| |
Posts Tagged ‘local marketing’
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013
Matt McGee has done it again. Provided food for thought where local blogging is concerned.
If you are a local business and you want to create content that will attract local customers, then creating content with geotargeted terms may seem like a good idea. In actuality, it’s a double-edged sword. On the one hand you can get a lot of traffic related to your local area. On the other hand, much of it can be untargeted traffic if you write about the wrong geotargeted stuff.
For instance, if you are a local auto mechanic, do you really want to write a post about an upcoming carnival in your local area? If you can’t tie it into the core service of your business, it’s better to stay away from it.
Matt McGee says it succinctly:
As you create local blog posts and content, think about what type of visitor each piece of content is going to attract. If it’s a visitor that can be converted, try to convert them. If it’s not, either don’t create the content at all, or make sure those won’t-ever-convert visitors don’t get in the way of running your business.
So, here’s the takeaway for your local blog: Create content that is designed to attract targeted traffic from your local area and convert that traffic into a sale.
The key here is to write content that attracts targeted traffic. If you can’t do that, then you won’t convert it, no matter how much traffic it is.
Tags: local blogging, local marketing, online marketing, targeted traffic, traffic
Posted in Local Internet Marketing | No Comments »
Thursday, December 20th, 2012
If you still haven’t gone to the lengths of getting a Facebook page for your business, allow me to give you one more reason to go for it – Facebook Nearby.
Facebook Nearby is a feature designed for Android and iOS devices, which makes it a mobile marketing opportunity extraordinaire. The idea is to take Yelp and Foursquare on straight up with Facebook’s own local marketing service. And what a service!
Here’s what TechCrunch says:
Similar to how it ranks stories in the news feed, Nearby looks at a ton of signals to determine what to show you first, including friends who’ve Liked a business, checked in, left a short text recommendation, or given the Place a star rating.
Along with an omni-list of locations, you can search for specific spots or browse by categories, including Coffee, Hotels, Outdoors, and Nightlife.
If you really want to drill it down, then you can search by sub-categories. For instance, looking for an Italian restaurant? Then you can search for Italian restaurants in your local area.
I like that you don’t have to sign up for the service as if it is a directory. If you have a Facebook page, that should be enough to put you in the directory of searchable businesses for your local area, provided that someone has Liked your page, recommended you, or starred you.
Facebook’s Nearby has the potential to become a major competitor in the local mobile marketing space. This what is local businesses need.
Tags: facebook, Facebook Nearby, local marketing, mobile marketing
Posted in Mobile Marketing for Small Business | 2 Comments »
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
If you’ve been wondering just when Google Places was going to get its act together and starting being social in a social media world, it’s time to relax. They’re actually getting there.
For the record, I’ve kind of been wondering myself. Just when is Google Places going to allow you to do more than list your business and rate other businesses in a website environment that looks like it was built in 1998? Well, take a look at Google Places now.
Google’s Lat Long blog has announced some upgrades to Google Places recently.
Google has made it easy for you to upload a photo to your Google Places profile, which is now linked to your Google account profile in a very obvious way. You can also see all of your reviews on a single page, making the review process simpler and a lot more fun (I love the way that Google has formatted the reviews pages so that users can easily give their favorite places stars and easily write and edit reviews).
When users log into their Google Places account, they’ll now receive recommendations based on past places visited and location. If you are an existing business near another business that has been reviewed, there’s a good chance that you’ll be reviewed too.
Another nice feature is the ability, and the ease of it, of adding friends to your Google Places profile. I really like that feature!
There is no better time than now to encourage your customers to stop by Google Places and give you an honest review. Make sure you stress “honest.”
Tags: Google Places, local marketing, online reviews, social media marketing
Posted in Local Internet Marketing | 8 Comments »
Friday, June 3rd, 2011
If you think Groupon is a good deal and enjoy making daily deals, or taking advantage of the daily deals offered by other local businesses in your area, then you’ll likely fall in love with Amazon. That’s right, Amazon.com, the online retail giant.
Amazon has recently offered its own daily deals site to compete with Groupon. It’s called AmazonLocal.
This is a big deal for a number of reasons. First, Amazon is a recognized name brand, which means instant recognition. In fact, Amazon enjoys being one of the most recognized brands online so the fact that they are getting into the daily deals space means that 1) the daily deals space is a hot item and 2) that Amazon believes that a presence in this market can boost its own revenues and its own clout with consumers. I think both of those statements is probably true.
Right now, the service is only available in Boise, Idaho. But I expect new markets to open soon. If the test markets work well for Amazon, you can bet that Amazon’s huge list of current customers will be hearing about AmazonLocal.
Also, when I went to the AmazonLocal website, I was greeted by name. Of course, being a customer of Amazon, they have my IP address. That’s a smart move, Amazon. And I think that level of personalization, which Amazon is very good at, will benefit AmazonLocal a great deal at it enters this new local marketing space.
The benefit to you, the local business owner who offers daily deals, is that you can piggyback off the well known Amazon name.
Tags: Amazon, daily deals, local marketing
Posted in Local Internet Marketing | 2 Comments »
Sunday, April 17th, 2011
Steve Rubel, who is a bit of an Internet pioneer, has an interesting take on marketing in this global Internet economy. Even if you’re a local business. And I fully agree.
He says you should do four things to reach your audience:
- Communicate through traditional media (and I would add, especially if you are marketing locally)
- Use Digital New Media (a euphemism for online news sources)
- Develop your own media platforms
- Spread your content through social media
If you follow that advice, then that would make your business a media company – and I say, what’s wrong with that?
