8 Simple Steps to Kickstart Your Digital Marketing

8 Simple Steps to Kickstart Your Digital Marketing By Cory Miller Corporate Marketing Manager Table of Contents 1 Claim and Optimize Google, Bing and Yelp 2 Earn Authoritative and Positive Reviews 3 Start Building a Healthy Email List 4 Become a Good Corporate Storyteller 5 Use Social Platforms to Strengthen Bonds 6 Become a Google AdWords Customer 7 Add Retargeting Code to Your Website 8 Optimize Your Website for Mobile 2

1 Claim and Optimize Google, Bing and Yelp The foundation of local search marketing, or local SEO, is built with your business's local listing pages. Local listing pages are profiles that contain information about your business. These local listing pages need to be fed with information and continually updated to achieve maximum results. This information often includes your business name, address, phone number, website URL, etc. Consider your local listing pages as your digital storefront. If a consumer walks by your business and finds the lights off, the lawn overgrown and windows broken, they will keep on walking. An unclaimed and/or unoptimized local listing page is just as troublesome. The difference between a fully optimized local listing page and one that is not is startling. Consumers want to feel welcomed and reassured when making a purchase. A local listing page that s incomplete and poorly branded is not satisfactory. Not to mention the fact that you have about a zero percent chance in being found in local search results. There are hundreds of online directories that allow you to create a local listing page for your business. 3

But where do you start? There are hundreds of online directories that allow you to create a local listing page for your business. To keep it simple, Google, Bing and Yelp are the three most important local listing directories for your business. Google and Bing account for nearly 87 percent of online searches. Yelp is also an important listing directory because of its community of Yelpers that leave reviews. Google+ Local Pages Unclaimed Claimed Each of these three local listing directories has a different set of practices and procedures, but the idea is the same. Your business needs to have claimed control of its page (often times a local listing page is created by a third party) and the page needs to be fully optimized. Only then will search engines and consumers start taking you seriously. Local search marketing is an extremely complex topic, but we discuss it in much more detail in our ebook: A Small Business s Guide to Local Search Marketing. 4

2 Earn Authoritative and Postive Reviews The value of online reviews cannot be understated. Reviews are the digital form of word-of-mouth referrals. Most online directories allow consumers to leave a review about their experience with your business on your local listing pages. To the search engines, positive reviews signal a more relevant search result to display. To searchers, positive reviews indicate an enjoyable experience and increase the likelihood that they become a customer. Consumers are reading reviews at an astonishing rate. According to etailing Group, 92 percent of Internet users read online reviews before selecting a business. They re not reading them half-heartedly, either. Seventy-nine percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. If your digital marketing strategy doesn t include review marketing, then it s about as useful as a ship without a sail. 5

With this being said, it s important to know that all reviews are not created equal. While most local listing directories let consumers leave reviews, the ones left on authoritative directories garner much more respect from search engines. Google My Business and Yelp have the most stringent review process and earn the most credibility. Reviews left on these two local listing directories are thoroughly vetted to make sure that the review and reviewer is authentic. If Yelp or Google determine the review is suspicious, it will flag the review and now allow it to be posted. In our ebook, A Small Business s Guide to Local Search Marketing, we take a look at what makes a review authentic. 6

3 Start Building a Healthy Email List Email marketing should be another cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy. Although email marketing isn t the new kid on the block, it still hasn t lost its ability to influence consumer behavior. A study by Salesforce found that 44 percent of consumers made at least one purchase last year based on a promotional email. Nearly half of all consumers were motivated to purchase by a message in their inbox. Are we getting the point across that email marketing is important? We have a whole box of tips and tricks to make your email marketing campaign more effective, but without an email list, there s nobody to influence. Here s a quick public service announcement Do not purchase an email list! Buying an email list is unethical and the quickest way to ruin any digital credibility you might have had. Instead, you need to build your email list the right way, which will create a healthy and sustained email marketing strategy. A healthy email list includes contacts that have opted in to receive messages from you. In other words, these are people that have knowingly subscribed to receive email marketing materials from your business. In a lot of ways, email subscribers are very similar to Facebook likes. You need to continue growing your audience in order to broaden your reach. 7

