Why You Should be Doing SMS Marketing Right Now

Why You Should be Doing SMS Marketing Right Now

Local Marketing, Small Business

What does your marketing mix include?

If you’re like most local businesses, you’re probably doing a mix of online and offline marketing. You might be engaging with customers on social media, hosting local events, blogging, and advertising in the local paper. Perhaps you’ve even targeted mobile customers by using Facebook’s “Call Now” button on your ads.

But guess what? There’s one thing that you’re probably not doing that could help you connect with customers when they’re most likely to engage with your business. And you might not even have considered it.

I’m talking about SMS messaging, more commonly known as text messaging.

More than 2.5 billion people worldwide own a smartphone that’s capable of text messaging.

That’s a staggering number – and it begs the question:

Why aren’t more small businesses using text messaging for marketing?

Texting by the Numbers

Text messaging has the potential to be a marketing superstar for your business. To get an idea of just how effective it can be, check out these statistics:

  • 89% of people always have their smartphone accessible
  • 97% of Americans text at least once a day
  • Texting is the #1 communication method used by people under 50 years old
  • 82% of text messages are read within 5 minutes of receipt

That last statistic is particularly important, especially when you consider that consumers open only about 25% of the emails they receive.

People send and receive text messages. They give them priority over other communication, and they spend more time texting than they do talking on their phones.

In other words, text messaging is arguably the best way to ensure that the people in your target audience read what you send them.

Advantages of SMS Marketing

You know people are likely to read your text messages – but what are the other advantages of incorporating text messages into your marketing mix? Here are five that I think are key:
  1. You can track SMS messages the same way you would any other marketing campaign using web-based tools like SlickText.
  2. You can collect data about your text list by creating interactive content that allows them to reply to your messages quickly and easily.
  3. Text messaging provides nearly instantaneous results and stats for you to use to fine-tune your campaigns.
  4. Text messaging can be casual and personalized with direct language and even emoji to build a relationship with the people you text.
  5. Text messages are a great way to connect with your audience when they’re most likely to be in your area or in the market for what you’re selling.
A good example of time-sensitive text messaging might be a restaurant or bar texting out a Happy Hour coupon at about the time most people are getting out of work. They might be planning to head out for a drink or a bite anyway, and you can provide them with a nudge to choose your establishment over others in the area.

How to Get Subscribers for Your SMS List

By law, you cannot send a text message to anyone who has not signed up for your list. That means that you must find ways to attract new subscribers. Here are some helpful suggestions to get started.

The first and potentially easiest way to find new subscribers is to add a mobile field to your existing opt-in form on your website. You can include a message letting people know that if they choose to provide you with a cell phone number, they’re agreeing to receive text messages from you.

Another option is to promote your SMS list in-store with large print posters, flyers and other print media encouraging your customers to sign up for exclusive discounts & offers. Make sure to mention what some of those exclusive offers might be.

You may also want to send out an email to your current email list and give your subscribers a link to sign up to receive text messages from you. Here again, it’s a good idea to tempt them by letting them know you’ll be sending out special coupons and deals via text message.

Using these methods, it shouldn’t take you very long to build up a sizable SMS messaging list.

Tips for Successful SMS Messaging Campaigns

Text message marketing has a lot in common with other forms of marketing. To be successful, you must conceptualize a strong campaign based on your knowledge of your subscribers, create compelling content, and track your results. Here are some tips that may help you.
Understand your audience. You may want to create a quick survey for your email list or social media followers to find out what kind of content they would like to receive via text message.

Keep your messages short and sweet. People are more likely to read your messages if they’re brief and compelling. A good rule of thumb is to make them about the same length as a Tweet – no more than 280 characters.

Offer mobile-exclusive deals to your subscribers. These might include exclusive coupons, discounts, and sales, especially for your mobile customers.

Use casual language that speaks directly to the recipient. Most important, use “you” and “your,” which underscore that the exclusivity of your list and make customers feel valued.

