The Survivor’s Guide to Marketing
By Emma Louise Smith, Director at Moxie Business Marketing
With multiple retailers being forced shut and individuals having to adjust to the new ‘working from home’ ethic; whilst we’re under no illusion at all, we know there will be a massive hit in the economy, we’re all wondering what the best steps to take are to ensure a strengthened position when doors can open again.
Moxie recommends three key areas for focus. Last week, part one was all about website management and maintenance. Here is part two!
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Google My Business
Ensuring your website is properly optimised with meta descriptions, heading tags and alt text isn’t the only thing you can do to improve your SERPs (Search Engine Ranking Positions) – getting your head around your business listings on Google is also key.
Go online now and review your GmB listings!
Ensure the following information is complete and/or being regularly added to.
- Do you have full ownership of your account?
- Have you properly claimed and verified your listing?
- Is your logo included?
- Are all services and key business information completed?
- Do you have a local area code phone number?
- Images of the exterior and interior of your shop?
- Is it shown correctly on Google Maps?
- Do you have more than one store? Are they listed under one account?
- Have you included a company video (up to 30 seconds) or PowerPoint?
- Do you have a 360-degree walk around of your shop?
- Are you sending out regular posts including images and videos?
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Content Strategy
The information you prepare, share and distribute online are all intangible assets. Plus, in the words of Wendy Piersall, “If people love your content then Google will love it too.”
- Content includes: Products, services, news, articles, blogs, business listings, social media, emails, direct mail, basically any marketing collateral. All of it should deliver the same consistent messaging and branding.
- Use tools to plan posts and content and ensure you work towards it as diligently as possible. Fresh content is the lifeblood of Google, the more you share – the more they care! (Or at least they’ll start to take you seriously and reward your efforts with a higher SERPs position).
- Engagement. Are you thanking people for their comments, responding, liking – generally being polite and acknowledging the correspondence (whether good or bad).
Customer data/AI/automation and email marketing
What are you doing in terms of email marketing and automation? Let’s face it, ensuring systems and procedures relating to your sales processes are as streamlined as possible will free up valuable hours to focus more on your business. So fine tuning these processes to free up your time is always going to be a winner.
How are you targeting/communicating to each customer type? For example, did they buy a new product with a warranty/servicing package from you?
Having an email address and this valuable data now gives an option to put them into your email marketing automation process and provides you with a plethora of touch points with your customer. For example, an email goes out…
- Asking if they have registered their product.
- Saying they have properly registered their product.
- Asking them to submit feedback.
- Asking them what news/offers they’d like to stay subscribed to.
- With instructions on how to care for their product (and recommends any branded manufacturers – links to buy – affiliations?)
- The warranty is due for renewal, would they like to renew? Servicing options highlighted.
- Latest news/offer emails (if subscribed).
- A happy birthday email. Christmas cards.
This is just one part of a customer journey, all of which can be automated to ensure whether your customer has reached a buying decision or not – you will be at the forefront of their minds, as their local or preferred supplier who stays in touch!
Final thoughts
These are just a few areas we see as key to ensuring your business is in the strongest possible position online – so that when you can open the doors again, you’ll have attracted a much wider audience having kept the spirits of your customers alive with accurate business information and succinct messaging.
