Here's Patty Mooney in "blog pose" - Photo by Mark Schulze In these tough economic times it doesn’t hurt to look towards low-cost and even free forms of advertising on the web.
Local businesses constantly have a difficult time competing with their larger counter-parts for an online presence and don’t always have the budget to maintain large visibility on the web. A few simple tricks can help you to increase your brand awareness and provide insight into your audience and ultimately increase your customers while retaining existing customers. There are four simple steps you can take in order to grow your presence online without denting your wallet.
1. Make Yourself Visible
How can you attain new customers if they can’t find you? Make sure you are visible online. Many people are jumping to the web when they are looking for local solutions to their needs. By simply being present you can reach these potential customers. A simple test is to go look for your business online. One area to be visible is mapping directories such as Google Maps, Mapquest, Yahoo Maps, etc. Make sure your company is listed in these directories and think about including images of your storefront to assist individuals find your location.
Another low-cost way to boost your online presence is through your local directories (like yellow pages, craigslist, etc.). This can also help gain new customers and in most cases the cost to be included in these lists are minimal or sometimes free. By being present online, you can make sure that new customers are able to find you. Also, this allows for your existing customers to reference these sites and direct others to your business.
Another low cost method of gaining a local presence is through search marketing. You can geo-target search ads across the major portals such as Google, Yahoo and MSN and only pay when someone actually clicks on your ads. You create the ads, include various messaging, and drive them directly to your website to help generate interest in your company. You can set budget caps to maintain as large or as small of a daily spend as you want. It’s beneficial to consult someone who is experienced in running a search campaign and can accommodate your spending levels.
2. Listen to Your Customers
Aside from being visible to your customers you need to seek them online and listen to what they are saying. The online space has been adopting more and more social networks, blogs, etc. These are great resources for local businesses to communicate with their audience and gain important consumer feedback. Most people are familiar with the MySpace and Facebook-type sites, but there are also a growing number of vertical-specific social sites to choose from. One great example of this is Yelp. Yelp is a social networking site that individuals can write reviews and ratings for businesses and share them with other “yelpers”.
You should examine these sites quite regularly and listen to what your customers are saying about your business and products. You can also respond to any complaints or include your own opinion within the consumer mix. I’ve even noticed local businesses utilizing signs in their storefront that showcase their Yelp ranking. There are various other sites that are similar to Yelp and even focus on specific industries so make sure you are researching these sites and listening to your customers. Another example is Dine.com where individuals review and rank their local restaurants.
3. Respond and Entice Your Customers
Once you’ve found your audience and have listened to what they have to say then you can interact and respond to them. You can communicate through the same sites such as social networks and blogs. You can create your own blog or forum to keep an open channel with your customers. You can also create social network pages where you can directly interact with consumers. Through these resources you can collect their contact information and later send tailored messaging specifically to them and even offer incentives, such as discounts, to loyal customers.
You can also utilize the types of sites above to drive traffic directly to your own website. Many sites are including their own discussion boards on their site to listen to their customers and keep the communication channel open. You can also include updates and include upcoming specials and this way your loyal customers are always informed and can share this information with others.
Some local businesses even offer discounts to individuals who belong to these sites in order to entice them to make regular purchases. For example, I recently found a new hair salon on social networking site and made an appointment for a haircut; I mentioned how I found them and I received a discount. This salon not only gained me as a new customer, they lured me in with a discount, and I in turn returned to the social network and wrote a review about my favorable experience to share it with others. All of these tactics are beneficial to the business and can help improve the customer relationship.
4. Enjoy the Business/Customer Relationship
Once you make yourself available online, engage with your consumers and cultivate an online relationship, make sure you continue to keep the communication lines open with your customers. Take steps to constantly update your websites, blogs, etc. to keep in regular contact with your consumers; by supplying information, you are giving customers a reason to come back to your website.
As your local business grows and your online visibility increases, you will be in a better position to expand your online presence, but in the meantime, these options are a cost-effective way to advertise and build your customer base.