Don’t be afraid to bring some humor into your texts. It’s a casual form of communication and people like to laugh – but of course, keep it PG-rated and steer away from controversial topics.

Add a few emoji to your texts. People use them in their personal texts and they can add personality and fun to your marketing campaign.

Track your results and tweak your campaigns as needed.

Some text messaging providers try to include SlickText, SumoText, and SimpleTexting. You want a provider with affordable prices, an intuitive dashboard, and great analytics.

Conclusion

The bottom line is that if you’re not using SMS messaging to reach your audience, you’re missing out on a chance to build brand loyalty and increase your sales. Text messages are inexpensive to send and easy to write – and they can help you grow your business.
How Micro Moments Can Help You Attract New Customers

How Micro Moments Can Help You Attract New Customers

SEO, Small Business

Right now, potential customers are online looking for your business. And you might be missing them.

Scary thought, isn’t it?

Let’s face it, there’s a ton of content out there. It can be hard to find what you’re searching for – and if the content you’re producing isn’t providing what the people in your target audience need when they need it, then they’re likely to end up with one of your competitors.

The answer? Understand the moments when customers pick up their phones to look for your business and craft content that gives it to them.

One way is to use what Google has coined Micro Moments, I.E. “the Customer Journey.” What are they and how can you use them to find new customers? Here’s what you need to know.

What is a Micro Moment?

Google coined the term Micro Moment to respond to what they saw as a growing trend. You already know that most consumers in the US are tethered to their smartphones 24 hours a day. But they’re more intensely engaged at some moments than at others.

A Micro Moment is a moment when a consumer is intent on finding something. They want a quick answer or solution. Google identifies them as:

In other words, a Micro Moment is a moment when a consumer is ripe to learn, experience, and buy things. It’s the ideal time to capture a new customer because they’re already in the right mindset to engage with your content.

There are some interesting statistics to back up the importance of Micro Moments. For example:

  • 91% of smart phone users look up information on their phones while they’re in the middle of a task
  • 82% of consumers consult their phones while they’re in a store – and of those, 20% buy something other than what they originally intended to buy
  • 69% of online consumers say that the quality, relevance, and timing of the content they find affects their opinion of a brand (and their purchase habits)
It’s clear that there’s a benefit to Micro Moment marketing. It’s about capturing the attention of people in your area who are seeking the products or services you’re selling. The trick, of course, is knowing how and when to capture your audience’s attention at those key moments.

What You Need for Micro Moment Marketing

Gathering information about customers is important for every business. You might have a small business with only one location, but you still need to understand who your customers are and how to use the data you collect to your advantage.

Some of the data to collect includes:

  • How your customers find your business and why they decided to buy from you
  • Where and how they prefer to make purchases
  • How they prefer to pay for their purchases
  • What things matter the most to them when making online purchases

For example, 53% of visitors will abandon a mobile site if it takes more than three seconds to load. That’s not much time – and if your site is slow, then you could be losing customers without realizing it.

You also need to understand how customers typically approach buying a product like yours. What information do they need? Where are they likely to go to get it? And – most importantly – how can you capitalize on their habits to draw them in?

Micro Moment Best Practices

There are some simple things you can do to engage your target audience in any one of more than 100 Micro Moments they experience each day.

Let’s start with Google’s definition of a Micro Moment. During a Micro Moment, customers want to know something, do something, go somewhere, or buy something. What that means is, in order to capture their attention, your business must:

  • Be there, meaning that you must have content that’s easily accessible and directly related to the information the people in your target audience want during a Micro Moment
  • Be useful, meaning that your Micro Moment content must provide a relevant digital experience that provides a potential customer with the information they want – and the means to act on it
  • Be accountable, meaning that you must provide a seamless customer experience that makes it easy for customers to buy from you across all channels
How to do all three? Well, here are some suggestions:
Conduct a customer survey using email or social media to get a better idea of the kind of content your customers need to buy from you.

