Category: Local Marketing

1. Search Marketing.
2. Directory Marketing & Lead Generation.
3. Content Marketing.
4. Email Marketing.
5. Fax Marketing.
6. Mobile Marketing.
7. Hyper-Local.
8. Classified Marketing.
9. Coupons & Flyers.
10. Daily Deals.
11. Event Marketing.
12. Q&A Marketing.
13. Viral Marketing.
14. Re-Marketing.
15. PR Marketing.
16. Social Marketing.
17. Text Marketing.

 

The objective of using this form of marketing is to create targeted content for each stage of the buying cycle and develop a publishing schedule

Using content marketing to build links and raise your search engines ranking: Content marketing is a marketing tactic of creating and positioning relevant content for each stage of the customer buying cycle that educates, convinces, acquires, and engages. After creating content based on the buying cycle and the different personas (the customer segment types your service), the next step is to express this content using various content formats like blogs, PowerPoint presentation, articles, press releases, videos, and case studies. Then broadcast it using multi-channels.

Your content has to educate, persuade, and build trust.
Your content must perform three essential tasks:

• Help raise your profile within organic search results.
• Connect with your customers based on where they are in the buying cycle.
• Create a lasting online footprint

Content should be:

• Useful
• Original
• Actionable
• Shareable

Content Mapping: Consideration

Consideration: Help visitors find the right solution to their problem by choosing the right service or product.

Content Types:

• Video demonstrations
• Webinar tutorials
• FAQs
• Testimonials
• Buyer guides
• Reviews
• Case studies

Content Mapping: Decision and Content Channel Types:

Your communication channels:

• Website
• News & Article channels
• Blogs
• Email
• Social Networks
• Listservs
• Presentation sites

 

Content Mapping: Purchase Purchase:
Explain how easy it is to pay or book online. Show easy payment options. Remove all friction, barriers, or glitches in the way of processing payment and booking.

Content Types:

• How to order our product blog post/website section screenshot.
• How to book an appointment video.
• How to manage your account content.
• Local Delivery options: Same Day/Next Day drop-off or pickup.

 

How to Accomplish This

First do an audit of content you currently have such as a brochure, business plan, press releases, etc. Repurpose it for other content types or start distributing it to online media channels. Also, do an audit of your business processes and get feedback from staff content.

Outsourcing:

You can hire professional writers on the following websites, who not only will write good content but also search engine friendly content (with our best keywords integrated into it).

• zerys.com
• writeraccess.com
• iwriter.com
• textbroker.com
• Fiverr.com

Create an editorial calendar: An editorial calendar is used by bloggers, publishers, businesses, and groups to control the publication of content and scheduling across different media.

WordPress plugin

wordpress.org/plugins/editorial-calendar/

 

 

 

1. Search Marketing.
2. Directory Marketing & Lead Generation.
3. Content Marketing.
4. Email Marketing.
5. Fax Marketing.
6. Mobile Marketing.
7. Hyper-Local.
8. Classified Marketing.
9. Coupons & Flyers.
10. Daily Deals.
11. Event Marketing.
12. Q&A Marketing.
13. Viral Marketing.
14. Re-Marketing.
15. PR Marketing.
16. Social Marketing.
17. Text Marketing.

 

Where do they search online for my types of products or services? Industry-based sites, lead generation sites, general business directories, geo-based & consumer advocacy sites.

Tactics you can use:

• Create multiple maps of your location & publishing them.
• Distributing your NAP/Citations to Business Directories.
• Targeting business data aggregators to streamline the process.
• Using Rich Snippets and KML file on your website.
• Creating a stand-alone page per location and adding Google maps to your site.
• Adding your address to meta tags on your website.
• Adding your service locations to the footer of your site.
• Adding Google plus to your site.
• Creating a Google ‘My Business’ account and completing the profile.

How do users find you locally?

Maps & GPS:
Primeplaces.here.com, Bing.com, Googlemaps.com, Mapquest.com, mapinsight.teleatlas.com,
openstreetmap.org, and Foursquare.

