Who drives traffic? The new MICRO INFLUENCERS are driving search results, and if you’re not there, you don’t exist. Micro-Influencers are your customers, your neighborhood business owners, the local Chamber and Business Improvement Association. Ask yourself, who cares about your business, and who is willing to share your wares online, and for what reciprocal or real cost?
Shit In, Shit Out, as they Say.
That might be a strong and shocking statement to make, but it’s very true. If you don’t craft a conscientious and sincere effort for your online or digital marketing, and are not participating in social media conversations, you will not see positive results. Personal referrals, search results, and conversations are highly influenced by MICRO INFLUENCERS. The small businesses of today supports other small businesses. The small business relies heavily on referrals and recommendations. Are you accessing the Micro Market?
Does Social Media drive traffic to your business online? Yes.
Yes, and there are always ways to boost your performance, depending on how much effort you’re willing to make. In the horrible times of 2020, you pull out ALL THE STOPS, and listen to the market. Consumer behaviour cannot be manipulated. People do shop online, people do search online, people are looking for you, and you have to be Visible as never before.
Does participating in Social Media and Online Marketing drive traffic to your bricks and mortar store?
Digital and online marketing for hyper-local bricks and mortar businesses has evolved into a micro influencing environment that has never happened before in advertising history. Where your clients come from matters: Ask every new face that somehow walks in your door how they found you, and dig deeply. Did they find you on Google? Did they look at your reviews? Did they research you on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter? Although they may not admit to doing so, they found you, and they made an effort to check you out.
Facebook Groups are growing faster than any other advertising or referral source we’ve ever seen. Recommendations from Social Median and Google create an overwhelming new trust factor. The more Reviews they can read, the more Trust they have. Are all online reviews Fair? No, but it is the way of the world in an online e-commerce environment that we all have to grasp to survive.
Be Visible, be Engaging, be Present on Social Media, Like it or Not.
If you personally don’t like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, it DOES NOT MATTER. You are a minority, despite what your friends tell you. They are ALL on Facebook and Instagram, for up to 4 HOURS A DAY…And when they want to find something, they are on Google searching it out before getting in the car or clicking to order.
YOUR BUYERS LOVE SOCIAL MEDIA. They spend up to 30 hours a week on platforms. If you don’t user social media yourself, who cares…RESPOND TO BUYER BEHAVIOURS. What your personal beliefs are about social media do not apply to the masses. The facts are the facts. People are online searching for products and services before they EVER leave their homes. (AND THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING SINCE 2012 or so.)
If you don’t partake in social media yourself, you’re a VERY small minority. Even if you’re not on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, you’re on Google, which is where we put you first and foremost as a small business looking for new clients, and then, you’re part of the 97 percent of the planet who DO use Google.
88% of people RESEARCH their purchase before making a decision to buy something or select a service to contact in 2020. Reviews and social media referrals are their next research, and if your business isn’t there, you don’t exist to 88% of the population.
How is your Website Looking to the Outside World?
If a business does not have a website, and I have been saying this for the last 10 years, you don’t exist. If you have a bricks and mortar location, and no website, you don’t exist to Google, but could see some results from just Social Media Marketing, if your team is creating excellent content and paying attention to SEO…If you don’t have a website, you need to get back into your Delorian and jet backward into the 1980s.
Your website is a foundation, a way to anchor yourself to a location, or a brand or a service in your target area. Your website should be your silent partner, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, sharing the very best of what you offer, how you work, where you are, how they can work with you, buy from you, or follow you. It is simply unacceptable to not have a fully functioning website and invest a healthy percentage of your revenue into branding and digital marketing development. If you don’t understand the process, hire someone who does.
If you do not have a website in 2020, you are literally invisible. Choose to make an information website, or expand and make the investment into e-commerce…the only decision you need to make today, in 2020, is how to best reach your clients as easily as possible, build an instant trust, educate the buyer, engage with the buyer, engage with the local micro influencers, , and, position yourself as the best person to solve their problem, challenge or buying dilemma.
Don’t be Invisible. Don’t be lazy, cheap, or in denial about the reality of the necessary investment in online marketing. If you don’t understand it, the best way to deal with that dilemma is to hire an expert, and do your best to inform yourself about options, and how to maximize your marketing dollars.
Are you investing enough money into social media, digital and online marketing? If you’re not reinvesting 5% or more of revenue, then, NO.
Check out your Competition
The arena of online marketing has already happened, and if you’re not already a part of some kind of participation, you will not be where your competitors are, ever. A good exercise is to find your top 5 competitors online, and evaluate their online marketing. Are you doing everything they are doing, and if not, You will not be found on a search, and you will not be a viable shopping option, whether you’re a service, retail, or a restaurant.
MICRO INFLUENCERS MATTER, in a hyper local, or global enconomy.
Who are these micro-influencers we speak of? For instance,…The local Realtor wants to reach an audience of potential buyers, and wants to position herself as the Top Local Agent. She eats at your restaurant, buys your products, or employs you to service her clients. What do you do with that? Employ a Micro-Influencer. Make a deal. Make a connection. Offer a cross-promotion. She has built her social media fan base already, knowing the importance of lifestyle branding. Offer to craft and curate a campaign as a co-marketing effort. Her clients could be your clients also, and a recommendation for you on her social platforms can have effects on your social following as well. It’s as good as a testimonial, or a review, to have a local and trusted person talk about your business on social media.
That customer that always comments on your posts and says how fabulous your products are, she has POWER, and she has FRIENDS. She has Social Media Friends…How can you get Mrs. Morrison to get all of her friends to shop with you, do you know how? Likely not.
How can ConsumerView Help?
ConsumerView Remote Marketing Services offers a comprehensive overview of your digital and online presence, and will suggest options for improvement, geared to your budget and to your GOALS. We explore your current advertising budget, and recommend changes that work in the new arena of social and online marketing. Our advice comes from real world experience. We were already in the game before the game was even a game. We have worked in the corporate, retail, and service worlds, ourselves. We did not graduate in 2017. We have been working in real world small business scenarios, before computers existed. Imagine.
What makes us the best small business marketing partner in Durham Region and beyond?
ConsumerView Remote Marketing Services will evaluate your challenges, and can overcome any technical and generational issues or barriers you might be facing, and will be there to guide you through the process with respect, and most importantly, a genuine care for your success.
We encourage you to take the next steps to move forward online, with confidence. Our team of SEO, WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT, AND SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERTS will guide you to a successful space on GOOGLE.
Contact Victoria for a consultation: [email protected]. Schedule a call: 905 449 0256.
About those Micro Influencers…do you know any? I do.
Victoria
