Strategic Marketing Plan

Every local business that wants to achieve a dominant presence in their market must have a quality mobile friendly website. Sending traffic from search engines, PPC, social media, video, press releases, email and offline advertising to a site that is not mobile friendly will be a waste of your time and money. Research proves that a bad mobile experience or no mobile presence at all will keep your dominant market of mobile users from staying on your site or recommending your business through social media.

If you want your site found in Google search results, you will want to avoid mobile websites and choose only a responsive web design. Unlike mobile websites, responsive web design is a single site that automatically adjusts the display where it is viewed. This provides an optimum user experience for desktop, laptop, tablet and smartphone users.

The design, content, layout, sales, list building, social sharing, SEO and marketing strategies within your site will determine whether it is a good return on your investment or a drain on your resources. Besides the design, your mobile friendly site must contain powerful content that is created, formatted and optimized to engage targeted traffic and convert them into leads and customers.

Millions of local customers are searching for products and services daily. Some search on Google, Yahoo, Bing while others prefer Facebook, Yelp, local directories, Siri (for Apple users) and local mobile apps.

Map listings are one of the most important places to be found. Besides top placement on page 1 of search results for multiple highly relevant keywords for your local business and location, Google map listings also include ratings and reviews which when positive, will greatly increase clicks and conversions. Google maps can also help you to rank higher in organic searches.

Search engine marketing (SEM) is the most powerful way of reaching a buyer. When people come to a search engine, they know what they are looking for and are motivated to buy. This is very different from interruption forms of advertising that produces a less qualified and more impulsive lead. TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, billboards and banner ads are all examples of interruption forms of advertising. the costs are great and the ROI is generally marginal at best.

Google is the biggest and most important of all search engines – a search engine that local businesses can not afford to ignore. First it is important to understand the reason behind Google’s success and their frequent algorithm changes. Besides following powerful trends such as a dominant use of mobile for searching, buying, getting driving directions, making reservations, viewing video, and interacting socially, Google wants people to keep using their search engine. They accomplish that by understanding and meeting the needs of customers and advertisers.

Google wants searchers to find what they are looking for quickly and easily. This is why they value highly relevant content that closely matches the search terms used. Google also understands that diversifying search results is critical. They know that some searchers will click on Google AdWords while others will gravitate to map listings, high authority directories and others prefer organic search results. All of these types of search results are available to searches on the 1st page of Google. Google also wants advertisers to get a good return on their investment. They continually modify AdWords to help local businesses get clicks from ads.

This gives local businesses an opportunity to be found in multiple places on the first page of Google search results for keywords that are most important for them. With effective strategies to create this Google dominance, local businesses can thrive, even in a highly competitive marketplace. Unlike SEO which can be slow to rank a site well, when leads comes from AdWords, with a good ad remarketing strategy, PPC can be highly effective and affordable in producing business from local traffic right away.

Over 50+ local search engines, directories and mobile apps receive traffic from 250 million users daily. Most local businesses have numerous errors in their citations ranging from incorrect name, address and phone numbers to no listings, or weak and ineffective listings. Failing to locate and correct errors and enhance listings is virtually leaving quality local leads behind for your competition.

Local businesses can find citation errors on local search engines, local business directories and mobile apps costing them leads clients and profits. Get a free business scan and report to find your errors.

Yelp can be a great source of new leads for local business for several reasons. Millions of people search on the Yelp website and Yelp mobile app looking for local businesses and researching reviews. Yelp.com, Yelp category pages and even Yelp profiles frequently rank well in Google search results and can give you another opportunity to have multiple listings for your business on the first page where almost all of the clicks happen. Apple’s Siri also relies heavily on Yelp for results.

Social media has become the hottest and most effective platform for local business to grow their brand, engage their market and generate high quality leads and loyal customers.

Social media marketing through Facebook, Twitter, Google + Local, Pinterest, Instagram and LinkedIn provide powerful access to many more local leads and customers. They also provide access to referral partners – allied professionals and businesses that serve the same local market without competition. These types of professional networking relationships are extremely valuable in producing market dominance for a local business.

PPC with ad remarketing is the fastest way to generate high quality leads that turn into customers. Unlike traditional forms of interruption advertising where you pay regardless of how the ad performs, PPC or pay per click is based on click performance. You only pay when there is a click-through from the ad to your landing page.

Google AdWords is the leader in PPC advertising and offers value for local businesses through Google search and less costly YouTube advertising opportunities. Ad remarketing is a low cost strategy that gets the same ad to be shown in high traffic popular sites to someone who originally clicked on the main ad. Unfortunately clicking on an ad does not necessarily make it effective in producing a lead or customer.