Apps:
Foursquare, Google My Business, and Aroundme app.

Local Business Directories:
(Yahoo small business, Yelp, Merchant Circle, YellowPages.com, Whitepages, SuperMedia, Yellowbook, Angieslist.com, CitySearch, local.com, Localeze, Hotfrog, and more.

Industry-focused directories:
Redbeacon.com, homeadvisor.com, localcatering.com, and more.

Lead Generation Websites: Thumbtack.com

Search Engines: Google, Yahoo, Bing

 

Customer Expectations

When searching for local businesses online, what type of information is most important?

• Reviews of the business 33.1%
• Business name, address and phone 30.3%
• Pricing information 24.5%
• Maps & directions to their location 20.3%
• Pictures of the business 11.5%
• Phone number 67%
• Business Address 67%
• Hours of operation 64%
• Website 48%
• Maps 46%
• Driving directions 42%
• Distance to the business 36%
• Consumer ratings/reviews 35%
• Promos/online discounts 34%
• Methods of payment accepted 32%

GPS Mapping Databases

Add your location to POI (Point of Interest) on GPS maps. In order to do this you’ll need the following information:

• Business Category
• Business Name
• Address, City, State
• Zip Code
• Telephone Number
• Business Description (50 to 500 words)
• Fax Number
• Email
• Website
• Payment Types Accepted (Visa, MC, Cash, Paypal, etc.)

 

Where to List?

In the United States, there are primary aggregators of local business:

• Express update USA
• Localeze
• Foursquare
• Google My Business and Google Map Maker
• Open Street Maps
• Factual

These aggregators license or syndicate their data to most local search engines and directories like
Yelp, Google, and Bing.

Citations
What are citations? Citations are defined as mentions of your business name and address on other web pages.
Citations can come in various forms.

• Company name, by itself.
• Company name & phone number.
• Company name, phone number, & address.
• Company name, phone number, address & link.

Why are they valuable to your business?

Citations are a key component of the ranking algorithms in Google and Bing search engines. One of the most important
factors in ranking for local is making sure your Name, Address, and Phone number is consistent across different website
directories and data sources.

The object of the game is to acquire more citations on your business using directory websites. The businesses with the
greatest number of citations will probably outrank businesses with fewer citations. Having citations from well-established
sites helps search engine trust the accuracy of your business’ contact information and categorization.

Finding Citation Opportunities

First, see if your business has citations and check for listing accuracy. Just go to yext.com. This tool instantly checks the major online directories and shows you how your listing appears. Discover more listing opportunities for better local search rankings using whitespark.ca.
You can use it to research the citations of your competition, as well as your own. It not only displays local directories to list your business information but also citation opportunities like guest blog postings, job listings, and video promotion. This service searches the internet and finds all of the top ranking citation websites to add your listings to. Each search averages 545 citation sources per keyword phrase.

Local Citation Finder

Key Directories

Yahoo Local

You can add or claim a basic listing for free (contact information, link to your website, hours, payment options, email address, products and services). Or you can upgrade to an enhanced listing for $9.95 per month, which allows you to add photos,
coupons, and more.

Bing Local

Bing allows you to add your business information for free (photos for your business, contact information, link to your website, description, and more). Bing’s local also pulls in reviews from a variety of other local search sites.

Google Plus

Google Plus for business allows adding your business for free. You can create a profile based on business type (service area business, storefront, or brand).

Yelp

Yelp is one of the most important directories for your business to be listed in. You can add a business
listing for free (photos, business description, address, and additional details). Business owners can
respond to reviews on their page. Yelp also offers advertising packages like “Yelp Search” and “Related
Businesses.” Packages typically range from $300 to $2,200 per month. Yelp also has a program called
“Yelp Deals” that allows you to promote deals.

Merchant Circle

Merchant Circle provides small businesses with a web listing page, blogging platform, deal building
tools, and many other ways for businesses to connect with new potential customers. It is another
popular local directory that allows businesses to add listings for free.

