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It’s all about the Local Market

by on Apr.14, 2013, under Newsworthy, Services, Web Development, Website Promotion

The problem with most traditional marketing is it’s lack of focus.  As opposed to ‘spray and pray’ marketing, local online marketing is focused on marketing your products and services to those who are actively looking for them in the area where your business is.  This results in much more effective, targeted advertising.

That sounds great, but how do I do that?

The right marketing plan for every business is different, but it often consists of a combination of the points below.  M5Media can set you on the right track to help you capture business from the web, call today to get your questions answered – 651-212-9430 or continue reading below…

The Online Marketing Landscape

Courtesy of David Mihm

Monetizing your website can be done in many ways…

  1. Organic Search – Strategies to influence the search engines, also known as Search Engine Optimization or SEO
  2. Local Search – Citations and getting your business listings out there on well trafficked portals on the web (google +, manta, superpages.com, foursquare, etc. )
  3. Social Media – Facebook, Twitter, Pinnterest, Yelp, and others.
  4. Youtube – using video to get your message across and capture customers
  5. Email Marketing – If you have a customer list – you need to keep in contact with them

You can choose any or all of these, M5Media will consult with you and put you on track for success in all of these areas depending on your needs.

Here’s a heat map of what people look at when they are viewing search results – the ‘hot’ area is (you guessed it) local search results:

Local Business and Business Profile Management

With Google’s latest penguin update upon us, Local Search is of more and more interest to the big search engines.  Google knows that the majority of people are looking for goods and services in their area, in other words – local traffic.  The fact of the matter is that most businesses have a local customer base, not a national one.  Consider this:

  • 73% of consumers search for local businesses FIRST via the internet
  • 82% use search engines like google.

Think about that… think about what that means to a business.  It means that if you do not have an up-to-date and attractive business website, and you are not reaching out through local search – you are missing out on a huge chunk of business that is going to your competitors.

  • Setting up a special offer to reach out to customers on computer and mobile phones is crucial here. With the rise of groupon and similar sites, customers want to feel they are getting a deal.
  • M5Media can get your business into the databases that mobile phones and car GPS systems use as part of our local SEO package, can you imagine the possibilities?

The Local Search Ecosystem

courtesy of David Mihm

This is a graphic representing the main spheres of Local Search.  There are many more, but the most influential of them are shown above.  This is where we step in to get your business profile out to these places and get more local business.

This is done in two ways:

  1. Directly – consumers come upon your business listings in local search portals (shown above) and call or email you to develop a business relationship (or buy directly if you are an ecommerce provider)
  2. Indirectly – These listings on other major portals or ‘citations ‘count as ‘votes’ for Google’s algorithm and help boost your rankings in the organic listings on Google’s Search Portal.

This also influences the effectiveness of Search Engine Optimization efforts.  You’ve probably heard of the saying ‘the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts’ this is a good example of that.  By getting your business profile out on the ecosystem, you create what are called ‘citations’ which direct traffic to your site, enhance your efforts in SEO, and push more people to your website’s landing page.

The Youtube Influence

Youtube.com has become a huge part of the web.  Businesses need to learn to capture this market with video ads (above).  Google now owns Youtube.com, so the search giant is also referencing video content in their search results which is where you want to be represented.  Here is an example of a web video that was created for an HVAC company.  M5Media also created their website.  This video is on their site, as well as youtube.com which helps capture both markets and drive home the message – www.sunburstheating.com

The combination of everything we have done for this company results in a #1 Google Organic Ranking for many keywords, and a #1 Local Listing ranking for keywords that trigger local search results.

Why all this matters…

You may saying to yourself, wow – this is all interesting but how can it help me?  The answer to that is that getting business through the internet requires a multi-faceted approach that includes some or all of these avenues.  M5Media is your partner in figuring out a web marketing plan that works, is cost effective for your business, and provides great ROI.

The problem with most traditional marketing is it’s cost, lack of targeting, and ROI.  By harnessing the power of the web, you can put your marketing dollars to better use.  As opposed to ‘spray and pray’ marketing, online marketing is focused on only marketing your products and services to those who are actively looking for them, resulting in much more effective, targeted advertising.

If this is still slightly mysterious to you, click here to see a video on different aspects of internet marketing.  This video is a little older so it does not include the search engines latest push for local, but the video still contains good information.  Click here to View.

 

But we don’t stop there!!

We also will follow up with you each quarter to keep information about your business current and review your statistics and overall marketing strategy.  We can make recommendations and changes for your website, and get any special offers you have out on the web to distance you from your competitors.  We also partner with some social media companies and will work with you on pushing content out to social media channels like facebook, twitter, and pinterest.

I hope this has developed for you a foundation of how the web works for businesses.

For more information, or to schedule a website analysis and marketing meeting – contact me at mark@m5media.net

 

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