In fact, that’s precisely what you should strive to be. A media company.
We’ve talked about social media so much that I think you know how I feel about that. But what does it mean to be a media company? It means this: That you set up Web properties beyond your own business website that give other people a platform as well. These include forums, blogs, community websites where industry news can be published, wikis, etc.
The key is not to tell you what you should be doing, but to give you license to use your imagination. The Internet is a huge place. Look and see what is not being provided in your industry online and provide that. It could be an industry social networking website, it could be an industry wiki or encyclopedia site, or it could be a simple blog.
Whatever it is, if you are a media company, then you’re a power to reckon with.
Tags: business, local marketing, media, media company, Social Media
Posted in Social Media | 1 Comment »
Saturday, December 11th, 2010
We’re nearing the end of 2010 and year-ends usually end up with a few predictions. So, I thought I’d come up with a short prediction list for 2011. What will the next year for online marketing look like?
It’s not difficult to predict. I think, for the most part, it will roll along pretty close to the way the last year did. There won’t be any sweeping changes. However, I do believe that Internet marketing in 2011 will be characterized by three major tiers of marketing. These are:
There it is. In a nutshell. 2011.
So what does it mean, exactly? Here’s what I think this means for most small businesses.
If you really want to reach your target audience, be more social, keep it local, and talk to them in video. Don’t limit yourself to these three things, but do incorporate them. But where?
My top three picks for achieving these three Internet marketing goals are:
And, of course, both Google and Bing have Local Maps, or directories, features that you shouldn’t ignore. But, for the most, these three applications can take care of all three Internet marketing tiers fairly easily. Develop a presence on these three social sites and you should be good as gold throughout most of the coming year.
Tags: internet marketing, local marketing, small business, Social Media, Video Marketing
Posted in Local Internet Marketing | 4 Comments »
Friday, September 10th, 2010
In 2003, senior editor of Harper’s Magazine, Bill Wasik, wanted to make a point about conformity. He arranged for over 100 people to descend upon a Macy’s store in Manhattan to feign purchasing a “love rug” as a group. This senseless activity gave rise to a new social phenomenon called a flash mob.
Read more about flash mobs at Wikipedia.
I got to thinking about this and it occurred to me that savvy social media marketers could stage their own flash mob to achieve a viral marketing event. Here are some tips to help you stage your own flash mob.
- Pick a place that will be central to the people you want to participate. Cut down on your participants’ drive time.
- Make sure the location of the event is kept secret for as long as possible (unless you own the venue). Store owners and managers may not be hip to your scheme and could take measures to sabotage it.
- Make sure the activity you have planned is nonviolent and does not damage private property. Such would be a sure way to destroy your reputation as you are trying to build it.
- Take a cue from Bill Wasik and stage a private meeting at a separate location from where your event is planned and pass out the details for that event there.
- Promote your staged flash mob through social media circles like Facebook and Twitter. Target people who would be interested in what you have to say.
- As much as possible, try to tie in your event location and purpose to your business in some way. For instance, if you are an auto body shop and you want to stage a flash mob to demonstrate the importance of a beautiful car then stage a flash mob at a car show and have your participants bring their cameras and cell phones to take candid photos of the automobiles and upload them to YouTube. This would have the added benefit of promoting the car show so it could build some social points with the event’s organizers as well.
The key takeaways for staging a flash mob are to be creative in your approach and make sure that your mob is nonviolent and does not destroy private property. Create a positive impression, not a negative one.
Tags: local marketing, Social Media
Posted in Local Internet Marketing | 1 Comment »
Saturday, July 24th, 2010
If you’ve ever used the classifieds in your local newspaper then you’ll appreciate Craigslist. You’ve probably even used it. Maybe you listed a garage sale item for sale, or maybe you bought something from someone who posted on Craigslist. Maybe you picked up something that was offered for free there. But that’s not all you can use Craigslist for. You can also use it to expand your business.
There are two basic ways you can use Craigslist for your business. You can list jobs that you might have and find employees or you can list your services. Craigslist has a category for both.
But if you really want to get real at marketing through Craigslist, beyond just listing your products for sale like everyone else does, join one of the forums. Don’t go in there marketing yourself. Just join in and have fun, meet people, enjoy yourself. Focus on developing relationships. It’s a lot like other forums, except that Craigslist is a local forum that services your city.
For instance, you can go into one of the community forums for the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and just meet people who are local to you. Get to know them on a personal level before you start trying to market your services. Not in a coy way, but just in a casual way.
Craigslist is more than just a classified ads site. Think of it as a hot forum for your local area. And join in, have fun.
Tags: Craigslist, local marketing
Posted in Local Internet Marketing | No Comments »
Monday, May 5th, 2008
Greg Sterling of Screenwerk is telling us that local video marketing will be a big thing within two years. I think he’s right.
I think his suggestion to YouTube to open up a local video channel is a good idea. He quotes HitWise as saying that YouTube already has 73% of the market. While Yahoo! and Google Video are both used to some degree, there is a huge margin between the market share enjoyed by these three video marketing channels. Second place running, MySpaceTV, has only a 9.21% market share, down from 17.73% one year ago. It looks like Google acquiring YouTube has paid off.
Making a video is relatively simple. You don’t have to spend a lot of money. You can hire a young college or high school student who knows how to operate a video camera and editing software and pay them to create marketing videos for you and upload them to YouTube and the other video sharing websites. Marketing online through video is a lot less expensive than off line marketing used to be.
Tags: local marketing, online marketing, video, YouTube
Posted in Video Marketing | No Comments »
|
|
|
|
| |
|