Superpages

Superpages allows businesses to add a basic business listing for free (business information and site
URL) until you upgrade your listing for $25 per month.

Yellow Pages

Yellow Pages allows businesses to add a basic business listing for free (business information, coupon,
add to multiple categories, and site URL).

Additional Local Directories

In this course, I’ve included an Excel spreadsheet of the top local business directories you should add
your business to. However, a quicker way would be to use a service like Yext and Moz Local. These
services distribute your business data to the top directories.

Google My Business
Create the Google Plus local and Google My Business profile Google Plus powers Google maps, mobile and desktop search

This new platform eliminates the need for multiple business profiles, making it easier than ever to create and optimize your
presence across Google Search, Maps, and Google+, and to manage it via mobile, too! From this one dashboard, you can edit your business info, share updates, respond to reviews, and view your results – all of which can help you get found by more local consumers, no matter how they use Google to search, monitor, and manage reviews.

Create the Google Plus Local and Google My Business profile Google Plus powers Google Maps, mobile and desktop search

You can share new text, photos, links, videos, and events. Insights: Once you verify your business you are able to
gain insights into your visibility, engagement, and audience. I recently made an edit to our page so it is pending verification.

Reviews:

Each business is given a Google rating and you are able to manage your reviews on Google and view other reviews around the web.

Google Analytics:

Quick access directly to your Google Analytics dashboard.

Start a Hangout:

With the click of a button, you can start or join a Hangout

 

Claiming Your Listing & More

First, do an online audit of your business profile at Yext and determine directories you need to sign up for. Once that’s done, just go to the website to look for your profile and claim it by going through the verification process. If you don’t see one, just create a new profile. Based on
the directory platform, verification should be simple. In most cases, you’ll be asked to verify using a phone number, by text message, email, or postal mail.

Make sure you choose the best and most relevant category available for your business. This process greatly influences your visibility within local search.

Directory submissions:
You can claim your listing using text, voice, or email.

Options:
Create a new listing or Confirm a pre-existing listing

Fix inconsistent data
Merge duplicate accounts

Enhancing your Business Listing

• Business description
• Select more relevant business categories
• Linking menus
• Linking videos
• Uploading pictures
• Payment options
• Hours of operation
“Unique clothes is the premier boutique for working women in Washington D.C. Come out
every Tuesday for a free makeover.”

Directory Management Platforms

SinglePlatform:
Makes it easy to showcase and update your business’ most important information everywhere local consumers are making decisions online.

Moz Local:
Ensures your business listings are correct, consistent, and visible across the web. Moz Local will update in real time location-related information on multiple websites from one place.

Yext:
Yext helps businesses synchronize their data across local search directories.

Having Consistent Citations

Consistent and non-duplicate business listings/citation builds trust and long term value. Inaccurate listings can end up replicating across multiple websites. You can update your business data directly, but you must submit your information to
these sites. Acxiom, Express Update USA, Localeze, Foursquare, Google My Business, and Google Map Maker, Open Street Maps, and Factual.

If you currently changed your address, phone number, renamed your business, or your profile is incomplete. Your business profile must be consistent across all directories and review sites. Whether duplicates or inconsistent information is your fault or not, it’s your responsibility to correct it. Using Moz Local and Yext makes it easy to do this across multiple websites. Managing a single listing on multiple platforms can be very challenging.

Directory Best Practices

– Increase the links that point to your website from relevant and popular websites
– Increase the citations of your business on the websites where these citations appear

1. Make sure your business name is the same name you use in the real world. Google does allow
descriptors like “subways downtown.”
2. Make sure you comply with Google quality guidelines for local business in promoting your business.
3. Use a real business address, not a P.O. box address. If you need a mailing address, rent one. You
can find them online.
4. If you need a dedicated business phone number, go to Google voice and apply for one.