Our social content marketing plan includes a number of strategies for building your email list, but here are a few of the most effective ones: In addition to building a list, you also have to keep it healthy. Make sure you are removing any email addresses that have reported abuse or have unsubscribed. You should also ask subscribers to update their preferences every so often. Preferences could include email frequency, interests, personal information and purchase history. It will allow you to better target subscribers while letting them control the flow of communication. If you re interested in learning more, check out this awesome blog post titled, How to Build a Healthy Email Marketing List. 8

4 Become a Good Corporate Storyteller You might have heard the saying, Content is king. Well, here s an update: content is still king. Content is your key to the digital kingdom but only if you re creating quality content that s of significant importance to your audience. Put simply, the better story you tell, the more engaged your audience will become and the greater influence you will have. And always remember, quality content (and good stories) solve problems and answer questions. BILL GATES - IN 1996 - "Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet." So, what does it mean to be a good corporate storyteller? To start with, you have to figure out what exactly you want your audience to do after consuming a piece of content. Every blog post, infographic, ebook and podcast should be created as a chapter of a much larger story. Good stories have the ability to form powerful connections between your business and your audience. If you keep telling good stories, your audience will continue to listen. 9

IMAGE: DEPOSIT PHOTOS (EDITORIAL USE) Consumers are hungry for content. In fact, 77 percent of Internet users read blogs. If you think about it, every search query is a hunt for content. Consumers are looking for something. Are you giving them anything to find? In a 2013 speech about audience behavior and the success model behind Netflix s House of Cards, the show s star, Kevin Spacey, said, Give [your audience] what they want, when the want it, in the form they want it in Giving your audience what they want is the key to being a good corporate storyteller. Corporate storytelling is a small part of a marketing strategy called content marketing. If you re interested in learning more about it, check out our content marketing ebook, Content Marketing Takes the Internet. 10

5 Use Social Platforms to Strengthen Bonds For some small businesses, social media has lost its luster. The adaptation of social media was a lot like the California gold rush. Businesses flocked to social media platforms with little thought of strategy or long term goals. Some small businesses were able strike gold by effectively using social media platforms to drive sales and build relationships. However, many others came up empty and disappointed. When it comes to social media marketing, the biggest mistake that a small business can make is quitting. To be a good steward of digital marketing, and social media marketing in particular, you have to learn to ride the storm out. What we re trying to say is listen to more REO Speedwagon. Social media isn t a thing, and shouldn t be treated as such. Social media is an idea it s a place of engagement, information sharing and community. Too often, small business owners define social media success by the number of Facebook likes and Twitter followers they have. This isn t to say that metrics aren t important in social media marketing, but they can often be misleading. Is a Facebook page with 5,000 likes more valuable and going to yield more return than a Facebook page with 500 likes? Not necessarily. It largely depends on how strong of a bond you ve formed with your audience. Strong bonds are created by earning consumer trust and stimulating engagement. How do you do this? 11

In August of 2011, Marketer and Speaker Peter Shankman found himself hungry en route to the Dallas/Fort Worth airport. He did what any modern consumer would do and tweeted about it. To Shankman's utter surprise, he arrived home to piping hot steak and potatoes, delivered 21 miles to the airport by Morton's Steahouse. Photo credit: Shankman.com The best place to start is to reward your audience by creating high quality content. (And remember, quality content answers questions and solves problems.) In a lot of ways, social media marketing is like dating. You should always be cordial and use good manners. Consumers should feel that their connection with your business is mutually beneficial. Don t sell them on what you do, sell them on who you are. 12