Achieving exceptional results through online display, email, mobile, paid search, newsletters, and sponsorships, Renee Brown has worked with clients like M&T Bank, Eddie Bauer, Trump International, and University of Phoenix. Contact Renee at reneebrown77@gmail.com.
How can you attain new customers if they can’t find you? Make sure you are visible online. Many people are jumping to the web when they are looking for local solutions to their needs. By simply being present you can reach these potential customers. A simple test is to go look for your business online. One area to be visible is mapping directories such as Google Maps, Mapquest, Yahoo Maps, etc. Make sure your company is listed in these directories and think about including images of your storefront to assist individuals find your location.
Another low-cost way to boost your online presence is through your local directories (like yellow pages, craigslist, etc.). This can also help gain new customers and in most cases the cost to be included in these lists are minimal or sometimes free. By being present online, you can make sure that new customers are able to find you. Also, this allows for your existing customers to reference these sites and direct others to your business.
Another low cost method of gaining a local presence is through search marketing. You can geo-target search ads across the major portals such as Google, Yahoo and MSN and only pay when someone actually clicks on your ads. You create the ads, include various messaging, and drive them directly to your website to help generate interest in your company. You can set budget caps to maintain as large or as small of a daily spend as you want. It’s beneficial to consult someone who is experienced in running a search campaign and can accommodate your spending levels.
2. Listen to Your Customers
Aside from being visible to your customers you need to seek them online and listen to what they are saying. The online space has been adopting more and more social networks, blogs, etc. These are great resources for local businesses to communicate with their audience and gain important consumer feedback. Most people are familiar with the MySpace and Facebook-type sites, but there are also a growing number of vertical-specific social sites to choose from. One great example of this is Yelp. Yelp is a social networking site that individuals can write reviews and ratings for businesses and share them with other “yelpers”.
You should examine these sites quite regularly and listen to what your customers are saying about your business and products. You can also respond to any complaints or include your own opinion within the consumer mix. I’ve even noticed local businesses utilizing signs in their storefront that showcase their Yelp ranking. There are various other sites that are similar to Yelp and even focus on specific industries so make sure you are researching these sites and listening to your customers. Another example is Dine.com where individuals review and rank their local restaurants.
3. Respond and Entice Your Customers
Once you’ve found your audience and have listened to what they have to say then you can interact and respond to them. You can communicate through the same sites such as social networks and blogs. You can create your own blog or forum to keep an open channel with your customers. You can also create social network pages where you can directly interact with consumers. Through these resources you can collect their contact information and later send tailored messaging specifically to them and even offer incentives, such as discounts, to loyal customers.
You can also utilize the types of sites above to drive traffic directly to your own website. Many sites are including their own discussion boards on their site to listen to their customers and keep the communication channel open. You can also include updates and include upcoming specials and this way your loyal customers are always informed and can share this information with others.
Some local businesses even offer discounts to individuals who belong to these sites in order to entice them to make regular purchases. For example, I recently found a new hair salon on social networking site and made an appointment for a haircut; I mentioned how I found them and I received a discount. This salon not only gained me as a new customer, they lured me in with a discount, and I in turn returned to the social network and wrote a review about my favorable experience to share it with others. All of these tactics are beneficial to the business and can help improve the customer relationship.
4. Enjoy the Business/Customer Relationship
Once you make yourself available online, engage with your consumers and cultivate an online relationship, make sure you continue to keep the communication lines open with your customers. Take steps to constantly update your websites, blogs, etc. to keep in regular contact with your consumers; by supplying information, you are giving customers a reason to come back to your website.
As your local business grows and your online visibility increases, you will be in a better position to expand your online presence, but in the meantime, these options are a cost-effective way to advertise and build your customer base.
Achieving exceptional results through online display, email, mobile, paid search, newsletters, and sponsorships, Renee Brown has worked with clients like M&T Bank, Eddie Bauer, Trump International, and University of Phoenix. Contact Renee at reneebrown77@gmail.com.