 

A marketing calendar is a document that highlights the dates when marketing tasks will be performed. The marketing calendar helps you organize and highlight a series of activities and events in the effort of promoting your business. There are 3 types of marketing activities your calendar should cover:  seasonal/short-term activities, a content calendar, and ongoing marketing activities calendar. Therefore
there’s a need to have 2 marketing calendars in place. Your seasonal or short-term marketing calendar should display activities like Easter day or Christmas promotions. Ongoing activities can be weekly events, E.g. a happy hour, customer appreciation day, wine
tasting, Facebook Mondays.

Tasks should be added to the daily, weekly, monthly, or seasonal schedule. The calendar helps focus your attention on your business goals. Having a marketing calendar in place is a great way to keep everyone on the same page. It also is a tool for you and your staff to collaborate and contribute to.

Calendar Types

• Marketing calendar – outlines your marketing activities.
• Editorial calendar – a daily, weekly and monthly schedule outlining the content and themes
  associated with your marketing campaigns and website. Content like blogs, press releases, articles, social network postings, PowerPoint presentations, and the dates on which that content will be published.
• One free and easy option is to use Google Calendar, an application that is available for email users in the “Home & Office” Google section. You can also choose Microsoft Outlook, an Excel document on a shared server, or another calendar program. It is a good idea to choose a calendar application that is integrated with email. These programs send out reminders days or
  weeks in advance of upcoming marketing initiatives.
• The WordPress Editorial Calendar Plugin (FREE) is one of the most popular plugins, for good reason. Your posts can be easily viewed at a glance and placed in draft mode, scheduled, or published.

 

Who’s Responsible for the Calendar?

Make someone responsible for tasks. Determine who is responsible for each marketing task. For this position, the person responsible plans, proofs, implements, and checks the results of each marketing effort. Make someone responsible for the calendar. This person is responsible for alerting staff of campaigns; adding, editing, and removing tasks from the calendar.

 

• Where does your audience become aware of your business?
• What are their basic expectations?
• How can you educate your audience?
• What sources of information influences them to take an action?

How We search Locally

The average consumer uses up to 8 sources of information before making a purchase decision locally. So you need to create a strong web presence that influences consumers at every stage along their buying journey.

Using traditional marketing, we were limited to discover new businesses via radio, billboard, print directories, word of mouth, and TV.

The New Model:

Customers research based on a need and discover your business while searching, surfing, and socializing online. They then check your website, reviews of your business, and social pages. Then they contact you via phone and email, then set an appointment or buy offline.
After the purchase, they share their buying experience on review sites and social networks. Customers like us or follow us on social networks and subscribe to future offers.

5 Stages of the Customer Buying Cycle

Awareness: Customer identifies a need and thinks that your business can potentially fulfill it.

Consideration: The customer evaluates how your offers meet their needs and compare it to offers from other local businesses.

Decision: Once the customer determines which solution meets their criteria and risk level, the decision to make a purchase is made.

Purchase: The act of ordering and buying from your business.

Repurchase: If the purchase meets the customer’s expectations, this may lead to a repeat purchase and hopefully a lifetime customer.

 

Marketing Channels that Influence

• Content sites
• Online media
• Search engines
• Deal sites
• Review sites
• Social media
• Community Listservs (Yahoo and Google Groups)
• Offline media
• Comparing several business websites

 

Steps to Take

Once you understand your customer’s path, you greatly increase your chances of winning new customers by positioning your business across multi-marketing channels (touch points). The key is to optimize each touch point.

Step 1 Create awareness in the places your audience will more than likely go as they surf the web.
Step 2 Increase your local search position in Google, Yahoo, Bing.
Step 3 Stand out of the crowd when consumers research and evaluate your business.
Step 4 Impress your audience on your website and social networking profiles.
Step 5 Address their interests and concerns so they contact you and learn more.
Step 6 Give them a good buying and service experience (functionality), so they return.
Step 7 Engage them often so they share the good news with others.

 

Business Evaluation

Discovery Stage:

Find out how to get in front of your customers as they surf and socialize online. Influence & Consideration Stage:

1. Which competitors are they likely to consider?
2. What information do they require of a business?
3. How do I distinguish myself from my competitors?
4. Does my website address their pain points & expectations?
5. Is my staff prepared and trained to answer their questions and follow up?
6. Is there a post-purchase plan in place to continue to stay in front of your leads and customers?

