Outreach Web Marketing

OUTREACH WEB MARKETING MINI SERIES: 4 WAYS TO IDENTIFY & DEVELOP YOUR UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION (USP) #3 - MAKE YOUR USP YOUR MOTTO! Work on paring down your USP into a short, memorable phrase that your audience can latch onto. This can also be a basis for your "elevator pitch" - memorable message you could easily convey to someone in an elevator in 30 seconds or less. ... Then, center everything you do around your unique messaging and positioning. Put it in your ads, your email and text campaigns as well as on your website and social media and embody this uniqueness in your relationship and communication with customers.

Some great resources from Facebook for Business on this page. They give 5 steps you can take right away, for the best interests of your customer base and business and then they're providing a "Small Business Grants Program" - 100 million in cash grants and ad credit and then information about the SBA payment protection program where you can look into applying for a COVID-19 relief loan and more: https://www.facebook.com/business/boost/resource

Google has temporarily disabled it's local reviews due to the COVID-19 crisis and Yelp has also revised review guidelines. This is in the best interests of local businesses to hit "pause" on new reviews right now, as there is much confusion as to open hours or if businesses are closed, and agitated consumers could potentially post a number of negative reviews against businesses that are not warranted: https://searchengineland.com/google-temporarily-disables-lo

Google support update for COVID-19 crisis as relates to Google My Business: https://support.google.com/business/answer/9792336?hl=en

COVID-19 MINI SERIES: 5 MARKETING TRENDS FOR THE COVID-19 ERA #5 - GET BACK TO BASICS With all the chaos and uncertainty in the world today, customers are craving the old-fashioned basics from businesses. That’s why many brands are focusing heavily on building trust (which includes reviews), loyalty, and strong customer service. ... These foundational concepts make a difference to customers who are unsure of what the future holds. When they feel cared for and valued, they have no need to look elsewhere to spend their money. CONCLUSION: Business and marketing is changing faster than ever before, and we need to change with it or risk being left out and behind the competition. No one wants to be in the position of having to play "catch up"... COVID-19 may have done a number on our marketing strategies for 2020, but look at the bright side: all of this chaos forces you and your team to discover what you’re really made of. Your creativity and innovation in tough times can propel your business into next level numbers if you approach it with an open mind. We don’t know what’s just around the corner, but try to embrace these changes and move forward with courage and optimism when it comes to reaching an even broader customer base.

COVID-19 MINI SERIES: 5 MARKETING TRENDS FOR THE COVID-19 ERA #4 - TRY SHOPPABLE SOCIAL MEDIA COVID-19 has massively changed the way people do business. People are making the majority of their purchases through online avenues, one of which is social media. ... That’s why you should consider shoppable social media if this is a model conducive to your business so you can reach those customers who choose not to venture out of their home to make purchases. Allow in-app purchases so that customers don’t have to leave the app to buy the more clicks, the higher the likelihood they’ll give up and look to make a different choice. It's important to remove as many barriers as possible when it comes to customers completing your sales process.

This past month, more and more is being brought to light about the novel coronavirus and how it is starting to spread far and wide. Right now, Italy is feeling the brunt of new infections and tragically, the number of people not recovering from this. Who could have ever imagined something like this unfolding at the beginning of this year? So much uncertainty right now, on so many levels of this unfolding crisis, but it looks like we're headed into a lockdown situation very shortly in North America. How is this affecting small businesses? The National Federation of Independent Busines published this today and found (thankfully) that most small businesses are not advertsely impacted as of right now. Read more here: https://www.nfib.com//nfib-study-coronavirus-impact-on-sm/

