Welcome
What I’m about to show you can ignite growth at your business well beyond the levels you’ve likely achieved in the past.
How do I know this is true?
Because 95 percent of the customers we have worked with over the years are missing AT LEAST two out of the five critical, proven marketing systems that are necessary to achieve maximum business growth.
And the customers who are leveraging all five?
They’re growing.
Fast.
So unless your situation is completely out of the ordinary (which is possible but unlikely), there is a really big opportunity to accelerate the growth of your business.
And the acceleration I’m talking about isn’t a short-lived “sugar-rush” kind of growth. It’s the sustainable and responsible kind—the kind that complements your ethical standards and supports your long-term vision for your business.
Skeptical?
I understand. But as you continue reading, you’ll discover that the marketing systems I’m talking about aren’t gimmicky, revolutionary, or impossible to implement. They don’t require you to turn your business model upside down or become something you’re not.
I believe these five marketing elements are the foundational building blocks that every successful local business must optimize in order to achieve sustainable, profitable growth. But again, my experience tells me that most businesses are not taking complete (or efficient) advantage of each of the five elements.
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Who am I?
For the past 13+ years, I have dedicated my career to helping local businesses like yours with their digital marketing so they stand out from their competition and thrive by implementing proven marketing systems.
As the CEO of WhirLocal, a division of Third River Marketing, one of my biggest jobs is to stay abreast of marketing trends and specifically how they affect local businesses. I spend countless hours each year studying trends and their corresponding impact on our customers. In turn, I share that information with my customers so they can continue to achieve the growth and profitability they want while being able to focus on what they do best – run their business.
I’ll be doing my best to share this information with you over the course of this short book so you too can maximize the growth in your local business. So, let’s get started.
In the Last 10 Years, There Have Been Dramatic Changes in the Marketplace
The competitive landscape for local businesses has changed dramatically over the last several years and will continue to change at an unprecedented pace.
Why? The continued development and distribution of technology have radically changed the way consumers are buying—how they hear about products and services; how they research them; and how they make a final purchase decision. This is called the buyer’s journey. It also extends after the purchase.
We like to visualize this journey using the following.
There are three massive trends that are driving these changes that are impacting your local business. My goal is to help you become better aware of them and understand how to leverage them to your benefit.
Now let’s run through each major trend.
Trend #1: Online Search
There is no doubt that search engines play a huge part in today’s buying journey. Search engines are such an important part of the buyer’s journey, but unfortunately, many local businesses either overlook this area completely or have unrealistic expectations. Either approach can be a big mistake.
Search engines make it possible for anyone to type in a keyword or phrase related to the product or service that you offer and find local results. And now, with voice search commands on our devices, we don’t even have to type – all we have to do is talk into a mobile or smart device (more on mobile later).
Google owns the lion’s share of the search market, with 70-90% of the market depending on the demographic and device being used. Because of Google’s dominance, I will be focusing my discussion and examples on Google, but of course, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, and others are also available.
How many times per day do you use Google?
When you use Google for a local search, there are typically three types of results on the search engine results page (SERP).
Paid results: These are businesses that are paying to be at the top of Google. By the way, this is the ONLY way, along with a decent paid ad budget, to guarantee that you will show up at the top of the page.
Maps aka Google My Business, and
Organic (free, kind of) results.
Did you know?
97% of consumers use search engines to find local businesses
There are typically two types of searches:
a keyword search, and
a brand search
Both are important!
A keyword search is when somebody types (or talks) a keyword or phrase into Google or a device.
For example:
“Pizza near me” or “Find a plumber in {{City}}”
These keywords or phrases are usually considered as “buyers intent”, meaning that they are looking for a solution with the intent to buy. While keyword searches are really important, it’s also vital to manage expectations.
I can’t tell you how many people have said to me over the years, “I want to be #1 on Google for X keyword”.
Well, guess what. So do all of your competitors.
This is why Google is a “pay-to-play” machine. They know that everybody is competing for those top spots, and so they structure their search engine in a way that paid results show up at the top. Understanding the nature of Google search and managing your expectations of what it takes to get to the top of the search engines is vital.
It’s also why we believe a brand search is just as or even more important than a keyword search. Why?
