Google offers a free tool called Google Trends (originally called "Insights for Research") which is a great help with keyword research, necessary for optimizing your website and online presence. It can also help you figure out where your customers are located and indicate when they may be ready to buy. Based on aggregated search data, Google Trends allows you to plug in terms, then look at patterns across a number of filters. You can narrow your search by Web, image, news or product. Select geographies from worldwide to city. Search as far back as 2004 to as recent as a specific date. Filters are also available by industry and interest. The tool allows you to compare results by search term, location and time ranges. I gave it a try with skiing (sport) as a search term. The results were as expected, with interest peaking (yes, intentional) between January and April. Granted, this data is based on what people are searching for; there may be no direct correlation between those searches and actual purchases. But the resulting data, graphs and maps are pretty interesting. It just depends on how you interpret it. In a recent search for keywords for a photography client, one that specializes in candid images, I thought it might be fun to compare "selfie" to the more common terms. The leap in the graph is a clear indicator of it's popularity. Whether it makes a good keyword for my client or not remains to be seen. That is, the common terms "candid photographer" or "profile pictures" are more directly correlated with her small business. Yet, I thought it couldn't hurt to try to get some spillover from a term that's just hot.
“Why should I buy from you?” is on every prospect's mind. To answer that question, you need to understand what makes your business different from your competition — in a way that’s meaningful to prospects. These differentiators are components of a successful brand. You may even be able to charge more because of that edge. Red Block Analysis The Red Block Analysis is a marketing research hack we created to help our clients take a marketing point of view, which is the ability to see a business through the target audience’s eyes. 1. Find Your Competitors The first step involves generating a list of close competitors to measure your business against.
Tip: Log out of your Google account or search “Incognito” (an option in the Chrome browser), so the search isn’t biased by Google knowing who you are or your search history. The locations of the businesses may still be related to the location of your IP address, however. Make sure it's within your service area. 2. Create a Competitive Chart Visit each site and create a competitive chart of what each offers; you may want to use spreadsheet software for this.
3. Perform a Gap Analysis
4. Don't Stop There If you’ve been keeping current with trends in your market, you may discover opportunities for new services to offer. Add these to the list. Don’t rely on competitors to think of everything. If you can be first at something, or ride the wave of a trend, that may be just what you should focus on to build differentiation into your service offering. Business Differentiation is Relative Understanding your prospect and how they view your business in the midst of competition is essential to standing out in a crowded marketplace. A Red Block Analysis can help you find ways to differentiate your services in ways that are meaningful to prospects. If you can communicate these differences clearly, your marketing efforts are going to be more effective. You'll be the business chosen more often and ultimately you’ll earn more, contributing to the long term growth of your business.
Every business owner wants to know how to get more website visitors. I'm sure you're no exception. After teaching hundreds of classes on the topic, I've boiled it down to these 10. If you have an ecommerce business, stick around until #9 for your key ingredient. 1. Keywords — the DNA of Digital Marketing When it comes to digital marketing, keywords are the life blood of the Internet. They're the words people use to find businesses when they’re searching. These are not your words; not your jargon. But literally what people use. On one hand, think about the types of questions your audience may have and what words they may be using to search. You can use our FAQ worksheet as a starting point. On the other hand, research commonly searched terms using Google's Keyword Planner. 2. Optimized Website — Increase Your Site's Visibility with SEO Search engine optimization or SEO is about building keywords into the content of your website (and ultimately, all your content). This means titles, headlines, subheadlines, body copy and more. If you’ve built your own website, you should be able to place the keywords yourself. Or have your webmaster help you. That’s not to say you should leave it completely up to them. Knowing how to position your keywords is art and science. It's about understanding how your customers think and using the keywords in such a way as to help Google recognize your site as the place to send people to. The point is to make your website as attractive, and therefore as visible as possible, to search engines. 3. High Affinity Community or Group — Amplify Your Marketing through Others Connecting with a high affinity community can help amplify your marketing effort — it's online word of mouth. High affinity communities are groups of people that have a relationship. They share information — it’s the secret sauce of social media marketing. People in these groups are also more likely to accept referrals from the group, because they share common knowledge. They feel comfortable speaking about common interests. They trust each other, because they know other people in their group are more knowledgeable than those outside it. So having a high affinity group, what some call a “tribe” can be a big boost to driving traffic to your site. Some types of businesses can take advantage of this more easily than others. Consider bicycle enthusiasts, solo travelers, dog owners or local foodies. We often see this in groups on Facebook, so see if you can find groups related to what you do, join and participate (don't sell!). 