subject: Does Your Local Business Need Internet Marketing? [print this page] Marketing through traditional channels like Yellow Pages, Paper Ads, Radio Ads and TV commercials is not generating the leads it used to. When is the last time you searched Yellow Pages?
Your customers are skipping radio ads because they are listening to podcasts and commercial free radio.
Your customers are also skipping TV ads because they are watching recorded shows on DVRs.
Newspaper circulation is down as your customers are getting news online.
So, where are your customers? Without a doubt they are online, searching for your product and services. To get in front of these customers you need Local Business Internet Marketing.
When your customer is looking for a product or service, 70% of them go to a search engine like Google, type a related keyword phrase and check the search results. Is your business listed on the search results page? Or are your competitors listed on the page. If you are listed, Congratulations! You should be getting traffic from the search engine. (Then the question is are you converting this traffic into leads and leads into paying customers? More on this later.) If you are NOT listed on the search results, then your competitors are beating you to your prospective customer. At a minimum you should be on the search results page, otherwise, your business is missing out.
Your business should be ranked on:
Google Places Listing
Yahoo Local Listing
Bing Local Listing
Local Online Directories and Websites and
Search Engine Natural listings
Social Media sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the online versions of word of mouth groups. People learn about businesses, products and services through these sites. On an average,
A Facebook user has 130 friends
A Twitter account has 120 followers and
A LinkedIn account has 50 connections.
Most of the business should use Social Media to create awareness and buzz about their products and services. Do you have a Facebook page, Twitter Account or LinkedIn Account? If not, seriously consider these marketing opportunities.
Mobile marketing is the new kid on the block and growing really fast. Well, everyone has a cell phone and 50% of these phones are Smart Phones. Soon everyone will have Smart Phone and there will be no dumb phones.
Your customers are accessing the search engines and social media through their cell phones to find your business. Is your website Mobile ready? If not, you are missing out on a fast up-trending marketing opportunity.
Your local business needs local internet marketing that is a combination of Social Media Marketing, Local Search Engine Marketing and Mobile Marketing i.e Social, Local, Mobile Marketing, and in-short SoLoMo Marketing.