What is a Brand Search and Why It Matters
A brand search is when a prospect is already aware of your business or organization and is looking you up online; they have heard of you, been referred to you, driven by your building, met you at a networking event, seen your vehicles, etc. This means they are already a “warm” prospect.
The upshot of all of this is clear: If you want visibility for your business, you need visibility in the search engines for both keyword and brand searches, particularly on Google.
Huge potential upside
Higher visibility in Google can mean more website traffic, more customers and referrals, more sales activity, and more profit for your business.
And for those business owners in hyper-competitive markets, search-engine visibility can be the difference between being an unknown “also-ran” and being the ‘Top Dog’.
The good, the bad, and the ugly: there for all to see
But visibility is a double-edged sword. Customer reviews of your business are visible too.
What if some of these reviews are negative?
What if they’re scathing?
Well, the bad news is they can haunt your business for years and have a crushing impact on your bottom line.
On the flip side, positive reviews can fuel positive word of mouth and generate referral traffic as you’ve never seen!
That’s why proactively building, managing, and promoting your online reputation is one of the key marketing elements (more on this later).
Trend #2: Social Media
Another massive trend is social media.
The modern age is defined by an era of social media. From Facebook to Instagram, Twitter to Tik-Tok, YouTube to Linkedin, consumers are taking control over their own content and consumption in a way that has never been seen before – instead of relying on the traditional broadcasting model.
After Google, the most widely used website in the world is YouTube. It has more than two billion users, and Facebook has about 2.8 billion active users worldwide. Other social media sites add to this incredibly huge roster of active users, and the corresponding attention that goes with it.
What does this mean for your small business?
The social web has truly been a game-changer.
While we know that global users probably mean nothing to you, the amount of local users in your community is astonishing.
Huge potential upside
With the advent and ease of use of these social media platforms, every single small business can be and is by default, a media company.
And, people are not only ON social media sites, they are often glued to them. For many users, it is simply part of their daily routine.
The good part is, with social media and other content platforms, we have the ability to publish all kinds of content to help consumers move further along the buyer’s journey.
Social media equalizes content publishing and distribution and makes it available to everyone, at least to some degree.
Stay engaged and relevant
Another big reason to get involved in social media is that you have to do it to stay relevant.
Your buyers have come to expect it, and if you fall short of their expectations, they’ll be more likely to spend their money with the business down the street.
You can either join the conversation or let your competitors do all the talking.
It’s up to you!
Who uses social media?
As more Americans have adopted social media, the user base has also grown to represent broader populations. Young adults were among the earliest adopters and continue to use these sites at high levels but usage by older generations is on an upward trend as well.
Bottom line: Your customers are on social media
This means that pretty much whatever you are selling, you can likely reach your target audience on social media.
The downsides of social media
However, along with the good comes the bad and the just plain ugly of social media.
Social media, as we have probably all experienced, can be extremely divisive. What seems like an innocent and well-meaning post can take on a negative life of its own very quickly, even if you’re careful and thoughtful when posting.
People say and do stupid things on social media. Period.
Things they would likely never do or say in person. So, you have to be extra careful of what you post and how you post it so you can take full advantage of the platforms.
I have said for a long time, “If you wouldn’t want your grandma to see it, don’t post it”. Of course, this probably depends on your grandma ;-).
Another downside of social media is the organic reach. Just like search engines, social media sites have algorithms that figure out what content to show to whom. Unfortunately, getting any reasonable amount of people to see your content has become a pay-to-play game because organic reach has dropped significantly.
For example, on Facebook, organic reach has dropped to near zero. Zero! This means that very few people are seeing your content on a regular basis unless you are paying to promote it.
In addition to doing and saying stupid things, people are also taking to the web to share their experiences with brands, and what they are sharing with their friends and family members isn’t always flattering …
In fact, it seems to be getting worse.
Food cold? Too bad! Didn’t return a call in a timely manner? Uh oh! Price too high? Better watch out!
It’s more important than ever to stay engaged with your customers
Consumers are extremely likely to post their frustrations and unmet expectations online on social media sites and review sites.
