ARTICLE
Local Digital Marketing The power of local digital marketing cannot be understated. 97% of search engine users searched online to find a local business in 2019. Ranking on page 1 for your local industry on a Google search is a necessity in today’s age, and not investing in marketing avenues such as a Google My Business listing is essentially a liability. Local digital marketing can turn a business into a local leader in their given industry. Access to national & expansive target markets through social media platforms and Google make it easy for businesses to become overzealous, which may cause them to overlook their local market. Before you redirect your focus on the mass of potential customers at the national level, make sure to consider your hometown. Although successful for some companies, neglecting the surrounding community is detrimental to most businesses. A healthy combination of the digital strategies below will help form a great recipe for online growth. Google My Business Google my Business (GMB) is the condensed and easy-to-read business directory that appears on the right hand side of the Google search results. It includes the business name, location, hours, and contact information. It is a free, invaluable tool for businesses across all fields, regardless of the number of years in operation or how strong their web presence might be. Google can be the lifeline to a company’s bottom line. Over 50% of Google searches are no-click searches, which means that someone may have searched for a local business on Google and found the address/store hours/phone number from the GMB (without even visiting the website). This is why a GMB listing is vital to virtually every business in our closely connected world. According to a Google Movement Study, 88% of consumer local business searches on a mobile device either call or visit the business within 24 hours. Clearly, ranking number 1 on Google with a GMB is extremely profitable for local businesses. Consumers either directly search the business name or “discovery search” the business by looking for a category, product or service offered in their area. The majority of businesses are found through discovery searches. The caveat with discovery search though, is that in order for Google to display a businesses’ GMB, it has to be ranked first on Google. Local SEO This is where SEO - search engine optimization - comes into play. SEO grows businesses organically by climbing Google’s search ladder. If you partner with the right Boca Raton SEO company, you’ll be on page 1 of a Google search in a few months. SEO is great because it has the highest return on investment of any digital marketing strategy statistically. A few examples of Technical SEO would include incorporating header tags with high-volume keywords, optimizing meta descriptions, adding schema markup, and utilizing backlinks and SEO best practices. Other factors that boost ranking in combination with SEO include a secure, fast, & accessible website, page speed, mobile-adaptability, age of website (those under 1 year don’t rank as well as older websites), user experience, internal links, shareable content, and - of course - business information accessible through Google My Business and Facebook. To reiterate the importance of Google My Business for any company, according to SparkToro, 34.4% of all desktop searches and 62.5% of mobile searches result in no click. These no click searches mean that users are relying on data that automatically appears in relation to the search. This can include Google My Business Listings, database-style searches like currency conversions, dictionary and encyclopedia-style searches like definitions, or map direction-style searches like restaurants near me. Appearing as the Google My Business Listing in searches for the business or related content is a predominant factor in driving consumer sales for local businesses. Facebook Ads Facebook is the world’s third-most visited website, has 2.41 billion monthly active users, and is used by 71% of American adults according to Hootsuite. That is an abundant amount of untapped potential for businesses. Facebook is great for targeting a specific niche in a local community by publishing ads cater to specific demographics, age groups, and geographical locations. Facebook Ads are also great at providing basic business information about a local company. Creating an advertisement on Facebook is simple enough. Facebook Ads Manager guides you through the process of setting the campaign’s intent, name, target audience, placement, budget, and schedule. The success of the ad is monitored and displayed through the Facebook Ads Manager dashboard. This enables you to go through a trial and error process to optimize and personalize ads to see what type of ad converts the most. Why are Facebook Ads Quintessential for Local Success? This platform provides businesses with marketing gold: it eases the complexity of creating an ad, guides precise targeting, provides the space to offer promotions, spreads local awareness and engagement, and is adaptable to your budget. With just about everything readily available at our fingertips, it can be hard to inspire customers to come out from behind their screen and pay a visit in-store. Facebook ads that encourage people to visit stores by prompting and incentivizing individuals to come visit are the instances in which the ad spend is well worth your while. Ads for in-store promotions have been found to convert well. Facebook Ads have extremely specific targeting capabilities, which means advertisements can be hyper-targeted. Marketing directed towards small, distinct niches often has greater return and engagement when compared to generalized campaigns. Marketing on Facebook is fast and can reach thousands