The days when a potential customer searches for a service they need in the phone book are long gone. Sending out promotional material in the mail is costly and generally ends up in the “priority” file labeled “T-R-A-S-H”. Now days, it is critical to develop a smart online marketing plan to reach consumers.
A good online marketing plan involves a lot more than paying for cheesy ads that consumers just ignore. Sophisticated online marketing drives users to your business without them even realizing that you are advertising to them.
1. Get Your Name at the Top of the Search Engine Results
When a consumer is looking for a service provider, 93% of the time, they start by typing their need into a search engine. When looking at the results 70-80% of the users will ignore the paid advertisements that show up at the top of the page, and weed through the first few, unbiased links that come up. Getting a link to your business in the first page of results is crucial for getting the attention of a potential customer; 75% of search engine users never click past the first page of results.
This is where search engine optimization strategies come in. Search engine optimization, uses keywords that a potential customer would likely use when looking for your service to create organic posts, that do not convey “paid advertisement” to the user, and lead them to your business. There are small business SEO services that inexpensively do the complicated part – create the content that subtly point to your business without giving off that “This Business Is Paying For This Ad” vibe that makes users turn their brain off.
When using small business seo services, you provide a little background on your company and the keywords that a potential client would probably enter when looking for your service, and the seo consultants turn around interesting content on the subject and utilizes search engine algorithms to get into the top of the search results. Small business seo services are a simple, inexpensive strategy to increase traffic on your business’ website.
2. Focus on a Sophisticated Mobile Site
50% of search engine usage is performed from a mobile device. And more than one-half of consumers are more likely to use a business that has an optimized mobile site. You need a website that is crisp and user-friendly from a phone to transition the consumer from being aware of your business to actually clicking the “pay now” button. It is important to look for website consulting services that offers a clean mobile platform along with desktop website development.
3. Take Advantage of Social Media
As the saying goes, “word of mouth is the best marketing tool”. Using modern technology, you can leverage the gift of word-of-mouth by creating a great social media presence. 70% of social media users endorse at least one business on their profile. If you leverage this to create brand loyalty with a social media user, your business is automatically recommended to their friends. Every time a social media user “likes” your page, all of their friends see it. Not only does this spread brand awareness, but it gives consumers the vote of confidence that your business is endorsed by someone they know.
