Have a specific service in mind or looking to share more about your project goals? Fill out the form on this page and one of our sales specialist will get back to you ASAP.
Marketing your business has evolved over the years. You used to be able to take out a Yellow Pages ad, do a little networking, and call it a day. Today, people take to the internet, not only to find the business they are looking for, but also to research the company they are looking to do business with. Reviews, social media, your company culture, are all deciding factors people weigh in on before deciding to do business with you or your brand.
There are so many ways your company can make an impact digitally now. Below are just 6 of the ways that you can market your local business in 2017.
While our inboxes are getting more and more inundated with newsletters, offers, and SPAM, email is still an amazing opportunity to nurture your leads and current customers. Email remains to have the highest ROI, or return on investment, than even social media. 4x’s higher in fact!
However, make sure your email approach is 2017 and not 2007. Add value with each email, don’t just use it to sell your list every week.
Some tips on effective email campaigns:
1. Onboard your list
As soon as someone opts-in or allows you to send them email communications, send them a thank you and welcome email letting them know exactly what to expect by being on your list. How often will you be emailing them? What kind of communication will be going out? Will you be offering exclusive email list promotions? What about a monthly tip about your industry?
2. Be consistent.
Set a schedule and stick to it! Once a week? Once a month?
3. Allow your email to be a two-way conversation
Ask for responses and feedback. Be sure to monitor your email and reply back of course!
I know, you may be thinking, “No one wants to read about my industry. What would I even write about? I don’t have the time/ skill/desire to write.”
My argument for blogging about your local business: content is KING. And continues to be in 2017. Just think how much you have taken in today alone? Not including this article, you may have liked a Facebook post, Tweet, skimmed a news article, searched for the answer to a question…the list goes on and on. While there is so much content being consumed right now, there is also a need to create accurate and relevant content on an ongoing basis. The world is hungry content monsters always needing to be fed.
This is where even your local business website becomes important. People are always searching. And another way for them to find you is to create an answer to their question they are already searching for. Blogging will also allow you to get more links back to your website as your posts are shared, which has some great long-term SEO value.
I wrote this post awhile back on some tips to get you started with blogging: How to Win at Blogging for Your Business
The world is going more and more mobile. Think of ways that you can increase your mobile reach. Attention spans are getting shorter and people are expecting to find the information they need when they need it. Make sure your website is mobile optimize and loads fast! Look into AMP, (accelerated mobile pages) for some of your web pages to improve performance. 
Other ways to include mobile, text messaging. If your business takes appointments, send text reminders. Text messages are also a great way to ask for reviews from your happy customers. There are many scheduling systems that will do this and even some that will integrate with your Google calendars.
What other ways can you engage with your customers on mobile?
Snapchat, Instagram Stories, and Facebook Live are all making big waves on the social and digital marketing scene. Live video is a great way to show in real-time what’s happening behind the scenes at your business. Maybe you’re hosting or attending an event? Or maybe you’re just answering frequent customer questions. While not all live platforms will be suitable for all businesses, don’t be afraid to try out a few channels and see what may work for your business!
Facebook Ads can target your ideal customer unlike any other platform. You can target by age, gender, interests, and of course location. You can target people who like your competitor’s page (if their audience is large enough), you can target past behaviors, buying trends, people who have interacted with your page, anyone who’s visited your website, you can even target your own customers whether they follow you on Facebook or not.
Facebook ads are a huge opportunity for local businesses, allowing you to get in front of thousands of potential new customers that are pre-qualified before they even lay eyes on your ad. Our website offers strategies how to optimize your website to rank better for a local audience. Something to keep in mind with Facebook advertising: Facebook is first and foremost a social network (hey, isn’t that a movie?), people aren’t typically logging into Facebook to purchase. You can post a promotion or offer, but you may want to start by creating an ad to a really awesome blog post you have written, or a fun video about your product and service. Allow people to get to know you before you ask for the sale.
Interested in running a Facebook campaign and don’t know where to start? [button color=”accent-color” hover_text_color_override=”#fff” size=”medium” url=”https://odd.dog/contact/” text=”Contact Us!” color_override=””]
If you’ve ever set up a Google Analytics account, then no doubt you’ve received a ton of promotions for free $50 worth of AdWords advertising from Google.
I used to ignore them, thinking that AdWords was just too expensive and a $50 ad spend would be like flushing money down the toilet Even if it wasn’t my money, it was the principle of wasted effort and time that I objected with. Oh, how wrong was I! It’s really been amazing to see the results we’ve been able to get for our clients, even with a very limited budget. The beauty of AdWords is that people are already searching for your service. Learn more about using AdWords see David’s recent post: “How To Use Adwords For Your Business“
Not sure your best plan for 2017? Schedule a Free 15-minute consultation with us!
A member of our team will be happy to talk through any questions you may have while offering you advice that you can easily implement for quick improvement.
2017 will be more of what 2016 was but amplified in a big way!
What are your marketing goals for 2017? Tell us below!
Please use the calendar to the right to book an initial meeting with our sales team.
Have a specific service in mind or looking to share more about your project goals? Fill out the form on this page and one of our sales specialist will get back to you ASAP.