Many businesses try to cut corners and handle Google AdWords and other PPC programs on their own. Unfortunately, they often make serious mistakes with their ads, campaign set up and landing pages that lead to dismal results with an extremely poor ROI. Working with a company who has expertise in Google AdWords and other PPC and ad remarketing programs can be an extremely valuable use of advertising dollars.

A strategic follow up plan for online and offline lead generation and repeat business is critical for success. Many business owners and professionals lose sight of the fact that it is much easier to sell to an existing client or customer than to sell to a new one. And yet, how many of your satisfied customers have limited knowledge of what you do or are under using your services? These are not likely the main traffic on your website unless you are giving customers an incentive to visit through blogging, newsletters, and special offers.

Follow up through email marketing can be particularly effective in building a list of prospects, staying in touch and rewarding existing customers. Strategies for list building with newsletters and autoresponders for targeted lists can pay for itself many times over. Email reminders do much more than clog up an inbox. They can be highly effective in strengthening your brand. When you mail to an opt-in or customer list, yhese are hot leads and loyal customers who know your name, trust you and are interested in what you have to say.

When your lead generation and sales are through live events or direct mail, building a phone database of customers with use of automated phone messages can be an effective strategy. It is important to find out what your customers prefer in terms of follow up. Keep in mind that SMS text messages are the most effective with over 98% of text messages being opened and read.

Request a free consultation and ask us what we can do to help you increase your lead and customer conversions through effective follow up strategies.

There are many offline methods to increase leads and customers but most are expensive with a poor ROI. Ads, targeted publications, press releases, TV, radio and billboards can be effective in increasing your brand and driving traffic to your website. Using offline ads and other content to promote your brand and boost traffic can be well worth the investment. This assumes that the site is responsive with an effective design, layout, navigation and powerful high converting content,

Using a direct mail approach to fill rooms with targeted prospects in your local area, can be an effective strategy for increasing your brand and reputation and acquiring new leads and customers. People will gladly show up for a program of interest with the proper incentives and when they feel that it will be a good use of their time. The promotional piece must be professional and compelling, establishing that the speaker is well qualified and will help them solve an important problem that they care about. Less costly online methods can also be used to send interested prospects to a landing page about the event with a convenient registration form.

Other effective strategies for live local events is to include allied businesses as presenters. Each company represented would provide a non-competing service that is closely related and of interest to the targeted audience. Using synergy through strategic offers for each represented company can be highly productive and profitable.

Getting your company and information in front of the media in a timely and positive way is one of the best strategies for generating quality free leads and customers. When you attract the attention of the media because of something that is newsworthy and trending, you may very well hit a home run. You will achieve instant credibility if the media has taken their time and resources to do a story about you or to promote your products or services. This is generally because you have done something that your competitors have not done – something that sets you apart as you solve a big problem for a large number of people or businesses.

The media may put the spotlight on you for your contribution at a major community event. Participating in fundraising events and volunteering for a good cause will help build your brand and get you noticed for your community support.

One of the best ways to convert leads into loyal customers is to provide an excellent product or service and go the extra mile for you customers. Show customers that you value their opinion. Ask them for feedback in surveys that help you to better understand their needs and how they feel about what you do. Remember that it is far easier and less costly to grow your company through satisfied existing customers who buy from you again and again than to rely on converting new prospects into customers.

No local business can survive in today’s mobile, video and social online landscape without positive reviews. People are much more likely to select a business on Google, Facebook or Yelp when it is associated with positive ratings and reviews.

When you provide exceptional services, don’t expect your customers to seek you out on Google, Facebook or Yelp to leave a review. If you don’t ask for reviews, the only ones you are likely to get are the negative comments and star ratings that can be very damaging.

Before requesting reviews, you must first have a powerful business profile on sites where you want them. Google, Facebook and Yelp are the most important for local businesses. Then make it easy for customers to find your page and add their review. Giving customers a link that takes them to the exact place where the rating and review is added, will help you to earn this valuable online feedback. Providing an unsolicited reward is something you may consider for their valuable contribution.

Forming relationships with area businesses, professionals, schools and nonprofit organizations is the best way to immerse your name and brand in your local community. In order to be effective, this type of connection requires a give and take. Your main agenda at least initially, is to learn about the other business or organization and find ways to support them. This may be through referrals, lead sharing or sponsorships that help to sustain needed programs in schools and other organizations.

When you show people that you genuinely care about them, they will automatically want to help you. Together you can brainstorm ways that will help each other. You may discover how to create a better product or service than each of you could do on your own.