 

Purchase Stage:

1. Is the website functional?
2. If purchasing or booking an appointment is required, does it actually work?
3. Is your website secured?

 

The Don’t’s

Customers aren’t looking for you if your business embodies these poor attributes:

• Negative reviews.
• Poor content on your website.
• Poor website functionality.
• Unable to make a purchase.
• Business information unavailable.
• Have a limited online presence.
• Bad follow-up system.
• Employees untrained on current promotions.

Our business activities revolve around these 3 departments.

 

1. Acquisition
2. Retention
3. Reputation

 

Customer Acquisition

1. Who are your customers?
2. Where are they located?
3. What are they looking for in a product or service?
4. What multi-approach channel do we have in place to reach them?
5. What low hanging strategy can we implement to address a highly competitive environment?
6. The process of persuading a consumer to purchase a company’s goods or services and the cost associated with the acquisition process.

 

The CA Mindset:

A successful strategy focuses on a very specific set of customer segments by uncovering their pain points, expectations, their path to purchase, and demographic/interest.

Who are Your Customers?

4 Ways to uncover your current customers’ interests, groups they belong to, what events they attend, the business they patronize and more.

• Facebook Insights.
• Facebook Social Graph.
• Conducting surveys after the sale.
• Google analytics (Demographics & Interests)

 

Facebook Insights

Facebook Insights provides information about your Fan Page performance and are available after at least 30 people like your Page. In this report, you can find demographic information on your audience and see how people are discovering you. Facebook Insights Identifies the average age, city, and gender of your fans.

Facebook Social Graph

Attract

New Customers Use these queries to help you discover potential new customers in your area.

Strategy
If your business is in close proximity to another business, you can use Graph Search to find out which employees of that business are interested in services/products like yours.

Facebook Search Query

People who like Italian restaurants and work at Catholic universities.

Find Your Fans’ Interests
Learn more about your fans’ interests without asking them to complete a survey or questionnaire.
If you find that a large number of your fans like Scandal the TV show, you could create a Scandal happy hour if you’re a restaurant or
make related posts on Facebook.

Facebook Search Query: “Favorite interests of people who like Your PAGE NAME and live in Washington
DC.”

Facebook Social Graph

Identify other pages your fans/customers like. You can use this insight to find prizes or incentives that will appeal to a specific age or other demographic within your fan base.

Facebook Search Query: Pages liked by people who like PAGE NAME and PAGE NAME.

 

Customer Feedback

With Survey Monkey, regardless of which survey option you send out to a targeted audience, it automatically provides demographic information about the customers’ gender, age range, annual household income level, highest education level attained, and location (by census division). But if you want your results to include more specific or any other demographic information, you’ll have to add additional questions to the survey itself.

 

Using GA for Customer Insight

Google Analytics (GA) has an option called Demographics and Interests, which allows you to uncover demographic information in regard to age range, income, etc. Website owners can use Google Analytics demographics to determine their target audience and see exactly who their visitors are.

 

 

1. Building Awareness.
2. Influencing Consideration.
3. Driving Sales.
4. Growing Loyalty & Retention.
5. Maintaining Good Reviews & CS Rating.

 

In order to build awareness for your business, you need to identify where your
customers are located, then establish a beachhead within that space. Building
business profiles are also a great way to build links and citations.

• Identify business directory opportunities & create an account (Complete your profile 100% &
  keep it updated)
• Search marketing (organic and paid)
• Publicity
• Building Awareness
• Social Networking

 

What a Growth Hack is and how it can help your business

Growth hacking is a method used to grow your customer base by leveraging technology and social
networking. In order for these marketing tactics to have some sort of impact, they have to be embedded in
your marketing process and not just something you do here and there.