Identify crucial points in your sales funnel, so you can capitalize on them. Here, I’m talking about the moment when a customer realizes that they need what you’re selling or that they have a problem that your product or service can solve.

Craft content that responds directly to those crucial points, providing customers with compelling content that’s both relevant and actionable.

Include in every piece of content a clear call to action that will direct your customer to your business or provide them with a phone number or a link to your website. (The key is to provide them with a way to take immediate action!)

Create your Micro Moment content and refine it until it’s giving you the return on investment that you need.

The most essential part of this process is knowing when your customers are likely to experience a Micro Moment. It might be when they’re making dinner plans or trying to get their kids ready to go back to school. The more information you have, the better able you will be to capture their attention and convert those Micro Moments into sales.

Micro Moments Are Fleeting

The human attention span might be shrinking, but that just means that you have new opportunities to engage with your customers in a way that’s most useful to them – and most profitable to you. Taking the time to understand Micro Moments can help you attract new customers at the point when they are most ready to buy from you.
10 Killer Local Marketing Ideas to Try

10 Killer Local Marketing Ideas to Try

Local Marketing, Small Business

Local marketing is a must, but if you’re like most local business owners, you’ve probably caught yourself thinking something like this:

I feel like I’m doing everything I can – why is my local marketing not delivering the results I want?

It’s a good question. After all, local marketing has a lot of moving parts. You’ve got to think about SEO, content marketing, social media, and PPC ads – it’s a lot for anybody to handle.

The real key to effective local marketing is knowing what ideas are worth pursuing and which ones aren’t. Here are 10 killer local marketing ideas that can have a serious impact on your profits.

#1: Master the Art of Locational Marketing on Facebook

You should always be marketing your business to your local audience on Facebook. Increasingly, consumers are turning to Facebook for information about businesses. There are two types of ads that can help you:

  • Brand awareness
  • Website clicks

Starting with brand awareness can help you break down barriers and prime your local audience to visit you. Following up with a website click promotion will capitalize on your brand awareness campaign and help you attract new customers.

#2: Revisit Your Yelp Categories

You know that reviews are important – and Yelp has a huge SEO advantage. One of the best ways to boost your visibility online is to make sure that you’re using the right categories on Yelp.

A lot of local businesses choose their categories without giving them much thought. Go back and look at them – and keep your most important keywords in mind. Choose categories that highlight your capabilities and keywords and you’ll get more organic traffic from Google.

#3: Build Unique Landing Pages for Every Campaign

It might seem like a lot of work to build a unique landing page for every marketing campaign you run, but you can do it quickly using a tool like Unbounce. The benefit is that you’ll be sure that every click you get on an ad will lead people to a page that’s selling exactly what you’re advertising.
Conversion is an art and a science. The easier it is for people to draw a line between your ad and your call to action, the higher the chances that they’ll convert. Make it simple and you’ll see an increase in sales as a result.

#4: Use Remarketing Ads to Get Reviews

A huge majority of consumers rely on reviews to make buying decisions. The trick is getting your existing customers to review your business.
One way to do it is to set up a simple remarketing ad for people who buy from you or fill out a form on your website. Try a headline that says, “Happy with your purchase? Leave us a review on Google+, Yelp, or Facebook!” Not every customer will respond – but some will and every positive review you get will help increase your visibility and credibility.

#5: Create Guides for Local Activities Related to Your Brand

Local marketing is all about embracing where you are – and helping your customers to do the same thing. For that reason, it makes sense to create a local guide for an activity that is likely to appeal to your target audience.

For example, if you sell cooking equipment, you might create a guide to local farms. Or, you could create a guide to hiking trails if you sell outdoor equipment. The key is to marry your local knowledge to your brand to give your followers something they can use.

#6: Automate Responses to Your Twitter Mentions

Social mentions can have a big impact on how your brand is perceived. One way to maximize that impact is to automate responses to your mentions on Twitter.

