Do I Need Social Media

I am asked all the time “David, Do I really need to be on all the social sites?” My answer is always Yes, if you want to be better known and get more leads. All the buzz around social media can give you a headache and downright frustrating experience. After all you are a business owner not an Internet marketing guru. I put together this post to show you some of the reasons you need to be on these sites as soon as possible. Remember that this is the way business is going whether you decide to join or not.

I feel the top reason for being active is to monitor customer satisfaction or support. Nothing is worse than a customer who had a bad experience that was internet savvy. They can spread the bad word over hundreds of places in a mere day. If you are not following this, you have no way to respond and/or make it right. If you do make it right you now look like a caring business that provides incredible support. This will go a long way to market your services or product without even trying.

Next is simply lead generation. 80% of all people that buy locally research on the Internet first. Do you want a chance to get them into your store? Of course you do and being active can only enhance your chances of being found. Many people search the social sites for reviews of products and services and go with those that have the most positive and active review sections.

Want to know what your competition is doing? Want to know when your main competitor is having a sale? An easy way to monitor your competition is to follow them online. If they are socially active they will have most of their lead generating techniques out for you to see. You can counteract any specials or sales that may drive people away from your store.

As a business owner you need to build trust and credibility with your customer base. An easy way to do this is by being active on social sites. They will get to know you and like you. This in turn builds up loyalty and can help in getting them to buy from you in the future. If they are loyal and truly believe in you they will then promote you to many other followers. This in turn drives more people to your store.

I want to do business with places that I know will be around a while. Nothing is worse than buying something and having the store go out of business. No service or support. One of the ways to show you will be around is by actively participating in the new wave. We all know this is becoming an Internet world and if a business doesn’t get this I feel they won’t be around. If they aren’t going to be around I look elsewhere to purchase. I am sure this is a normal activity amongst shoppers. Find a business that understands the Internet and social business and you have a business that will be around a while.

This is not an all inclusive list, however, it does give you some very solid reasons to use social media.  If you don’t want to be left behind then I would get going as fast as possible! How do you get started? The best way is to hire someone who understands this medium to handle it for you. There are many social media managers around (including myself) that can do it on a part time basis for you until it is necessary to hire someone on staff. Tell them your mission, vision, and values and they can get you on your way!

Good Luck and Prosperity to you all!

Internet Advertising on the Rise

Here is a very interesting article about how small businesses are spending their budgets for lead generation. Obviously leads are the lifeblood for any business and spending money to get them is one of the most profitable ventures for a business. It is quite easy to track and figure out your return on investment with most lead gen programs and these leads usually provide for immediate income instead of branding which requires long term investments.

If you look at the top four categories of website design, e mail marketing, new social media, and website optimization, you realize they work with each other. You design your website, its content, and search optimization around driving more qualified customers to your website. Once there your goal is to get them to opt in to your e mail list so that you may market to them for a long time. Once you build up a large list you are no longer at the mercy of traditional advertising to drive people into your storefront.

I also find it interesting that businesses stopped doing most things advertising related in 2009 and now are jumping head first in 2010. This tells me that businesses feel that the economy is turning around and an opportunity exists. Those businesses who start the earliest will have the most “bang for their buck” as some companies are behind the eight ball.

As more lead generation shifts to the internet the ability to track and change campaigns make it very attractive. For instance if you depend on yellow pages you get one attempt and if it fails you are stuck for the year. Most traditional forms of advertising are also hard to track and judge effectiveness. The internet gives you the ability to see what campaign is working in real time, adjust that campaign overnight, and test against other campaigns to see which is most effective.

Have a look at the e marketer article below and start thinking about how to use this information to your advantage. If you would like to talk with someone about it feel free to call or e mail me through the contact page.

Marketers Put More Lead Gen Budgets Online – eMarketer

How to Cut Marketing Costs

Time for a reality check. Our economy sucks right now! There I said it and quite frankly you probably already knew that. We haven’t seen times like this for at least 20 years but there is a big difference between then and now. It is this thing called the internet. You may have heard of that also. The internet allows any company that needs to cut costs to do so through marketing. I know, now isn’t the time to cut marketing since it is companies that market during a recession that come out the best after it. But wait I didn’t say to cut marketing, I said to cut marketing’s cost. How do we do that?

First thing to do is make sure your website is up to snuff. Most savvy consumers are searching online to find the best places to shop locally. Your first impression to them is what the see on the internet. Will they be impressed or will they just skip you.

Then you need to make sure you are collecting e mail addresses of all your prospects and customers. You can inexpensively market them on a continual basis then. You do this by getting them to sign up at your store or on your website. All it takes is to give them something of value and they will allow you to market to them every week.

Next you must make sure you rank in the top of search engines for your pertinent keywords. Keywords are those types of services and products you sell locally. You need to be in the first three results for those items so that all consumers can find you.

You must also make sure to list your business on all local directories. These directories are used by shoppers to find stores and your information must be accurate. Make sure all phone numbers, addresses, websites are the same in every directory. This also adds trust to the shoppers and Google.

Be active in online communities. If you belong to the BBB or the chamber of commerce make sure you are active in the forums and websites of both. Be sure to get your name out there in all local forums so that people know and trust you. Your expertise is something that people would like to tap and will then become loyal to you.

There are some inexpensive ways to market your business online. By doing this you can cut some of your marketing costs but not your business. You will also prepare yourself for the future.