Red Deer Marketing
Located at 40 Jarvis Ave., Red Deer, AB. T4P 3W6
Phone: 403-350-4420.
Red Deer Marketing.
[email protected]Located at 40 Jarvis Ave., Red Deer, AB. T4P 3W6
Phone: 403-350-4420.
Red Deer Marketing.
Connecting Local Businesses with Local Customers
Your customers are right next to you. On average, most of your customers are within 10km of your business location. At least, they should be. The widespread use of the internet has changed how people look for information. Forget about the Yellow Pages, its easier and often quicker to do a search on the computer or mobile phone.
In fact, up to 80% of all internet searches are looking for something local. 50% of those local searches are looking for information to make a buying decision. Your customers are looking for you online. This makes your position in search rankings and on social media sites critical. Over 90% of internet searchers will not go past the first page of results.
Before you tune out, having a webpage for your business is not even a requirement anymore. Let's face it, getting your company website to rank on the first page, against the entire internet, is difficult, time consuming and in the long run, expensive. Luckily, Google loves local businesses, and has changed their search results to include local businesses.
Go ahead, check it out for yourself. Go to Google.com and search for a word that describes your business. For many industries (not all, yet), you should find a section of results that are local businesses. These are pages that Google makes and lists for local businesses. So, although your company website www.reddeerwidgets.com may never get ranked for "widgets", your Google Places listing can get ranked to show up on the first page of search results.
In fact, up to 80% of all internet searches are looking for something local. 50% of those local searches are looking for information to make a buying decision. Your customers are looking for you online. This makes your position in search rankings and on social media sites critical. Over 90% of internet searchers will not go past the first page of results.
Before you tune out, having a webpage for your business is not even a requirement anymore. Let's face it, getting your company website to rank on the first page, against the entire internet, is difficult, time consuming and in the long run, expensive. Luckily, Google loves local businesses, and has changed their search results to include local businesses.
Go ahead, check it out for yourself. Go to Google.com and search for a word that describes your business. For many industries (not all, yet), you should find a section of results that are local businesses. These are pages that Google makes and lists for local businesses. So, although your company website www.reddeerwidgets.com may never get ranked for "widgets", your Google Places listing can get ranked to show up on the first page of search results.
Google is NOT Everything
Its true, Google is not the holy grail of advertising, but it is an important aspect of it. There is no denying that if someone sees your business on the first page of Google results, they are very likely to look your business up and walk in the door.
Facebook actually gets more pageviews than Google now, and believe it or not, Youtube has the second largest search volume. Love them, or hate them, your customers use Facebook and Youtube. Even more interesting, over 50% of social media users, access social media via their mobile phone. (Is your company website "mobile friendly"?)
Facebook pages are a great way to stay in direct contact with your customers. You can let them know about special deals (which all of their friends see as well!), and they can let you know when they are unhappy. The negative feedback can be the best opportunity of all. Knowing that there is a problem allows you to fix it, and let everyone know that you listen to them and will do whatever it takes to satisfy a customer.
The special deal part can also have a huge impact on customers. Imagine a time when business slows down. Whether it is for a few hours, a particular day, or week, you can send out a special time limited deal, directly to people who like your business, and minimise the slow period.
Youtube videos can make a huge difference as well. The fact that you are still reading this is amazing because many people do not have the attention span to read things, when video is available. In fact, the young people now consider e-mail to be passe, instant messages and rich media are how they connect. Videos also engage viewers on a more personal level. They can get to know the business and connect on an emotional level when the video speaks to them like a friend, rather than a highly produced and edited commercial.
Facebook actually gets more pageviews than Google now, and believe it or not, Youtube has the second largest search volume. Love them, or hate them, your customers use Facebook and Youtube. Even more interesting, over 50% of social media users, access social media via their mobile phone. (Is your company website "mobile friendly"?)
Facebook pages are a great way to stay in direct contact with your customers. You can let them know about special deals (which all of their friends see as well!), and they can let you know when they are unhappy. The negative feedback can be the best opportunity of all. Knowing that there is a problem allows you to fix it, and let everyone know that you listen to them and will do whatever it takes to satisfy a customer.
The special deal part can also have a huge impact on customers. Imagine a time when business slows down. Whether it is for a few hours, a particular day, or week, you can send out a special time limited deal, directly to people who like your business, and minimise the slow period.
Youtube videos can make a huge difference as well. The fact that you are still reading this is amazing because many people do not have the attention span to read things, when video is available. In fact, the young people now consider e-mail to be passe, instant messages and rich media are how they connect. Videos also engage viewers on a more personal level. They can get to know the business and connect on an emotional level when the video speaks to them like a friend, rather than a highly produced and edited commercial.
People are talking about your business behind your back
It's true. With social media, and location based social media, people don't have to wait for your business to get set up before they start publicly discussing your company online. If you have been in business for at least 2 years, chances are very good that your company is listed on tens or even hundreds of directories, and social media sites.
I recently found out that my favorite local pizza place had upset someone. While waiting for my pizza, I looked them up on Google Places. What I saw was horrible: "...the owner is a professional scuzz ball!" Someone has posted that comment on their Google Places listing, and the company hasn't even claimed the listing. Without claiming the page, they cannot do anything about it. So, if someone looks at their listing on Google, all they are going to see is that nasty comment.
Sites like Foursquare, Facebook Places (yes, facebook again), Gowalla, and others, already list your business and people are free to leave reviews, nice and nasty too. By taking control of these listings (all theses companies allow you to take control) you can protect and even build your reputation. A good reputation means that people are more comfortable with your business when they are looking for a product or service.
I recently found out that my favorite local pizza place had upset someone. While waiting for my pizza, I looked them up on Google Places. What I saw was horrible: "...the owner is a professional scuzz ball!" Someone has posted that comment on their Google Places listing, and the company hasn't even claimed the listing. Without claiming the page, they cannot do anything about it. So, if someone looks at their listing on Google, all they are going to see is that nasty comment.
Sites like Foursquare, Facebook Places (yes, facebook again), Gowalla, and others, already list your business and people are free to leave reviews, nice and nasty too. By taking control of these listings (all theses companies allow you to take control) you can protect and even build your reputation. A good reputation means that people are more comfortable with your business when they are looking for a product or service.
Get in touch with us for a no obligation, no sales pitch, consultation
Seriously, no strings attached. You will even end up with some ideas on how to help your business yourself. It's no secret, this business exists to make money, just like yours. If you are not interested in partnering with us to build your business, the least we can do is be a good neighbor and point you in the right direction. Even if we aren't doing business together, we all benefit when business is booming around us.
Red Deer Marketing
Located at 40 Jarvis Ave., Red Deer, AB. T4P 3W6
Phone: 403-350-4420.
Red Deer Marketing.
[email protected]Located at 40 Jarvis Ave., Red Deer, AB. T4P 3W6
Phone: 403-350-4420.
Red Deer Marketing.