That’s why it’s more important than ever to be engaged with your customers. More and more businesses are beginning to realize that, while they can’t necessarily control what people say online, they can (and should) monitor and contribute to the conversation in an effort to influence the overall tenor.
They’re realizing that having a proactive online presence that’s focused on adding value to the customer experience is the surest way to grow and preserve their brand reputation—and protect themselves from the stray musings of a few unhappy souls.
Trend #3: Mobile
The final massive trend that we will be discussing is the shift towards mobile.
Go anywhere, and look around you. What do you see?
Everyone is on their phone!
And this is a trend that’s hardly slowing.
It’s almost impossible to overestimate the impact of the mobile computing revolution.
In fact, the proliferation of smartphones and mobile devices might be one of the most underestimated and under-hyped shifts in business today.
When you pause to consider the power under the hood of smartphones and mobile devices, and that these “computers” are more powerful than the computers that sent men to the moon, it is amazing to think about what we have in our pockets.
Did you know?
“89% of consumers prefer to text a local business vs. calling them or filling out a form”
~ Twilio
The huge potential upside
Practically everyone has a mobile device. They can look up your business in a heartbeat and while completely mobile. This means they might be driving by your business, vehicle, at lunch with a friend, having just met you at a networking event, and so much more.
If your website is mobile-friendly, and you offer ways for prospects to text you, you have the opportunity to connect with leads faster than ever before!
The downside
It’s clear that the future of the web is tied to smartphones and mobile devices.
A mobile-friendly website is not a “nice-to-have”. It is a “must-have”. Business texting is no longer a “nice-to-have”. It is a must-have.
If your website is not mobile-friendly, it means you will lose business. Period. If you don’t have ways to communicate with texting, and your competitor does … you will lose business.
What all of this means to YOU!
Alright, you’ve stuck with me so far. I’d love to know …
Do you search online before deciding what local businesses to buy from?
Do you use social media on a daily or at least a regular basis? Or, even if you don’t personally, do your customers?
Do you have a smartphone and carry it with you at all times?
The answer is YES! We all do.
And again, these trends are only accelerating.
Long gone are the days of simply taking out the biggest ad in the yellow pages and business would pour in.
As much as we might wish these trends would go away and let us continue with business as it “used to be” … the search/social/mobile paradigm is not going anywhere. It’s here to stay.
The important thing now is to ask the hard questions and seek out the answers—even if they shake things up a bit:
How do these changes impact the way consumers interact with my business?
How do these changes impact my business’s growth?
How do these changes impact the way I approach the marketing of my business?
Dramatic Change Calls For … A Renewed Focus on the Fundamentals!
Given all of these revolutionary changes we’ve discussed—search, social and mobile—you might be worried that you are going to have to make drastic, revolutionary changes in your business.
That’s not necessarily the case, but you may have to think about the fundamentals in new ways.
Our experience shows that there are five key marketing essentials that need to be optimized in order to maximize growth in today’s wired, always-on and hyper-competitive marketplace.
The marketing essentials we’re about to present aren’t really new concepts or strategies, but the tactics and focus have changed to digital.
Here are the five marketing essentials we are talking about.
Online Presence
Reputation & Social Proof
Content Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Marketing & Process Automation
These are the five essentials *every* local business needs to plan for and optimize to maximize its growth potential and profitability.
Data shows and my experience proves, that each of these can account for about 25 percent growth on their own, and combined have a compounding effect that can ignite growth to 100 percent or more.
Let’s briefly run through each essential element and explore how maximizing these five marketing essentials could significantly impact growth at your business.
Essential #1: Online Presence
Do you want to be able to reach more consumers in your local area? If so, then it is time to start investing in a solid online presence.
“Presence” used to be things like your physical storefront, vehicle fleet, or manufacturing facility. And while that is certainly still part of the equation, the trends we have discussed have moved your presence online or digital.
Local businesses, versus national brands, are often overlooked by consumers because they don’t have a solid online presence and therefore are harder to find.
Having a solid online presence is the first pillar of your online marketing efforts.
Let’s talk about your website
As we’ve already discussed, consumers search and browse the internet on their phones more than they do on computers, so it is important to have a mobile-friendly website that caters to this behavior.
