Monthly Archives: March 2016

Importance Of Social Media Marketing For Local Business

social mediaAs a local business of any size, getting your name out there is always a priority in continuing to grow your market share. Unfortunately, many small businesses, start-ups, and entrepreneurs fail to tap into the power of social media marketing for their local business. It isn’t hard to understand why this can happen. One of the biggest issues is the uncertainty of online social media campaigns, and how you can target a local audience and group of potential new customers.

The good news for a smaller or larger local business not yet dipping their toes into the social media pool is that it is always a good time to get started. There is no one best time to launch a campaign, but there are some best practices to use once you make the decision to go forward.

Immediate Information about Your Local Business

If you want to generate interest about your local business on social media platforms, particularly Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, you have to have something interesting and engaging to get people to take notice.
This can be highlighting a unique project, getting involved in a community charity or event, or focusing in on a sale or promotion. The information is immediately available, allowing customers to visit your business, go to your website, or give you a call to find out more.

Making Meaningful Connections

There is a significant grassroots movement with consumers, particularly the Millenials, to buy from local businesses and businesses that have their same philosophy and interests.
Through social media, you can share your policies on going “green”, revitalizing the city center, supporting a charity or being involved in the community in a special event or an ongoing project. When potential new customers see this human side of the business, connections are made that create customers.

This also means relying to comments and generating posts on your social media sites on a regular basis. You don’t have to post every day, but you do need to provide quality comments and information that is relevant to your followers and those they will forward it to.

Integrate with Websites and Marketing Campaigns

social mediaFor a local business, using social media platforms as a way to coordinate your other marketing programs such as radio, newspaper, direct mail and other promotions with your website and your retail venue is a big bonus.
This allows you to highlight just what you want to your customers and then have them turn to website or come to you for more information. It isn’t about hard sell marketing, and that approach can actually hurt all your marketing campaigns.

Rather, building your social media presence as a resource, at trusted authority, a community-minded business, and as a part of the town, city or neighborhood is really the critical aspect. Social media allows you to share this, plus brand across all marketing campaigns to increase brand recognition.
It isn’t always easy to know how to use social media effectively a local business. In New York City, our expert marketing team is here to help you to get started and to develop a strategy to increase your local profile. Just give us a call at 212-686-0806 and we can start working on your improved social media presence today.

Do Reviews Online Boost Website Sales?

What do customer reviews, either on your own website or posted on an online review site, actually do for your online business reputation?

Most business owners tend to see them as a nice extra bonus to help sway an already interested buyer, but this is really just be the tip of the iceberg with regards to their impact.

Today, more and more online shoppers report that they read between one and nine reviews when considering a purchase, and that number tends to be higher with the price of the item or service. And, to add to that information, 90% of those shopping online indicated that the customer reviews had an influence on choosing to buy, or not to buy, a particular product or to do business with a particular company.

The Importance

website salesThere used to be a saying that only dissatisfied customers talk about their experiences, but if you read any online review site, you will find this simply isn’t the case. When customers have a positive experience, even if they had a problem that was resolved, they are still likely to provide good feedback and ratings. This shows future customers that you are a company or business that puts customers first.

Online reviews on your website, or on other websites, also provide assistance for your website movement up the search engine rankings for organic results (those results not from paid advertisements). This is because when customers use a description of the item they bought, or perhaps use an alternate term, this won’t count against your website with Google with regards to keyword density.

Those secondary or less common keywords that customer’s use in their writing is also seen by the search engines, adding to the search terms that will bring up your site.

Trust and Confidence

Word of mouth is still the best source of referrals and is ranked as the most trustworthy. While online reviews aren’t necessarily by someone known personally, if they are from a verified customer from your local area they are seen as trustworthy by other online buyers.
Facebook is a great source of positive reviews that are coming from local people. When your friend, or a friend of a friend, posts a positive review is has more weight than just a ranking with stars or happy faces completed by a stranger.

Getting Online Reviews

website salesEncouraging customers to post online reviews is always a bit of a challenge.This can be done at the time of the purchase, and then a follow-up email with links to leave feedback is also a good option.

Make sure your website also links to all the external sites where you want customers to post reviews. It is also helpful to have information on how to post reviews printed as part of a sales receipt or invoice, and then follow up with clients with a thank you email when reviews are posted online.

We can help you develop a strategy for boosting your search engine rankings and increasing your website potential with customer reviews. As a top NYC marketing firm we have the experience and expertise you need, just get in touch today by calling us at 212-686-0806.