A tool I like is Zapier, which allows business owners to set up triggers that send out instant responses when someone mentions their company. It gives an instant boost to your engagement and makes the people who mention you feel valued.

#7: Use Third-Person Ad Copy

Sometimes, online advertising can seem like a relentless wall of noise. Everybody – including your competitors – is out there shouting about how wonderful they are. If you want to get through to your audience, you’ve got to stand out.

One way to do it is to use a third-person voice in your ads. For example, you might pull a line from a testimonial and use it as your headline. “Hiring ABC Company is the best choice I ever made” is a headline that will grab attention and use the power of social proof to bring you leads.

#8: Use Radius Location Targeting on AdWords

Targeting your ads on Google AdWords is really an art form. By using their radius location targeting, you can maximize the chances that your ad will be seen by the people who are most likely to buy from you.

In AdWords, set up a series of radius targets so that your store looks like the center of a bullseye. Then, evaluate your data and adjust your local bids accordingly. Doing this can make a huge difference in your ads’ performance.

#9: Mention the Distance to Your Store in Mobile Ads

The chances are good that more people are seeing your ads on mobile devices than on computers. Since that’s the case, it makes sense to play up your local connection by including the distance from your store in your mobile ads on Google.

It’s easy to do. Simply use the Google Search Console to find new ad groups in your area. Then, add your zip code to your headline and see how easy it is to steal clicks from your competitors.

#10: Add Storefront Pictures to Your Ads

As a consumer, you’ve probably driven by local businesses many times without going inside. One easy way to entice people to come see you is to add a photograph of the front of your store to your ads.

Seeing a photo will trigger a, “Hey, I’ve seen that place!” response from your audience. It’s a simple, inexpensive trick that can entice people to stop and visit you instead of driving past.

Don’t waste your time on ideas that don’t work…

Stop guessing which marketing ideas are worth trying. These 10 simple local marketing tricks can make a huge difference when it comes to attracting customers and growing your business.

5 Irresistible Lead Magnet Ideas for Local Businesses

5 Irresistible Lead Magnet Ideas for Local Businesses

Local Marketing, Small Business

Everybody knows that if you place a magnet close enough to a metal object, the object will be drawn to the magnet without resistance. That’s basic science even though it might seem like magic.

What if you could adapt the principle of magnetism to your business?

The truth is, you can. Lead magnets are commonly used to attract leads. The problem that some local businesses have is that they’re not sure which type of lead magnet will prove to be irresistible to their target audience.

One reason for the confusion is that many of the online resources about creating lead magnets focus on online businesses. Local businesses need to take a different approach. Here are 5 ideas for lead magnets that will help you attract new leads and customers.

#1: The Mini eBook

Our first proven lead magnet idea is the mini eBook. Giving away a book is enticing to consumers because they’re accustomed to paying for books. Getting one for free is exciting and, if you choose your topic wisely, can be enough to get people to fill out a lead form or subscribe to your list.

The key, of course, is choosing a topic that will appeal to the people you want to attract. Here are some suggestions.

  • A book that explains the biggest mistakes people make in an area related to your niche. For example, if you own a CPA firm, your lead magnet might be about the most common mistakes people make on their tax returns. The idea is to help your target audience in a concrete way.
  • On a related note, you might try a book that explains things not to do or things to avoid. A pet store might have an eBook that explains the 10 things you should never do when house training a puppy.
  • The third option is to focus on the things your customers should be doing – in other words, to give them tips, hacks, or training advice. An example might be a kitchen supply store giving away an eBook that gives readers tips to perfect their baking skills or create the perfect dinner party.

The idea here is to put together a short book – 10 or 15 pages is sufficient, although you can write a longer book if you choose – that provides such obvious value to your target audience that they won’t be able to resist it.

#2: The Checklist

The next option is very quick to create and can be useful to your customers. Checklists are one-page items that are designed to help your target audience complete a task or get organized.