6 Become a Google AdWords Customer We re going to let you in on a little secret. Google makes 97 percent of its total revenue from AdWords, its online advertising platform. AdWords lets you reach new customers and grow your business by creating custom ads for your business and precisely targeting potential consumers looking for your product or service. AdWords is an extremely intricate platform that can become an absolute money pit if you don t know what you re doing. With that being said, AdWords is the quickest way to jumpstart your digital marketing strategy. We suggest that every small business becomes a Google AdWords customer. Why? Well, as we mentioned, Google makes 97 percent of its revenue from this advertising platform. This means Google will continue to develop its platform to better meet the needs of its consumers. One of the biggest benefits of paid advertising is the hypertargeting it provides you with. Savvy marketers can help your business reach potential consumers in a multitude of ways that maximizes your budget and yields the most return on investment. They should help you optimize your ads for keywords, clicks, conversions, time of day, day of the week, location and that s just scratching the surface. 13

7 Add Retargeting Code to Your Website One of the hottest and most effective trends in paid advertising right now is retargeting. Retargeting is a cookie-based technology that uses a simple Javascript code to anonymously remarket to prospects that have been to your website but did not convert. The percentage varies greatly by industry, but typically 98 percent of traffic doesn t convert on first click. This is why retargeting is so important. It s a relatively cost effective way of keeping your business in front of consumers that demonstrated initial interest in your product or service. You ve probably been the subject of a retargeting campaign yourself. If you ve ever looked at a product on Amazon or Overstock.com, you ve probably noticed product ads following you around on different websites. This is Google s display network, a network of affiliate websites that run display/retargeting ads. The effectiveness of retargeting is overwhelmingly favorable. In fact, website visitors who are retargeted with display ads are 70% more likely to convert on your website. Retargeting is especially important for industries with a longer buying cycle. Let s say your average consumer takes approximately one week (6-8 days) to move through the buying cycle. On day three, a consumer is conducting research and lands on your 14

Lead Cycle Without Retargeting Lead Cycle With Retargeting website. They like what they see, but don t take any further action. Without a retargeting campaign, you have to hope that this consumer remembers your brand name, which is rather unlikely if they're shopping around a lot. With a well-executed retargeting campaign, you can run welcoming, non-intrusive display ads on affiliate websites that create brand recognition and keep your business relevant throughout the buying cycle which increases your ads of conversion. 15

8 Optimize Your Website for Mobile The importance of a mobile-friendly website cannot be understated. In fact, you can kiss your entire digital marketing strategy goodbye if your website isn t designed for mobile devices. Sixty percent of consumers use mobile phones exclusively to make a purchase decision. Consumers expect your website to load quickly, fit to the dimensions of their screen, read easily and have simple navigation so they can find the information that they re looking for. Research shows that 57 percent of mobile users (over half of your traffic) will abandon your website if it takes longer than three seconds to load. Search engines are also placing more value on mobile-friendly websites. The number one goal of a search engine is provide the user with the most relevant search results possible. An emerging factor in relevance is the user experience. With all things being 16

equal, Google will likely favor a website that s optimized for mobile devices rather than one that isn t. Recently, Google announced the rollout of a mobile-friendly label on results pages for websites that meet Google s criteria of mobile-friendly. Every indication is that mobile optimization will play a larger part in ranking algorithms. Overall, everything is better when it s mobile. Mobile users are savvier shoppers and quicker to convert. Mobile websites also get more traffic (we touched on this reason above). Mobile websites also create a better user experience by rewarding users with seamless navigation instead of causing frustration and bounces. Are you wondering if your website is mobile-friendly? Take Google s Mobile-Friendly Test to see how your website stacks up. 17

8 Simple Steps to Kickstart Your Digital Marketing Claim and Optimize Google, Bing and Yelp Earn Authoritative and Positive Reviews Start Building a Healthy Email List Become a Good Corporate Storyteller Use Social Platforms to Strengthen Bonds Become a Google AdWords Customer Add Retargeting Code to Your Website Optimize Your Website for Mobile MARKETING GUIDES

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