COVID-19 MINI SERIES: 5 MARKETING TRENDS FOR THE COVID-19 ERA #3 - OPTIMIZE FOR MOBILE When it comes to online purchases, your customers are searching and buying from their smartphones like never before. ... How can you reach people who aren’t leaving the house by who are also glued to their phones? Mobile optimization is the answer. There has literally never been a better time than now to invest in upgrading to a mobile-friendly website if you don't already have this in place. Your customers need to be able to find your website quickly (whether they’re on their PC or smartphone or tablet), consume your content without confusion or lagging and purchase without going into a store. To check whether your site is mobile friendly and to see what it looks like on mobile, go here: https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly

COVID-19 MINI SERIES: 5 MARKETING TRENDS FOR THE COVID-19 ERA #2 - OFFER ONLINE PURCHASING For businesses selling physical products e-commerce is where it’s at. ... Why? Because in-store shopping is not where the traffic is...(at least for the foreseeable future). That’s why it’s important to give customers the option to make their purchases online. Getting this hands-off approach up and running might take some work in the beginning, but the benefits are endless. Now you can reach customers right where they are, in the comfort and safety of their homes. Once the pandemic is behind us, you’ll have two avenues for selling: both online and in-store.

COVID-19 MINI SERIES: 5 MARKETING TRENDS FOR THE COVID-19 ERA Who would have ever imagined at the close of 2019 that a global pandemic would turn the world as we know it upside down? At the beginning of this year, life was plugging along as usual, and businesses were implementing their 2020 marketing strategy to reach their yearly goals. ... But all of a sudden, COVID-19 had us hunkered down in our homes just trying to figure out how to keep business afloat amidst so much uncertainty. In this mini-series, we’ll take a brief look at some of the latest, COVID-era-induced marketing trends that deserve your consideration. Hopefully, you’ll find some tips for pivoting your marketing strategy to reach both old and new customers in new ways. #1 - CREATE FEATURED SNIPPETS Even if you’re unfamiliar with the term, featured snippets, you’ve undoubtedly encountered them most likely daily when you’ve typed a question into Google Search. When I searched, What is a Featured Snippet?, I got you guessed it! a featured snippet or short answer box at the top of my Google search results. Check it out below! For virtually any question you ask, Google will provide an answer at the top of your results page. What do featured snippets have to do with marketing? Well, they have an 8% click-through rate, which means an increase in traffic to your website. If you want your snippets to be featured, simply create content that answers the specific questions that your audience may have. Your goal is to get Google to choose your featured snippet when people ask questions related to your field.

Just a quick update - in addition to our 5-star review builder platform we're working hard to bring to market not one but TWO new software platforms either later Q1 or early Q2! The first is a text chat system where you'll be able to text chat directly with prospective customers that come to your website PLUS, you can use this technology in your direct marketing campaigns! Super powerful, super exciting and coming very soon! The second tool also has artificial intelligence bu...ilt-in, to help with personalization and automation. This one is a powerful communication tool specifically geared toward voice chat and is designed to engage your site visitors in an instantaneous and welcoming way. Both tools are powerful lead generation tools and something that cutting edge businesses will be using in 2020. Similar to the text chat technology, this is also a powerful lead generation software and engagement tool and is designed to begin business relationships the right way. How many times have we heard the expression..."You only have one chance to make a great impression." BOTH of these tools will help businesses do just that. That's all for now - thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Did You Know? Your brand, your online reputation matters more today to consumers...to your prospective customers than it did 10 or even 5 years ago. According to Status Labs, 85% of consumers use the Internet these days before making a purchase. Here's the link to Status Labs for more information: ... https://statuslabs.com/reputation-management-stats-2020/ Another eye-opener stat from Status Labs is this one: "Only 53% of consumers would use a business that has less than 4 stars." Check out our video here and learn why you'll want to be building positive reviews for your business, starting today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iJoz5gVqVw&feature=emb_logo

