Creative Profit Pros | Marketing Agency | Las Vegas
Boost Profits Not Just Sales
Business owners everywhere were shocked at the site of the new Google search results…it was missing something!
How about 7 websites that used to appear on the first page of Google no longer exist. At least it seems like they don’t exist because 91% of people searching online never get to page 2 when ready to make a purchase.
These 7 disappearing websites were [Read more…]
Local businesses have realized that their online reputation matters and it can have a major impact on their Local Online Marketing.
Online Reviews are prominently displayed on most major websites and on all local directories. Just look at the screenshot below.
Notice the reviews in a different color(to make them stand out). They redirect the viewer back to a page with nothing but reviews about the local business.
78% of consumers trust peer recommendations but…
unfortunately it takes 1 unhappy customer to write 1 review and 100 happy customers to write 1 review. For this reason, you need to have a Review System or Reputation Management System in place.
As if these reviews did not already play a big role…now the explosive growth of smartphones allows your customers to write a review about your business before they walk out the front door.
In addition…100 Million people per month access Facebook from their smartphones. Guess what many of them are doing?
They are talking about their experience at a business just like yours.
In addition…
Social Media influences your Search Engine Optimization for organic search.
Each one of these influences the other and in the center of all of it is profits.
The power now lies in the hands of the consumer. It used to be that businesses had easy access to a list of leads…now customers have easy access to a list of businesses and they can read what people are saying about them and they can ask their friends if they have anything to say about them and they will often decide to do business with you or someone else based on that reputation…that they can access in 2 minutes using their smartphone.
Which of these do you believe to be the most relevant to your business? comment below.
If everyone else is moving forward and you are not, is that not the same as them standing still and you moving backwards?
Paralysis of Analysis is defined in Wikipedia as:
Over-analyzing (or over-thinking) a situation, so that a decision or action is never taken, in effect paralyzing the outcome…A person might be seeking the optimal or “perfect” solution upfront, and fear making any decision which could lead to erroneous results, when on the way to a better solution.
I often hear these excuses from business owners paralyzed when it comes to Social Media and Online Marketing.
A deer in the headlights freezes…and then it gets run over.
Take action and things start to happen. The path will become more clear as long as your moving forward. You also pickup ideas and learn things along the way. As you move forward, even if you make a mistake, you are still better off than standing still.
You don’t have to go through them all immediately. You don’t have to write 100 tweets or Facebook updates or get 10 videos ready. Just open an account and start a profile.
When you take action you may find the vault inside of your head open up and it is full of creative ideas.
Pretend you are a customer looking for a solution that your company offers. What would you do? What would you hope to find? What do you actually find when you go to Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube?
Which of your competitors seems to be doing it right?
Hire a consulting company to do research for you. Let them come to you with a detailed explanation of networks you should focus on. Research is the biggest and first step to determine the path you should take.
Warning—> If you jump in without doing any research at all, you may not make a mistake that costs you millions…but you may have to start over. As an example, one of my clients created a personal profile on Facebook and used it as a business page. That is against the rules of Facebook and it can get you kicked off. Do some research or hire someone then…TAKE ACTION.
In a previous article, I talked about Social Media overwhelm. Business owners often suffer from this and all of their Social Media gets diluted because they are unable to keep up with all the accounts or they do nothing at all.
Both situations you will often hear the business owner say,
“I don’t have time for Social Media.”
It is true it takes more of a time committment than running a television ad, a yellow pages ad, or a newspaper ad. However, it works and that is just the way it is.
Would you ever say,
“I don’t have time for customer service”
When it needs done and it is crucial to success you find a way to get it done.
One possible solution is to hire someone to do all of your Social Media for you.
Another option is to participate in your Social Media. If this is the option you choose here are some hints to find the time.
Take an entire day and:
You do not have to create content for your Social Media every day. Even if you add content via updates and tweets every day, you do not have to actually create the content each day. If you follow the bullet points above that may give you 20 Facebook updates, 60 tweets, and 5 videos.
That can last for 45 days.
Uploading an update, tweet, or video only takes 60 seconds or so…it is the content creation that takes the time.
For ongoing content creation you may be pressed for time. Buy yourself a digital audio recorder and keep it on you at all times. Treat it like your wallet or purse. Anytime you have a random thought or idea, record it. Most people talk ten times faster than they type.
Plus, you can record an entire Facebook update at one stoplight.
Once you have collected a few audios, get them transcribed. Using this method alone will give you enough content for Twitter and Facebook.
Using methods above and adding video content will have your competitors thinking you have found an 8th day of the week.
The recording of the video itself will take the most time but much like painting, the preparation and cleanup can take longer.
Record videos all in one day. Fix yourself up however you need to and record them all in a row. Keep a change of clothes handy so it appears that you recorded the videos on different days. Stand or sit in a few different positions at different locations so it changes up the background.
Hire someone else to do the minor editing then upload the videos one at a time.
Repurpose your content.
After you have recorded a video, have it transcribed and turn it into 1 blog post, or a 3 part Facebook update, or 12 Tweets.
Please comment below and tell us which of these Social Media strategies are you already using? What are you going to use?
Social Media overwhelm may be costing you money.
There are two primary reasons:
If you are suffering from #1(too many accounts-not enough resources)…all accounts get diluted and it is tough to get results from any of them.
If you’re suffering from #2 (paralysis of analysis) you could be missing out on new customers and the potential for strengthening relationships with existing customers.
When one of your competitors is using Social Media to build strong relationships with their costumers they may be luring some of your customer base away.
We are at that point that customers are expecting more than just a sale. They want relationship and interaction. If you are not interacting with your customers where they already are(Facebook, blogs, etc.) and your competitors are, how long do you think it will be until your customers are going elsewhere?
The networks in social media are massive. Each person on Facebook has an average of 140 friends so 10 people have a reach of 1400 on the first level. Take that 1400 and multiply that by 140 and you have 196,000. You can see how big the networks get and it is feasibe that many of your customers are connected to your competitors customers. That is good news if you are using Social Media to your advantage and bad news if you are not.
It is important to determine why you are suffering from Social Media overwhelm? Is it because you are listening to everything that comes across your desk or in your email inbox?
Go to Amazon and type in “Social Media” and you will get 153,053 results.
Everyone has their opinion and everyone says “Open this account. Open that account. Open this account.”
The truth is you need to find someone that can give you good advice and tell you the Social Media you can focus on…what works for you and your industry based on the resources that you have. You do not have to have an account and a profile on every single one of the social media platforms that are out there. Here are some tips:
If you don’t have unlimited time or money to dedicate to all of them, then you should pick the ones that are going to work for you and your industry based on the resources you have. As you get comfortable and understand where your market is, expand.
Then you have 3 options:
I believe most businesses should choose option 3. You may think as a marketing agency, we would want to do all of your Social Media because that should pay the most.
The truth is, I believe you should participate in your Social Media because nobody knows your customers better than you do. You may not have the time to do it all yourself but if you bring in an outside consultant and allow other team members to participate…you may be wildy successful.