4. Mobile Responsiveness, because Everyone's on Mobile A mobile responsive website allows visitors to view your site from any device — from smartphone to desktop computer. It is a Google requirement. You'll be demoted in rank if it's not. More and more people are searching via mobile. Take Moms. They're always out and about, and shop via phone while their kids are at soccer. So, make sure your site is built on a mobile-responsive template. Most website builder tools offer them. While you're at it, make sure your email marketing tool offers mobile templates too (most do). 5. Marketing Efficiency and Effectiveness — the Biggest Bang for Your Buck Every business, very small or very large, has limited resources, so marketing needs to be efficient. All you have is time, purchased labor, money and skill. These resources need to be allocated in such a way to maximize your results for the biggest return. You can’t do everything at once either, which means you have to prioritize — what you’re going to do first, second, third in terms of effort and results. Having a strategy will help you determine allocation, priorities and everything else that makes marketing effective. It will get you to where you need to go with as little wasted effort as possible. And then, you need to measure so you know what's effective. That means tracking results to see if what you’re doing is working — driving the traffic you want and converting to paying customers. This typically means using website analytics, because any marketing you do online (even offline) will ultimately lead back to your website. Tracking website visitors with a tool like Google Analytics will give you the insights you need to improve your marketing. You can even set it up to track from the source to the sale. 6. Timing Increases Impact Promoting at the right time will help your resources go further. It’s about communicating with people as close as possible to the time they’re making their buying decisions. Think about point of purchase when you go shopping. The end of aisle special that shouts “buy me now.” If you have a need right then, and you see that promotion, there’s a good chance you’re going to pick it up. Another way to think about timing is seasonality — like holidays. You want to be out there when people are looking. Figure out what timing makes sense for your business. You could use a tool like Google Trends to figure out when people are using certain keywords to search. That should give you an idea about when people are shopping. 7. Email List — Nurture and Grow Your Pot of Gold
There are all sorts of articles online that show email as being one of the most effective ways to market a business. Of course it is. Email marketing is completely different than, say, running an ad. When people sign up for your email, they already know you. More than that, they’re probably more than interested in what you have to offer. The people who have signed up for your list are already qualified, and therefore more likely to convert. When you put new content out there or a new product offering, they’re more likely to be the ones to read or buy that new thing, versus someone who has never heard of you before. You're starting from the beginning of the purchase path (some would say, sales funnel). That means you have to take them from a point of not knowing you, to knowing you, trusting you, then actually taking an action. The people that know you already trust you, and that makes your email list your lowest hanging fruit. It’s something you really need to pay attention to, nurture and grow. 8. Content — Why You? What you say about your business (demonstrate, show, storytell, however you want to describe "content") can be the difference between indifference and purchase, caring and moving on. From images to text, icons and even user experience, how you present yourself is critical. We created Homepage Homeruns to explain what it takes to create the right content for your site. This is particularly true for service businesses or professional experts who need to sell themselves, rather than tangible products. Of course, most businesses have some kind of service component or brand story to tell. You have to put out your point of view. People need to know why they should hire you. What benefits they'll get. Why they should care, read your blog or anything. You’ll want to put out information that’s differentiated from everyone else, so be sure to check out your competition. 9. Ecommerce — Make it Personal More than a simple greeting by name on a website, personalization means delivering specific content and an experience to a particular visitor. It has become essential for ecommerce businesses to compete against more recognized brands and large shopping sites. Adding more products to your catalog isn't always better. People want to shop quickly. They need freedom from choice, and one way to do that is to provide a selection of products just for them. Barilliance does a good job of explaining all the ways you can personalize the buyer's journey on your site. Once you've acquired a customer, make sure you show them extra attention. Treat them special, because no matter how much people think marketing has changed, it's always been easier to keep a customer than find a new one. 10. Media List — Be Where Your Customers Are Acquiring inbound links from high authority websites is a strong signal to Google that your site is worth linking to. The major social media sites is one way to do it, but there are all types of niche social sites and directories for creating a profile, adding content and providing links back to your site. Our media guide explains how to find where your customers are hanging out online. |
Robbin BlockSharing what I know and love about marketing small to medium businesses. About me Categories
All
|