TIP SERIES: EFFECTIVE POINT OF SALE MARKETING IDEAS TO BOOST SALES ONLINE POS MARKETING TIP #3: REMIND CUSTOMERS OF RECENTLY VIEWED PRODUCTS As customers shop, they inevitably scan through items that interest them but that they ultimately forget about by the time they arrive at checkout. ... Consider reminding your customers of these items at checkout. The goal of course, is that these quick reminders could get them to make the addition at checkout and result in a bigger sale. You can easily make these additions with the right software and once it's set up, it's basically "set and forget" and it pays for itself over time. IN CONCLUSION: Whether you’ve got a physical storefront or online store (or both!), it’s time to maximize your upselling opportunities through POS marketing. Encourage existing your customers - those who already believe in your product or service and make it convenient for them to add to their purchase. It’s a win-win for you and for your customers!

Happy Holidays All! Wishing you a fabulous December and 2020 to come! We're looking forward to serving you and connecting with many more of you for your business building and online marketing needs. We continue to work closely with a couple of top-level software development partners specifically for reputation and brand building. We offer a review building service that is second to none, with the primary focus on building great reviews on Google first and foremost, above all... other platforms as this is where your business is "made or broken". It comes down to the old "Pareto Principle" - the 80/20 rule...and in this case, it's probably more like 90/10 as Google is the place where your future customers are checking you out and deciding, within the blink of an eye whether or not to do business with you... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle This coming year of 2020, in addition to our review building services we will be offering simple yet highly effective communication software tools designed for lead generation, lead procurement - the ability to connect with prospective customers in less than 5 minutes and creating a customer service experience above and beyond expectations. Here's to a joyous holiday season and a truly amazing 2020!

TIP SERIES: EFFECTIVE POINT OF SALE MARKETING IDEAS TO BOOST SALES ONLINE POS MARKETING TIP #2: FEATURE COMPLIMENTARY ITEMS/SERVICES On your e-commerce store checkout page, feature items that complement the items that your customer has previously added to the cart. ... Since your customer has already decided to purchase such items, you can expect them to at least consider making these additions. For example, if your customer has added a pair of shoes to their cart, it makes sense that you would feature accompanying shoelaces or socks. If you're a service-based business, think about complimentary services you can combine or bundle to attract would be customers or clients to take action. Providing a bundle discount gives visitors an incentive to move forward. Let's say you run an automotive repair shop Get creative and do something above and beyond what your competition is doing. For example, offer to do an oil change, as well as check all fluids and brake pads for an attractive discounted bundle price. Think about how you can apply this principle to your service business and test it out to see what works the best. A lot of marketing comes down to trial and error - testing and tweaking offers to get ones that work well and create win/win scenarios both for your business and for those you serve.

Are the vast majority of your marketing efforts focused on social media? Social media is important, especially for certain industries where people are actually searching Facebook, etc...directly for your business. But having a Facebook page is not a substitute for having a website or a properly set up Google My Business listing, even if you're a restaurant or a car repair business. Having a site gives people that added confidence in your brand. It provides them with addition...al information about your business and what you offer in a format that they like to see from professional businesses and it is that added piece of "virtual real estate" that you actually own and control. No one controls Facebook other than Facebook and yes, this is also the case with Google but your website (or landing page also) is YOURS and if it is properly managed and optimized for search and for converting visitors into actual business, you can leverage it to your advantage on Google. As one colleague recently commented: "People treat social media like it is KING... social media is a pond stocked with fish BUT GOOGLE is the ocean that is deeper than we could ever imagine...and yet we treat GOOGLE like we treat the beach. We dip our toes in the water and walk on the edge because it looks so massive and if we don’t know how to swim or have the proper equipment it will suck us in and kill us so we stay on the edge where it feels safe." In summary - social media has its place, especially for some businesses more than others but if you are a local business and ignoring Google, that's a huge mistake because the majority of the people who are looking for your services are going to Google either first or at some point during their decision journey. https://outreachwebmarketing.com