A mobile-friendly website should be easy to load for the user and be mobile-responsive so users don’t have to “pinch and squeeze” to view the content.
In addition to being mobile-friendly, here are seven things every website should have:
Clear copywriting and messaging: Is it clear what you do? (more below)
Clear navigation: Is it easy to navigate your website?
Clear call-to-action; What do you want your visitor to DO?
Click-to-call phone number (a MUST on mobile)
A way to connect via text for leads who prefer texting over calling or form fills
Clear 1-2-3 Plan: Is it easy to understand how to do business with you?
Clear visuals and scannable content: Is the website visually pleasing and easy to digest?
Also, the faster your page loads, the more likely it will be ranked higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). Nobody has time for a slow website.
Importance of Clear copywriting and messaging
Businesses regularly use unclear language or industry jargon to attempt to answer the question “What do you do? As a result, prospects glaze over and move on because you haven’t captured their attention in a way that makes sense to them.
When someone visits your website, how hard is it for your prospects to answer these three questions?
What do you offer?
How will it make their life better?
What do they need to do to buy?
If they can’t answer these questions in 3 seconds, you are likely losing a lot of business.
Here are a couple of example frameworks that you can use in your messaging and copywriting efforts.
The AIDA Framework:
Use the oldest marketing framework in the world. Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.
The PAS Framework:
Problem-Agitate-Solution. A valuable framework for creating new marketing copy ideas.
Google My Business
Google My Business (GMB) is a free service offered by Google to help businesses manage and update their online presence. It is the most important listing for your business on the internet.
The goal of the platform is to provide local business information, including contact info and hours of operation, services, a map so consumers can find you using GPS, photos that showcase your products or services, and more.
It is very important to make sure that your Google My Business information is accurate. We have helped many local businesses correct information that is not correct, including the address, phone number, and website. The last thing you want to do is to make it hard for consumers to connect with you, and upset them when the information they find isn’t correct.
Without a Google My Business account, you also can’t collect Google Reviews, which are the most important place to receive reviews that enhance your online reputation.
Directory Listings and Citations
To make sure that your online presence is complete, you should be sure to also have accurate directory listings and citations. These are other websites that list the primary information for your business such as name, address, phone number (often referred to as NAP), along with your website, services, hours, and more.
Apple Maps, Facebook, Bing Places for Business, Better Business Bureau, and MapQuest are all popular places where consumers can find a company like yours. These platforms provide an opportunity to add information about your business on the map so it’s easy for people in the area to see.
It’s very important that the business information listed on these sites match the information on your Google My Business listing exactly.
We’re a little biased, but we think WhirLocal, which is our marketing system, is also a great place to list your business.
Social Media Presence
One of the most important parts of a local business’s online presence is social media. We’ll talk more about your social media content strategy later, but making sure you have a solid social media presence is critical.
Why is it important to have a strong social media presence?
When consumers first become aware of you and begin the buyer’s journey, one of the first places they will look up is your social media channels. Places like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, etc.
If you aren’t easy to find on social media, have outdated, inactive, or dead profiles, and they don’t provide value and add to your social proof, many consumers will wonder if your business is for real and simply continue on to your competitors.
Paid Digital Advertising
If you want to reach more local consumers in your area, you should also consider using paid digital advertising to increase your online presence.
Why?
Because it is a pay-to-play market.
Search engines and social media sites make their money with advertising. They continue to make it harder to get seen without paying to play.
Paid digital advertising can be a great way to reach more local consumers and can also lead to a strong ROI. Paid search ads are the most popular type of paid digital advertising because they show up at the top of page one of Google. Again, using paid ads and having a reasonable budget is really the only true way to guarantee first-page placement on Google.
Paid ads on Facebook and Instagram are also very popular, and often necessary, to get your message in front of your target audience.
When you go to Las Vegas, you have to remember that “the house always wins”. In the case of search and social, the “house” is Google and Facebook. With their constant algorithm changes, they win, so using paid ads as part of a strong online presence strategy is definitely something you should implement.
Time for A Check-Up:
What is the Overall Health of Your Online Presence?
Workbook questions to consider:
[ ] Are you proactively working to improve your online presence?
[ ] Is your website mobile-friendly?