Here are a few examples of the kinds of things that make for interesting checklists:

  • Packing list for students leaving for college
  • Checklist for spring cleaning a house
  • A checklist that lists the steps to prepare and plant a garden
  • A how-to guide for preparing a car to go into long-term storage

These are just a few ideas. The key is to focus your checklist on one task or area and then create something that is both functional and beautiful. Some local businesses give out laminated checklists (or mail them to leads), while others may choose to create a printable checklist.

#3: The Resource Guide

Resource guides can be sort of a hybrid between an eBook and a checklist. It’s always helpful to provide your audience with something they can put to practical use – and a resource guide does precisely that.

Your resource guide might be focused on a service you provide. A party planner might include a list of local caterers and other related service providers in their resource guide.

You might also provide a list of resources to help your clients do something. A tax attorney might put together a list of online resources that includes links to the IRS website and other resources to help clients prepare to file their taxes.

#4: Case Study

What if your business is service-based? If that’s the case, you may want to consider creating a detailed case study as your lead magnet.

A case study isn’t actionable the same way an eBook or checklist might be, but it can be the ideal way to illustrate the value you can provide to your clients.

For example, a wedding planner might create a case study that demonstrates her ability to organize a beautiful wedding on a shoestring budget. An accounting firm might do a case study explaining how they saved a client thousands of dollars in taxes.

Here, your goal should be to show yourself and your business in the best light possible. Your case study doesn’t need to be long, but it should be something that’s designed to appeal to the audience you want to attract.

#5: Free Coupon/Discount

We’ve saved our least complex lead magnet for last. Everybody loves to get something for a discount (or for free!) and offering a free coupon or discount is a proven way to attract leads.

Of course, you can get creative with this option, too. Here are some suggestions:

  • Offer something complimentary to get new customers in the door in return for an email address.
  • Create a birthday club and send subscribers a free gift on their birthdays every year (Sephora does this and people love it)
  • Create a VIP club that awards points for purchases and sends rewards based on a customer’s purchases
  • Offer a buy one/get one free coupon for first-time customers in exchange for an email address

The offer you create will depend on how much you want to give away and what your goals are. The key is to think about your target audience and what will appeal to them. Then, measure that against what you’re willing to spend.

Any audience can be drawn in by the right offer…

Your job is to consider the people you want to attract, and then create a lead magnet that is so irresistible that they’ll line up to give you their email addresses or fill out your lead form.

After that, the rest is easy.

GDPR: How It Affects Your Small Business (Yes… Even in the AU)

GDPR: How It Affects Your Small Business (Yes… Even in the AU)

Small Business

What does a European Union law about privacy have to do with your small business?

That might seem like a ridiculous question to ask, but it’s not.

The General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR for short, went into effect on May 25, 2018. And with privacy issues in the news on a near-daily basis, with the recent Congressional hearings about Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, you can’t afford to ignore the ramifications of GDPR for your business.

You could keep your head buried in the sand – but that’s not a good idea. Here’s what you need to know about GDPR.

What is GDPR?

GDPR is a law that was designed to standardize data privacy in the European Union’s member countries. It represents a big chance – and a victory for EU citizens, who can now be confident that their data will be secure and that the regulations used to ensure its security are transparent.

On the flip side, EU-based businesses have had to scramble to be compliant with the new rules. The biggest requirement involves Personal Identification Information, or PII. PII is sometimes used as a general term in the United States to describe personal information that companies might collect and store on behalf of their customers.

While PII has traditionally included information like Social Security numbers and addresses, the GDPR expands the definition of PII to include other things. For example:

  • Web data, including the user’s location, IP address, cookies, and RFID tags
  • Medical and genetic data, including medical records, test results, and DNA
  • Biometric data, including fingerprints and other unique identifiers
  • Racial and ethnic data
  • Political opinions and orientation
  • Sexual orientation

In other words, companies in the EU must now protect their customers’ IP addresses and other information collected online with the same care that they would financial information. It further requires that organizations:

  • Store and process personal data only with an individual’s explicit consent
  • Hold data for only as long as it is necessary to do so
  • Destroy stored data upon request

There’s no denying that the implementation of GDPR represents a big change for EU companies.

