gun brand might better suit their needs, but that is not the point. The psychological preference that contributes towards the buying decision is already in favor of the famous brands.
Trust. Continuing the point above, people are more willing to purchase from companies they already know and trust. They feel there is less risk for something to go wrong. However, as you might know, trust is very hard to earn, and can very easily be lost.
Competitive advantage. In case your industry rivals have an established online presence, and you do not, then they will have a competitive advantage over you and vice versa. But it’s not just about having an online presence, you need to develop it and apply clever strategies to stand out from the competition.
Customer engagement. Without a doubt, customers will be more likely to engage with your business if you have a well-established digital presence. Finding ways to connect with potential customers, like online forums and social media, can greatly increase your chances of turning said interactions into satisfied customers.

Online Presence Management for Firearms Businesses: 5 Ways to Boost It

Create a Website
Use Social Media
Claim Your Google Business Listing
Generate Reviews
Invest in Content Marketing

1. Create a Website

Needless to say, the very first thing you need to do is to create a website for your business if you have not already done so. If for some reason you do not have one yet, it’s important to create one as without it, it is as if your business does not exist at all.

Furthermore, make sure to optimize your website in terms of visuals, and loading speed. A smooth-looking website that loads fast, and contains valuable information, will only make your business more appealing to customers.

In the gun industry, social media platforms have been labeled as “useless” by many business owners and not too beneficial for business. Still, while there is some truth to these claims, and despite the regulations you need to follow as well as shadow banning, you should not completely turn your back on social media.

After all, everyone and their grandmother are on some form of social media, and firearms companies can still take advantage of marketing on these platforms, on the condition that you use them tactically.

For instance, instead of posting self-promotional materials, you can post informational pieces, and content that motivates and sparks the interest of users. Additionally, you can use social media to share company updates, run giveaways, and encourage people to start talking about your business.

3. Claim Your Google Business Listing

A good firearms industry marketing practice to boost your online presence management is to claim your Google business listing. This will allow your company to appear in online searches with your company name, email address, business hours, phone number, reviews, and more.

4. Generate Reviews

The first step is to get your business listed on popular firearms review websites and directories. However, that will not be enough on its own, since you’ll need to have actual reviews there, not just an empty profile.

There are a lot of ways to encourage people to leave reviews:

Ask some of your loyal customers
Post on social media
Send emails
Offer an incentive
On the ‘thank you’ pages

5. Invest in Content Marketing

Content marketing is one of the most important aspects of your marketing strategy, and that includes online presence management as well.
Creating high-quality content for your website, social media, and other channels, can increase your authority and trustworthiness.

Establishing yourself as an industry leader and expert will be influential towards the success of your business, as you will greatly increase your chances of converting users into customers.

Summary

Look up your company on Google – what do you see? Are you happy with the results, or do you think you have work to do?

With the help of online presence management, you can steadily increase your digital visibility. This will do wonders for your business, increasing your credibility, trustworthiness, and customer engagement, to name a few perks.

If you are looking to grow your business even more, look no further than our business directory, (NOTE: please switch this URL to the /grow page as it has claim functionality) which already lists more than 72,000 local firearm businesses, which are free to claim and are already optimized to be found online.

In case you want to learn more about firearms marketing, the history of guns, the best gun accessories, and much more, then keep checking our blog regularly.