Why Your Local Business & Brands Needs To Maximise Its Online Exposures
71% of Business-to-Business (B2B) researchers start their research with a generic search.
Where do you look first when you’re trying to find a product or service? Hairdresser? Garage? French lessons? A new supplier? For 81% of you the answer is the internet. The days of leafing through your Yellow Pages have gone. Your clients are online and if you are not there too, then they will find someone else who is.
Suddenly, you are no longer limited by the number of people who will see your ad in the local paper – you can reach people all over the world. Online exposures means you have access to powerful marketing tools such as the search engines and social media. Nothing offline can compete. More traditional forms of advertising just aren’t cutting it anymore. People fast forward through the ads on TV, they’ve grown immune to the flashy bill boards and clever taglines. Now it’s all about reaching people where they hang out and talking to them about things that interest them.
To do that, you need to be online and have a the “online exposures“.
Potential B2B buyers who feel a ‘high brand connection’ are 60% more likely to consider, purchase and even pay a premium than ‘low brand connection’ competitors.
Your brand is often what will differentiate you from your competitors. Clients may be drawn to your company because of the way you present yourself, the language you use, the beliefs and principles you stand for. Creating a strong brand is therefore a key part of marketing your business and standing out from the crowd.
The online space provides a wonderful platform for small businesses to strengthen their brands. Social Media allows you to show some personality, blogging lets you talk about what’s important to you and your website itself is the hub; the place where your customers can explore and learn everything about your business and brand.
86% of people would pay more for services from a company with higher ratings and reviews
Even if your business isn’t online, your clients are and chances are, they talk about you! This can impact your business positively or negatively, depending on what they are saying of course, but if you don’t know what they are saying then you are powerless to maximise the opportunity – or to implement some damage control.
81% of shoppers conduct online research before making big purchases.
Most clients are pretty savvy these days. They do their research – and they do it online. If you don’t have a website, then immediately, you come across as less credible and your potential customers are much more likely to look elsewhere.
On the flipside, a simple, but professional looking website can actually level the playing field between your business and other much larger ones.
Three-quarters of companies agree that email offers ‘excellent’ to ‘good’ ROI.
We have already talked a little bit about the power of social media and of course it is an incredible tool for any business. But did you know that email is even more so when it comes to return on investment.
Email marketing sees an average ROI of $44 for every $1 – 3 times that of social media.
- Maximum Visibility
-
71% of Business-to-Business (B2B) researchers start their research with a generic search.
Where do you look first when you’re trying to find a product or service? Hairdresser? Garage? French lessons? A new supplier? For 81% of you the answer is the internet. The days of leafing through your Yellow Pages have gone. Your clients are online and if you are not there too, then they will find someone else who is.
Suddenly, you are no longer limited by the number of people who will see your ad in the local paper – you can reach people all over the world. Online exposures means you have access to powerful marketing tools such as the search engines and social media. Nothing offline can compete. More traditional forms of advertising just aren’t cutting it anymore. People fast forward through the ads on TV, they’ve grown immune to the flashy bill boards and clever taglines. Now it’s all about reaching people where they hang out and talking to them about things that interest them.
To do that, you need to be online and have a the “online exposures“.
- Stronger Brand
-
Potential B2B buyers who feel a ‘high brand connection’ are 60% more likely to consider, purchase and even pay a premium than ‘low brand connection’ competitors.
Your brand is often what will differentiate you from your competitors. Clients may be drawn to your company because of the way you present yourself, the language you use, the beliefs and principles you stand for. Creating a strong brand is therefore a key part of marketing your business and standing out from the crowd.
The online space provides a wonderful platform for small businesses to strengthen their brands. Social Media allows you to show some personality, blogging lets you talk about what’s important to you and your website itself is the hub; the place where your customers can explore and learn everything about your business and brand.
- Reputation Management
-
86% of people would pay more for services from a company with higher ratings and reviews
Even if your business isn’t online, your clients are and chances are, they talk about you! This can impact your business positively or negatively, depending on what they are saying of course, but if you don’t know what they are saying then you are powerless to maximise the opportunity – or to implement some damage control.
- Increase Credibility
-
81% of shoppers conduct online research before making big purchases.
Most clients are pretty savvy these days. They do their research – and they do it online. If you don’t have a website, then immediately, you come across as less credible and your potential customers are much more likely to look elsewhere.
On the flipside, a simple, but professional looking website can actually level the playing field between your business and other much larger ones.
- Cost Efficient Marketing
-
Three-quarters of companies agree that email offers ‘excellent’ to ‘good’ ROI.
We have already talked a little bit about the power of social media and of course it is an incredible tool for any business. But did you know that email is even more so when it comes to return on investment.
Email marketing sees an average ROI of $44 for every $1 – 3 times that of social media.
From Our Blog
The following excerpt is from Dan S. Kennedy and Kim Walsh Phillips’s No B.S. Guide to Direct Response Social Media Marketing, Second Edition. Trying to do social media marketing that actually works grows more difficult by the day. In fact, Facebook is regularly throwing advertisers right out the back door of the castle. To get…
So, you have spent all this money on an advanced social listening tool to help your business make the most of its social media strategy. Now what? Here are five hacks that can take your social media performance from good to great. 1. Set clear time-frames Are you tracking a certain campaign? Or is your…
Social media is all around us. The average person, both young and old, religiously checks their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts throughout the day. Then when you turn the TV on it’s all about #hashtag this and Facebook that. It is now part of everyday life. The power of social media marketing is no longer…
In his book Tweet Naked , online marketing expert and social media agency CEO Scott Levy provides the critical information entrepreneurs need to craft a social media strategy that will boost their brand and their business. When it comes to choosing which social media platforms you’ll utilize, select those that offer the best potential for…