How Does GDPR Affect Companies?

Think for a moment about the different ways in which you use the data you collect from your customers. The chances are good that you do more with it than you realize.

Organizations in the EU are finding that they institute company-wide changes to be compliant with GDPR regulations. Privacy can impact various departments within an organization, including:

  • IT
  • Sales
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Operations

Business owners and managers must work together to identify potential privacy problems and security issues and address them to protect the information they have stored. At the same time, they must accommodate incoming requests related to the “right to be forgotten” if customers ask them to delete the data they have on hand.

Why You Should Worry about GDPR Compliance

Your business is based in the United States – and you might be asking the obvious question:

Why should I worry about GDPR compliance?

You may not need to worry too much about it if you have never had a customer who was an EU citizen. However, if you do business in the EU (or cater to tourists from the EU), then you might be impacted by the new regulations.

This is what the GDPR website says about organizations outside the EU:

The GDPR not only applies to organisations located within the EU but it will also apply to organisations located outside of the EU if they offer goods or services to, or monitor the behaviour of, EU data subjects. It applies to all companies processing and holding the personal data of data subjects residing in the European Union, regardless of the company’s location.

In other words, if you collect data on your website from EU citizens, process payments from them, or hold any personal information belonging to EU citizens, you must adhere to GDPR rules about collecting, using, and storing their PII.

You might not have any EU customers, but even if you don’t it may be worth taking a look at the way you store personal data. There’s no question that there’s a worldwide movement toward increasing privacy protections. Cybercrime is on the rise and criminals are getting wilier every day. Considering the damage that a data breach can do to your bottom line, it makes sense to err on the side of caution.

What Are the Penalties for Violating the GDPR?

As you might expect, there are penalties attached to violating the GDPR. The law is meant to be a deterrent and the EU intends for organizations who fail to be complaint to pay a price.

The most likely penalty if you fail to protect EU citizens’ data is a fine. The maximum fine is 20 million Euros, which works out to nearly $25 million in US dollars. The specific rule is €20 million or 4% of the company’s global revenue, whichever is higher.

The harshest penalties are intended to punish companies with the most severe violations, such as violating core concepts or not getting a customer’s consent to process their data. Other fines are organized in tiers. For example, an organization can be fined 2% of their global revenue for things like:

  • Not having their records in the proper order
  • Not notifying the authorities of a security breach
  • Not conducting the required impact assessment

These are serious penalties. You’ll need to take a hard look at your security and data handling procedures to avoid them if you do business in the EU or with EU citizens.

What Should You Do Next?

If you do business in the EU or simply want to get your ducks in a row when it comes to protecting your customers’ data., it may be helpful to make a thorough review of your existing data collection and storage procedures to identify potential problems.

You can find detailed information about the GDPR on this website. Depending on your circumstances, you may want to consult an EU lawyer as well.

In the end, remember that GDPR compliance protects you as well as your customers. It can be impossible to protect the digital perimeter of your business from hackers, but the procedures required by the GDPR can give you an extra layer of protection in the event of a breach.

How to Tell Your Marketing Isn’t Working (and How to Fix It)

How to Tell Your Marketing Isn’t Working (and How to Fix It)

Content Marketing, SEO, Small Business

When you are running a small business, your marketing can make all the difference between a successful year and one that falls short of your goals. Of course, every business does their best to develop and execute dynamic marketing plans to drive customer conversions, however they can often fall short of the mark.

One of the biggest mistakes that companies make is failing to review their marketing strategy to see where exactly they are falling short. By performing regular reviews of your marketing plan, you can quickly identify when it is not working, leading to solutions that you implement right away.

Here are 5 tell-tale signs that your current marketing needs improvement, as well as the best fixes for each scenario. By objectively auditing your advertising performance, you can easily see the areas that need to be fixed, then come up with a new strategy to get your business back on track!

