How To Protect And Grow Your Local Business Using Internet Marketing
There is a wave of opportunity or a tsunami of competition. It’s coming very fast. Which side will you be on?
The marketing methods you have used to grow or sustain your business don’t work anymore. Your customers go on-line to find suppliers with only a third using traditional media.
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81% of buyers go on-line to find out about a business.
- 94% of searchers don’t go past Page 1 of Google.
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42% of clicks go to Number 1 in Google.
Scary stats…. unless you are active with on-line marketing and have a Page 1 listing in Google.
And it’s increasingly so. The number of searches for local businesses is increasing rapidly. Unlike old media where the publisher would let in all your competitors if you take the right steps, you can claim the new-media for yourself and lock out your competitors. Smart business owners can see that’s it’s a wave of opportunity for them and a tsunami that will crush others in their market. In two years time, local business marketing on-line will be dominant but in two years, it will be too late to claim your space. Someone else will have it tied up.
I work with local businesses to do their on-line marketing so they come at the top of Google.
How much is your on-line market worth?
Many people remain sceptical that there really is a market on-line for their local business or industry. A common comment is, “It’s true for other industries but not for mine.” Or. “My customers know me.” Probably but they also move away, new ones move in. And some die. Your market is always changing.
We can work-out the value of your market quite easily by looking at the number of searches and identifying the “buying” Search-terms. When I show people, they are usually quite shocked how many potential customers are looking on-line for their product or service.
What are your Internet marketing tools?
There are eight main ways to do use Internet marketing for your local business.
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Search
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Relationship building
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Frequent, low-cost marketing
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Using social media
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Building a reputation with consumer reviews
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Being seen as the best or authority in your business
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Being seen in multiple places
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Testing and measuring your progress
And all for the same as you could pay for your Yellow Pages ad – which fewer people see, is only one place and cannot be changed if it’s not working.
If we just look at the first category which is what most people know from the Internet – search. There is far more to it than most people realise. There are five types of search you can claim for yourself.
1 Local Search
You can integrate Google’s own Local Search with Google maps. But it need different skills to rank with Google local than in standard search results
2 Top10 search results
People are starting to understand that they need SEO or Search Engine Optimisation to get onto Page 1.
If your SEO is smart, you can get 2 returns on the same page like this example but not many even get you onto Page 1.
3 Pay Per Click or Sponsored links
These are the small ads you see at the top or at the side of the search results. You only pay for those if someone clicks on them.
Most people bid on obvious Search-terms but these have more competition and higher bid prices .
If you use a different strategy there is far less competition and lower bid prices.
4 Google’s Content Network
Have you ever wanted to be seen in national or up-market magazines but couldn’t afford it?
You can now. You target very specific types of searchers at very low cost using the Google Content Network which is local and national on-line press. It opens a whole new market to you. If you know how.
5 Universal Search
This uses listings of specific products and is rarely used by marketers so the competition is small.
6 Page 1 domination 
And if you really want to dominate your market then you can get multiple returns on Page 1 results. Imagine what that could do for your business if people saw your website all over the ‘Net.
That’s just one aspect of Internet marketing that you could use.
Your service menu
| Strategy | Tactic | How | Why |
| Search | Local search | Google Local Business | Highly targeted |
| Google Maps | Searchers expect it | ||
| Top ten searches | Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) | 80% people search for local businesses | |
| Find out the exact Search-terms customers use. | 94% people only use Page 1 | ||
| 13 simple tactics | Number 1 gets 42% of clicks | ||
| Adwords | Geo-targeting generic Search-terms | Adwords are strong buyer intent | |
| Less competition | |||
| Cheaper cost per click | |||
| Content Network | Google’s ads in on-line national and local media |
Low cost Very highly targeted Very effective |
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| Universal search | Product listing | Few suppliers use it | |
| Relationship building | Email marketing | Use a simple, low-cost tool linked to website | Build relationships |
| Continual marketing | |||
| Quick promotions | |||
| Over-stock sales | |||
| Respond to competitors’ promos | |||
| Website improvement | Personal branding of website | More friendly, neighbourly, personal branding | Most sites are “corporate” but local people like to buy from people. |
| Builds trust | |||
| Blog | Adds new content to the site | Google likes and ranks new content | |
| Capture site visitor details | Simple system takes visitor name. | See who visits the site | |
| Can build relationship. | |||
| 80% sales come after 5 contacts. | |||
| Can market again and again | |||
| Visitors are anonymous so the website is worthless. | |||
| Create offers | |||
| Test offers | |||
| Announce promotions, sales | |||
| Strengthen your Google rank | Build links | Use 8 typical link sources | Links are the most important part of a site’s ranking. |
| Locks out competitors. | |||
| Strategy | Tactic | How | Why |
| Page 1 domination | Blog for small search volume | Posts and pages targeting long-tail Search-terms | Dozens of low-volume but highly targeted Search-terms that competitors ignore |
| Video | Production | Very low-cost with digital camera | |
| Ranks highly | |||
| Ranks quickly | |||
| Scripting | Target key buying terms | ||
| Distribution to multiple sites – there are 8 others besides YouTube | People like to watch video | ||
| Audio | Simple production | Very little competition | |
| Simple distribution | |||
| PR | Press releases | Rank quickly | |
| Rank highly | |||
| Articles | Rank quickly | ||
| Rank highly | |||
| Show your expertise | |||
| Web2.0 | Social media | 100s of sources of traffic | Growing fast. |
| Rank highly | |||
| Rank quickly | |||
| Trusted by searchers | |||
| Social bookmarking | Dozens of sites | High traffic | |
| Creates referrals from satisfied customers | |||
| Locals forums | Set up entries | Creates referrals from satisfied customers. | |
| Trusted by searchers | |||
| Classified ads | On-line classified sites | Create ads | More people viewing them |
| Fewer people reading local papers. | |||
| Local event promotions | Tie to local events | Local buzz | |
| Searchers already looking at the events | |||
| Easy promotional opportunities | |||
| Test and track | Google Analytics | Easy measurement and improvement of campaigns | Can quickly change what’s not working. |
| Can measure ROI of marketing | |||
| Can do more of what is working |
How is your current marketing working for you?
If you advertise in Yellow Pages, say a half-page, that’s about $20,000 a year or nearly $1,700 a month you are spending. . It’s only one place. You can’t change it during the year. And have you seen that it’s less effective than it used to be?.
A 5,000 run flyer, which probably get tossed straight in to the recycling could easily be another $3,000.
A newspaper ads which fewer people are reading and is only seen once, another $200 a week.. All together, that could be $30,000 a year or $2,500 a month mostly wasted expense.
And how do yo know if any of them are working well for you?
On-line marketing gives you many more good opportunities to market to your customers.
It keeps working for you,
It’s more effective.
You can change it.
You can see quickly and easily what’s working.
You can see measure your return on investment.
The number of users is growing rapidly.
It’s becoming mainstream.
It’s versatile.
It’s affordable.
Who else can have this huge opportunity?
No-one.
I will only work with one client in any particular industry in an area. That’s it. It’s either you or a competitor. There is no second chance while someone else remains a client.
And frankly, once someone starts to see how they can be everywhere and dominate customers’ thinking, they will stay a client forever.
It’s either the wave of opportunity or be engulfed by the tsunami of competition.
Call or email now to reserve your spot
021 458089 (NZ Mobile).