[ ] Is your website copy and messaging clear?
[ ] Is your website easy to navigate?
[ ] Do you have a clear call-to-action on your website?
[ ] Can consumers click-to-call you from a mobile device when visiting your website?
[ ] Do you have a Google My Business listing, and is it well-optimized?
[ ] Is your business listed accurately and consistently on other popular directories, social media, and review sites? Does it match your Google My Business listing?
[ ] Is your company represented on the appropriate social media channels for your target audience with professional, active, and consistent profiles?
[ ] Are you taking advantage of paid digital advertising to reach more local consumers in your area?
Essential #2: Online Reputation and Social Proof
“Reputation” used to be things like your reputation in the community, printed testimonials, and word-of-mouth referrals.
My dad used to own an appliance repair business. Every six months or so he would gather testimonials from his customers and print them on an 8 1/2″ x 11″ flyer that he would hand out to prospective property management companies and homeowners.
He also had a stellar reputation in the community as always being fair and reasonably priced.
While these things all still matter, the focus has shifted to your online reputation.
Online reviews are the new word of mouth.
Why?
As we discussed earlier, it has never been easier for potential customers to find out what others think about your business. This is both good and bad (depending on what people find).
Did you know?
“88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation or referral”
~ Brightlocal
A strong online reputation can help you generate more leads and sales!
Why?
Because your competition is on the internet, too! And they’re also trying to attract business from potential customers in your area. So if you have a bad reputation online, people may simply choose your competitors over you every time for one simple reason: fear of being ripped off or scammed.
That means that eventually if your competitors are doing a better job of building, promoting, and managing their online reputation than you are, it’ll be harder and harder for your local business to compete for new clients.
On the flip side, if you’re doing a better job of building, promoting, and managing your online reputation than your competitors, you can capture more market share than them.
In addition to generating more revenue, another benefit of having a strong online presence is that it can help you recruit new employees. Let’s face it, who would want to work with a business that has a poor online reputation? Since finding quality help can be a difficult task, it is one more very compelling reason to build a strong online reputation.
Look who’s talking (about you)
A sample of who’s talking about your business:
Customers
Prospects
Competitors
Disgruntled employees
Ex-spouses
Former business partners, investors
Trolls (the permanently aggrieved)
This probably isn’t anything new to you, and there’s a decent chance that, like most of the businesses I talk to, you are not very pleased about some of the things people have written about your business!
This brings up a larger point:
Whether it is positive or negative in tone, most of the content about your business that is available online is not even being created by you anymore!
Consumers are critics and publishers now. Remember, they all carry tiny “printing presses” in their pockets, i.e. smartphones!
Which sites should a local business get reviews on?
There are a few review sites that have the highest authority among consumers and should be considered. The two most popular are Google (which is why you need a Google My Business account) and Facebook. Yelp is also very popular among consumers in certain industries. However, many businesses (including us) don’t appreciate their business practices and therefore don’t recommend a Yelp strategy.
Two things to consider when getting reviews on Google and Facebook.
In order to write a review, a user must have an account on that website
In order to write a review, their full name is displayed.
That’s why we recommend having at least one option to capture reviews that do not require an account.
What are you doing to proactively manage, protect and monetize your most valuable asset—your reputation?
Positive testimonials and social proof attract more leads and close more business. Period.
The problem is, when it comes to getting online reviews, most businesses feel a mix of frustration and overwhelm. They hate the lack of control over what people can say and are uncertain about how to start getting more reviews.
Creating a proactive process to generate a steady stream of positive testimonials is one of the best ways to gain social proof and stand out from your competition—and it is one thing that can be used in all of your marketing.
You can no longer leave online reviews to chance. Get started today.
What about referrals and recommendations?
Recommendations and word-of-mouth referrals are also a form of social proof and are often a vital source, if not the life-blood, of new leads for small businesses.
A survey by Referral Marketing Specialist has shown that 84% of consumers trust referrals from friends and family more than any other type of marketing message or advertisement. The number one reason people give is reliability (44%), followed by quality (31%). Almost all the responses agreed that word-of-mouth advertising was at least “pretty good” if not very effective at generating sales leads. When you think about it, this makes sense considering we’ve been relying on each other’s personal recommendations since before there were even companies!