You aren’t getting qualified leads for your marketing campaigns

The goal of marketing is not to just get leads, but to get leads that will actually bring you new customers. If you recognize that a large number of your leads are people that are not actually interested in your products or services, then you are definitely doing something wrong.

By analyzing the type of people that call, email or visit your website, you can tell whether or not you are targeting the right people through your current marketing scheme.

The Fix: If your leads are not high quality and are not resulting in customer conversions, then it’s time to revisit your content and target demographic. Make a list of your ideal customer, including key traits such as age, location, gender, and income level, then tailor your marketing plan to directly target those people.

You do not have a consistent marketing strategy

Have a look back through your recent content and advertisements to look for continuity. If you notice that your social media posts, email blasts or sales materials do not all convey the same message, then you can be confusing clients.

You want your business to be represented in a structured manner that runs the gamut of the sales cycle: getting potential clients interested, cultivating leads, converting clients, then reselling. If you strategy doesn’t follow this pattern, then you may be missing out on vital elements of digital marketing.

The Fix: Put yourself in the perspective of a potential client. Draw out a roadmap of how you want to captivate somebody to be interested in what you offer, how you can guide them to becoming a client, a persuasive manner to close the deal, then a follow-up strategy to resell to them.

You are not differentiating yourself from the competition

Regardless of your industry, there is likely to be a wide range of competition that is also marketing to the same clientele. One of the biggest mistakes that businesses make is that they play it too safe, being afraid to truly draw attention to themselves by being unique.

If your marketing strategy is too generic, then you will simply be lost amongst the hundreds, potentially thousands of competitors that are offering similar products or services. This will not help you increase sales or grow your clientbase, but rather be a waste of your marketing budget and your resources.

The Fix: Pick a handful of businesses in your industry and have a look at their marketing campaigns. If you notice that yours are quite similar or see that most companies are doing the same thing, then make a list of ways that you can set yourself apart. From compelling organic content to the use of dynamic media such as videos, start adding innovative aspects to your marketing plan that nobody else is doing.

Searching your business does not bring favorable (or any) results

The whole goal of marketing is drawing eyes to your brand in a positive manner. By simple conducting some online searches for your business and relative terms, you are able to get a sense of how often potential customers see your company. If you aren’t on the first page of search results for your services or local searches, then it becomes exponentially harder to draw in new clients.

When you do find your business online, you also want to see what existing clients are saying about you. Checking Facebook, Google, and any industry-specific review sites for feedback is extremely important. Businesses that have a large number of positive reviews are far more likely to convert searchers into paying customers.

The Fix: If you notice that your business doesn’t appear in searches, it’s time to ramp up your SEO. From regular organic content to strengthening social media presence, you need to add new dimensions of marketing. If you are lacking reviews, reach out to your current customers by incentivizing them to add feedback on a variety of review sites.

You haven’t pre-sold to your customers

When you have clients contacting you or visiting your website, you want them to already know exactly what they want. They should be walking into your door ready to take you up on your latest offer or buy your newest product without you having to convert them.

If you find that potential customers are unaware of your products or need to be convinced to buy from you, then your marketing needs to ramped up. Marketing should not just begin the sales cycle, it should already have people in the mindset that they are ready to do business with you!

The Fix: You may need to be more direct in your advertising efforts, focusing on both informing and persuading people within first glance. Integrating some sales videos that highlight the benefit of what you offer and intensely pushing current promotions will give the clients a sense of urgency to act as fast as possible.

Turning your marketing strategy around

If you notice that one or more of these issues apply to your current situation, then there is no better time than the present to begin revamping your marketing plan.

Working with a professional marketing team can drastically increase the efficiency of your campaigns by driving customer conversions, maximizing ROI and reducing costs.

Click here to request your free marketing blueprint session to help fix any current issues and bring your company the business that it deserves!