3 examples of growth hacking :

1. Using Facebook to promote all your contests to your customers. Contests are a good way for customers
to engage with your brand. The catch here is that customer has to like your Facebook fan page in order
to participate. You can also launch a weekly promotion, E.g. “Facebook Mondays,” to new customers
who haven’t liked your FB fan page. Once a guest likes your page, it unlocks a discount code/deal that
they can only use on Mondays. A way to accomplish this is using a service called “Woobox correction.”

2. You can use Pay with a Tweet app to promote all your coupons. In order for a customer to download
your coupon, the coupon must be Tweeted or posted to their Facebook wall.

3. Give your website visitors the ability to share content from your website such as menus, directions,
product pictures, reviews, etc.

 

Influencing Considerations

In order to influence your audience’s ability to choose your business rather than your
competition, you must first understand your customers’ pain points and expectations. Next,
develop a communication strategy (content) that impacts every stage of your customers’
purchasing cycle.

• Create content that educates.
• Create content that demonstrates & provides proof.
• Create content that demonstrates & provides proof. ( E.g. display customer Endorsements/
• Testimonials content and press from well-known sources throughout the site)

 

Driving Sales

There are three ways to grow sales. However, most companies focus on only one and are
missing out on revenue opportunities. So what are the three ways to increase sales?

• Increase the number of customers.
• Increase the average order size.
• Increase the number of repeat purchases.

 

To Increase the Number of Customers, You Need:

• A process for customer feedback, then use these insights to improve your business (helps to establish a good reputation and builds trust).
• A customer acquisition process in place (deals, coupons, discounts targeted to individuals and groups). Targeting B2C and B2B
  To satisfy customer needs and deliver a remarkable service.
• Customers to become advocates of your business, and enable them to spread the word (add sharing tools to your promotions and website).
• Ask them to refer your services to their friends.
• To place in-store marketing collateral, promoting other products, services, and
  marketing campaigns

 

Increase the Average Order Size

“Would you like fries with that?” This line captures the essence of this point”.

This is a sales technique that recommends additional products and services for your customers to purchase (add-ons, upgrades, and expensive items)

For a Restaurant: “Would you like fries with that burger?”
For a Car Repair Service: “Would you like an extended warranty or monthly scheduled service commitment?”

Your upselling options should upsell costs 60% less than the main product you’re selling.
Examples: Extended warranty, dessert, different product options, longer service commitments, and delivery
options

 

Increase the Number of Repeat Purchases

Here you have to stay on top of your customers’ minds. Leveraging email, voice, SMS, and social networking as tools to promote deals, product news, specials, and events are important.

It’s much easier to sell to an existing customer than to get a new one. It’s much cheaper to keep the customers you already have than to pay for new ones all the time.

 

Grow Loyalty & Retention

In order to build loyalty you have to first fulfill your service promise, then have the processes, staff, and technology in place that helps influence behavior (return visits, purchases and word of mouth).

• Identify incentives & implement a loyalty program.
• Identify your most loyal and profitable customers.
• Reward them and treat the most loyal ones in special ways.

 

Maintain Good Reviews & Satisfaction Levels

Having a good satisfaction rating is vital to growing your business. It isn’t enough to only have good reviews on Yelp but more importantly, good reviews across all review sites related to your business. Getting direct customer feedback is equally as important as gaining customer insight.

• Implement a feedback system into the business.
• Learn how to respond to negative reviews.
• Increase good reviews & monitor current ones

 

How to Use Customer Feedback

Feedback enables communication between you and your customer. Customer feedback helps you to close the gap between your business and customer expectations. Whether there’s a technical issue with your website or your food taste is inconsistent, feedback helps uncover issues in your business. You can use a third party feedback tool like getfivestars.com.

This tool allows you to not only get feedback from your customers but also it helps you receive better reviews on Yelp and Google reviews and monitors your reviews across multiple websites. When a customer delivers positive feedback using the getfivestars.com platform, the customers receive a link to review business. If a customer delivers bad feedback, they will receive an automated/custom response.

 

 

Claim your business page and connect with your customers on Yelp.

Millions of people turn to Yelp every day to make spending decisions. Yelp provides a free suite of tools to showcase your business