The problem is, most small businesses leave generating referrals to chance and simply hope it will happen all by itself.
Being proactive about giving and receiving recommendations and referrals through a defined process can exponentially increase the amount of new business you can generate.
Time for A Check-Up:
How Proactive Are You With Your Online Reputation and Social Proof?
Workbook questions to consider:
[ ] Are you proactively asking for and generating a steady stream of positive online reviews?
[ ] Do you have reviews on Google, Facebook, and other review sites?
[ ] Are you actively promoting your positive reviews (aka testimonials) on your website, social media, and other marketing material?
[ ] Are you actively monitoring your online reputation so you know what people are saying about you?
[ ] Are you responding to reviews, both good and bad, to demonstrate that you are engaged with your customer base?
[ ] Are you actively giving and receiving referrals and recommendations?
[ ] Do you have a proactive, defined, and systematic way to ask for referrals and recommendations?
Essential #3: Content Marketing
“[Content marketing] is all the marketing we have left”
~Seth Godin
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Content is King”?
We used to get “content” from traditional sources, such as newspapers, TV stations, magazines, and radio. These sources were the only way to get a message across to your target audience.
As we discussed earlier, the way consumers and businesses alike consume and generate content has dramatically changed. And, we are all, by default, media companies.
It is easier than ever to publish content such as social media posts, written articles and blog posts, videos (we all have smartphones in our pocket, remember?), ebooks, white papers, case studies, and more.
If done well, this can build your credibility and authority in the eyes of your prospects that educates, engages, and empowers them to make a buying decision well before they talk to you in person.
The problem is, many small businesses don’t know what to publish or don’t have the time, and so they end up not doing it at all.
Great content attracts prospects to your brand in a positive way and builds the know, like, and trust factor before they pick up the phone or contact you.
What are the benefits of content marketing?
Content marketing provides many benefits. Some of the most important include:
Building credibility and authority in your industry with prospects, customers, and clients
Provides ongoing awareness about what makes you unique or different from competitors
Content Marketing generates leads and conversions
Content can be a huge factor and contributor to improving your local SEO (search engine optimization) – more on that later
What types of content should you be publishing?
The type of content that will be most beneficial for your business depends on the following factors:
What challenges is your target market facing? What are their pain points or struggles? What questions do they ask frequently, or should be asking?
Do they need a solution to these issues, or do they just want to learn more about what you offer and how it can help them?
How much time does your company have in order to create new content (e.g., writing blog posts) each week/month?
How does your target audience prefer to consume content? Written? Video? Audio? Short? Long?
It’s important not only to publish different types of content but also to allocate appropriate time so as not to overwhelm yourself with too many projects. This means determining which type(s) of content you should prioritize based on those questions mentioned above.
For instance, if your target market is struggling with a particular issue, then you might prioritize publishing content on that topic. Alternatively, if they just want to learn more about what you offer and how it can help them without any pain points or struggles, then perhaps simply posting blog posts every so often would be appropriate.
Why is content so important for Local SEO?
As we discussed earlier, consumers are no longer searching for a business in the phone book or even calling them. They’re going online and using their mobile devices to find what they need. And when it comes to local SEO, content is king!
Since Google’s algorithm and search results favor websites that have been updated more recently, it has become increasingly important for businesses to publish new content on their website regularly (at least twice per month).
As such, good Local SEO practices include giving Google what it wants: Content!
Publishing high-quality original written articles about topics related to your industry will help you rank higher, over time, in the search engines. This will result in more traffic to your website, and ultimately more revenue.
Start publishing content today to stand out from your competition and grow your business.
Time For A Checkup:
Are You Maximizing The Benefits of Content Marketing?
Workbook questions to consider:
[ ] Are you actively publishing new content on a regular basis?
[ ] Are you publishing different types of content based on your target audience?
[ ] Do you have someone on your team who can write content consistently?
[ ] Are you optimizing your website with helpful content, as well as proper website structure related to your content?