TIP SERIES: EFFECTIVE POINT OF SALE MARKETING IDEAS TO BOOST SALES ONLINE POS MARKETING TIP #1: OFFER UPSELLS/ADDITIONAL OFFERS When your customer is busy purchasing from your online store, make sure you convey the advantages if they decide to purchase additional products. ... For example, if your customer gets free shipping if their cart total reaches $30, then make sure they’re aware! Another option is when your customer reaches a certain spending threshold. For example, when the customer spends $50 they receive a percentage discount and make this clear throughout the shopping and purchasing process. Just keep in mind that it’s important not to distract the customer from their original purchase. This means including small pop-up messages like, You’re $5.42 away from free shipping! and not overtaking the whole screen with your upsell messaging.

Quick question - have you claimed your Google My Business listing? If you have not, just do a search on how to do this as soon as you can. Your Google My Business (GMB) listing is the most important listing for your business online. It increases visibility for your business and it allows you to be found in Google maps. Everyone uses Google maps these days to locate local businesses. Having a placement or presence in the Google maps section will help you get more calls and traffic to your site. If you need help with this don't hesitate to get in touch. It's not only good to get this set up right away if you haven't, but also good to keep your listing updated for the benefit of consumers. So don't delay, get your Google My Business set up today...!

What's shocking when it comes to online reviews is the power they have to literally make or break a business. As of this writing, 57% of consumers will NOT even consider reaching out to a business with less than a 4-star overall rating. You can learn more about the importance of building a 5-star reputation for your business here (check out the other stats and also links to sources): https://5starreviewbuilder.outreachwebmarketing.com/ - one of the sources you can check directly from here is Bright Local's annual "Local Consumer Review Survey" for a few real eye-openers on this important topic!

Soooo...this project took MUCH longer than anticipated (naturally). The new subdomain for 5 Star Review Builder has launched at long last! You can see it here: https://5starreviewbuilder.outreachwebmarketing.com I encourage you to check out the content, watch the videos...take the demo and leave any comments/questions below! The last touches are being put on this site now...(whew)...

Quick Update: Appointment reminder software is in beta testing phase at the moment. As software development would have it, timetables are often longer than anticipated but we want to make sure 99% of the bugs are worked out. We are also working on our 5 Star Review Builder software (which will be publicly available sooner than our AR software as it turns out!). The new subdomain for 5 Star will be LIVE soon, within the next 2 weeks. I'll post the link to the 5 Star Review Bui...lder subdomain in the next post. 5 Star is designed to be such a simple but effective solution for businesses looking to build a strong reputation and brand that truly stands out - I'm so looking forward to getting this into the hands of a few local clients initially (and using it personally!) There is an option to collect valuable feedback from your customers/clients/patients, or if you want, you can skip the feedback loop entirely and direct your people to choose a quick thumbs up/thumbs down option, i.e. "Would you recommend this business?" When they choose thumbs up, the system takes them off to your Google listing (or another review/social site of your choosing)...we can set this up to your liking and change options whenever you wish. Personally, I recommend keeping the feedback option before transferring your people to leave a public review as the internal feedback you'll be receiving is highly valuable. We'll customize your feedback questions to ask whatever you'd like. One question I always recommend asking is "Where did you hear about us?" and then we'll give them the various options to choose from, such as referred by a friend, Facebook share, Google search, etc...Have this information will give you a good idea, especially if you're doing paid advertising - what is actually working to bring new business in and every month you'll receive an activity report and breakdown. My apologies for the delay on appointment reminder folks - lots of exciting projects and new products at the moment!

Having been in development for over a year now, we're bringing to market a robust appointment reminder software tor local businesses within the next 30 days (current timetable). We're going through HIPPA compliance (server transfer, etc...) in order to fully service the medical industry and be fully compliant. This is "software as a service" - we help you set it up (very simple and straightforward) and you use it in your business to decrease cancellations and increase revenue. This software has other applications as well, such as businesses that need payment reminders for whatever purpose (monthly rentals, etc...). Excited for this launch!