Essential #4: Social Media Marketing
As we’ve already discussed, today’s marketplace is defined by an era of social media. From Facebook to Instagram, Twitter to Tik-Tok, YouTube to Linkedin, consumers are taking control over their own content and consumption in a way that has never been seen before.
“Social” used to be defined by more in-person events in the community. And while those are still extremely important, the advent of social media forces us to shift our attention to digital “social” opportunities.
What social media websites should a local business use?
The type of social media websites you use will depend on the following factors:
What are your target market’s preferred social networks? Which platforms do they spend the most time on, or have the highest amount of activity/engagement from their followers and friends?
Are there specific groups within your target audience that prefer certain types of content to others (e.g., videos vs. photos)?
Do you want to promote a particular product or service through these channels instead of solely relying on generating leads for them?
How many hours per week can you dedicate to maintaining an active presence on one or more social media sites?
Once you have decided where you will focus your time and energy, it is time to make sure you have the following:
A clear, concise brand message
Great cover images (this is prime real estate, so use it to your advantage)
Social proof (reviews, positive testimonials)
A steady pulse of recent content
What types of content should you post on social media?
The content that you post on social media should be related to your industry, of course. But, it’s a good idea to create posts with different emotional tones and types of content so as not to overwhelm followers or come across as too promotional.
This can include:
Photos (photos are the most popular type of social media content)
Videos
Infographics
Positive testimonials from your customer
Engaging questions
Motivational quotes
and more …
At WhirLocal, we’ve developed a social media content framework called TURBO to help give you ideas on what to post.
Frequently Asked Questions About Social Media
Q: What if I don’t like social media?
You don’t have to. However, you should find someone who can handle this for you.
Q: Do I have to dance and do funny Tik Tok videos?
No. Using social media doesn’t have to mean you become someone you are not. Be authentic. Post content that matters to your audience.
Q: Do I have to post a certain number of times per day?
No. Find a rhythm that works for you. And again, if you don’t want to manage your social media or don’t have time, find someone either on your team or a social media professional who can handle this for you.
Get started today and leverage your social media profiles to stand out from your competition and grow your business.
Time For A Checkup:
How Is Your Social Media Pulse?
Workbook questions to consider:
[ ] Do you know what social networks your target audience uses most?
[ ] Do you post on a regular basis?
[ ] Are you posting a variety of useful, entertaining, and engaging content, or is it all promotional and “buy me”?
Essential #5: Sales, Marketing & Process Automation
Automation has been around since the industrial revolution. More recently, automation has been applied to marketing and routine business processes that can be handled with technology.
The more you can automate the routine, the more time you will have to focus on the more important parts of your business. Maybe that sounds simplistic to you but think about what I’m saying for a moment. Now, imagine how your life could be different if many of your routine marketing and business tasks were automated.
Would you spend more time with your family? Take an actual vacation? Be able to do more with fewer people? (have you tried to hire quality help lately?)
Automation is no longer something we can put off. It has now become essential; especially when our competitors are already implementing their own programs.
Skeptical?
Have you ordered food recently and used an ordering kiosk? Been to a grocery store and used the self-checkout? Received an automated email when placing an order or filling out an online form?
These are all forms of automation that we experience in our daily life.
Let’s face it … automation is here to stay. If you’re not leveraging it, you will likely fall behind your competitors and not achieve the growth and profitability in your business that you want.
It’s all about making it easier for you, not harder!
The benefits of marketing automation are:
Automating routine tasks in your business so you can get more done with fewer people (have you tried hiring quality people lately?)
Efficiently reaching out to more people with less time and effort on your part
Automating follow up tasks and reminders to decrease the frequency of “balls being dropped” by team members
Reaching prospects at different points of the buyer’s journey by communicating the right message at the right time
Being able to measure how effective each message was so you can learn which messages were most attractive/forgettable – thus allowing you to refine future marketing campaigns accordingly
Here are some of our favorite types of tasks that we think just about every local business should be leveraging via marketing automation:
Online calendar-booking: Stop the back and forth of “what time do you have available”. This will save you a ton of time setting appointments.
Appointment reminders: Reduce no-shows with automatic reminders leading up to the appointment. We recommend both email and SMS text.
Social media and content scheduling: You can schedule your social media or blog posts in advance, which allows you to batch content and save time.
Automatic response to leads: The faster you respond to leads, the more likely you will earn their business.
Asking for reviews: Your customers are often willing to write a positive review, but they never get asked. You can automate most or all of the process to send them a “review invite” asking for feedback.
Lead nurturing: If a prospect isn’t ready to buy, you can automatically nurture them with follow-up campaigns.
Ask for referrals: Setting up a process to automate asking for referrals can be a highly effective way to generate more word-of-mouth referrals.
Follow up with new connections: Meet somebody at a networking or local event? Automate the follow-up and make it easy to connect after meeting them.
Recruiting: Automate the gathering of a pre-screening application, scheduling interviews, and more to better manage your hiring process.
New Customer welcome or onboarding: Automate your welcome and onboarding process when you get a new customer so they know what to expect next and your team knows exactly what they need to do.
These are just a few ideas of how you can use marketing and process automation to make your life easier, grow your business and profitability, and better serve your customers.
If you can dream it, you very well might be able to automate it.
When used effectively, marketing automation can be a huge driver of success for your local business.
Recap: What are you missing?
Now, the problem is that many local businesses are operating without even being aware of these massive trends and marketing essentials, and how it is impacting their business.
Let me show you some examples …
First, if you aren’t effectively and proactively managing your reputation, you aren’t aware of comments like this being made about your business:
Ouch. That hurts. Comments like these will negatively impact how others view your business in the marketplace, and can definitely affect your revenue.
Or, you have people looking for your business on their mobile phones, and your website is showing up like this:
No one has fingers small enough (or patience long enough) to navigate this web page.
While your competitors’ mobile website is showing up like this:
People will stay on your competitor’s website if it’s optimized for a small touchscreen.
Is your business being left behind?
Now, if you fall into the category of businesses that are not proactively working with these massive trends and marketing essentials, you are only going to see things get worse over time.
These changes, though relatively recent, are now a permanent part of the competitive landscape.
The gap between the businesses that “get it” and those that don’t is widening at an accelerating pace.
You can look at any industry and see examples of the handful of businesses that are really pulling away from the pack, and those that are falling behind.
Looking at online reviews of restaurants, Harvard Business Review found that a difference of one “star” in the average rating of the establishment led to a difference in revenues of 5 to 9 percent.
Do you have someone that is helping your business in these areas?
Or are you kidding yourself into thinking that you are going to try to do this by yourself or with the very part-time effort of one of your employees that has no marketing background?
That’s not going to cut it.
If you’re struggling to fit everything into your calendar already (most business owners I talk to are), you’re probably not going to have the bandwidth to optimize these five marketing essentials. Either something else has to give, or you need to enlist a friendly expert to help you.
Answer the call
Get this: according to Hubspot, 88% of searches for local businesses on a mobile device either call or visit the business within 24 hours.
Are you ready, both literally and figuratively, to answer that call?
Or are you going to let it ring until they just call one of your competitors?
And, according to Twilio, 89% of consumers prefer to text a local business vs. calling them or filling out a form.
Is your local business ready to handle text messaging, or will your competitors do it instead?
Running a business can be hard.
Your marketing shouldn’t have to be.
We have a plan for every business.
If you’re ready to make a shift
You might be frustrated or overwhelmed when it comes to marketing, and realizing that you aren’t growing as you should be. Or, you may simply be ready to commit to getting all five of these marketing essentials in place so you can maximize your growth and profitability.
Schedule A Call
Get Started
Either way, we can help.
Thank you for taking the time to read this short book.
Tim Fahndrich
Co-founder & CEO
WhirLocal, a division of Third River Marketing
503.581.4554
What Are You Doing to Optimize the 5 Marketing Essentials?
Online Presence: What are you doing to make sure your online presence is solid?
Reputation & Social Proof: What are you doing to proactively manage, protect and monetize your most valuable asset—your reputation?
Content Marketing: What are you doing to ensure that more people know about you today than yesterday by publishing and promoting great content?
Social Media Marketing: What are you doing to proactively promote your business and engage with your target audience on social media?
Sales, Marketing, & Process Automation: What are you doing to automate your marketing and business processes so you can get more done with fewer people?
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