of people within the same day it was created. It is also measurable, so tracking the success and conversions is easy. It can lower a businesses’ cost per acquisition because ads are cheap and effective on Facebook. Additionally, these ads can generate engagement, drive repeat business, increase word-of-mouth and referrals, grow blog and website traffic, increase SEO rankings, and help break into new markets. Utilizing this platform to engage with more customers can also spread brand awareness, help local stores meet their sales targets, communicate events and special promotions, capture your target niche, and build buzz about your offerings. If executed well, Facebook ads have the potential to be a pivotal local change in your business. H2 - AdWords Completing a Google My Business listing is the foundation for a business’s presence on Google. Google AdWords, combined with SEO, can help a business dominate the competition. More complex and expensive than Facebook Ads, the returns from Google AdWords are worth the investment. AdWords lists a business first for any search related to the particular business offering, essentially the product or service. It drives website visits, prompts more phone calls, and increases store visits. The price is malleable and can fit into almost any marketing budget. How AdWords Works Google synthesizes the process well. AdWords collects information about what the goal of the ad is, where the business wants to advertise, guides message creation, formulates a budget, and finally, publishes the advertisement. The advertisement can take various forms and can be targeted and retargeted to narrow niches and specific audiences: • Display ads: banners across Gmail, apps, various websites • Video ads: on Youtube • Search ads: Appears on google search engine and additional search engines • App ads: promote an app in other apps, or with the other forms of advertisement The complexity resides in the logistics and details of the campaign. The core of the ad should be centered around keywords for SEO purposes. Keywords enhance the user experience by providing insights to Google about what users should be looking for that relates to the business. High-ranking keywords will put you ahead of the pool of advertisers competing for the same space, otherwise known as the same query search on Google. Google chooses the advertiser who is the most relevant to a certain umbrella of searches. It is important to do the research, prior to creating the campaign, on which Keywords to use. AdWords assists users with the research with Adwords Keyword Planner, which is accessible regardless if you publish the paid ad or not. Why AdWords are Great for Local Business The caveat with Adwords for local business generation is that it can be hard to optimize the content and use the proper timing. The ad spend will have a large payoff if this is taken into consideration. The benefits of using this service are substantial. First and foremost, AdWords provides businesses with the ability to capture customers who are currently looking for a particular service or offering that correlates to the business. Geographical targeting enables a business to hone in on the local area and therefore converting on customers in the community. Local engagement with your business steers success and is vital to the prosperity of the company. AdWords can direct customers to a designated landing page on the website that is optimized for conversion. The sales potential is rather large once the user experiences the website. Results occur quickly and are trackable. Tracking clickthrough rate, ad spend, conversion rate, engagement, and various other analytics contribute to the precision of the ad because it indicates areas for improvement. For example, it highlights which days the ad engages the most people and which days have the poorest engagement -- it can be redirected to the days which receive the largest return. It is important to understand that businesses pay for the campaign by paying by the click. A test period to see how consumers interact with the ad is great to implement before serious marketing dollars are spent. The value proposition conveyed in the message should be clear and compelling; otherwise, conversions may not translate. With serious emphasis, keyword research truly is the key to a successful campaign. This is how you will capitalize on clients who already have the intent of making a purchase (which is called a transactional search). H2 - Linkedin To diversify the resources invested into marketing, LinkedIn is an additional avenue. In the same way an investor diversifies a portfolio with a multitude of stocks, a marketer diversifies the reach with a multitude of platforms. LinkedIn is embedded as a key player in today’s digital marketing mix. The previous platforms are owned by or operated by Google. LinkedIn is a Microsoft-owned corporation, so diversifying on this platform is like adding an additional arm to a businesses’ reach. A different platform secures a new audience and functions fundamentally different than Google’s platforms. The audience differs from the personal profiles on social media platforms and the massive, general audiences that use Google daily because LinkedIn connects business oriented audiences with otherwise secluded businesses. With over 660 million users, LinkedIn is the perfect professional platform to advance careers, share knowledge and skills, keep updated on industry news and business trends, and connect with peers. Users can be more open and interactive with marketing messages because of the validity and professionalism the platform offers. Targeting markets is easy to do with professional profiles. Skillset, previous work experience, company, and degree all come into play when formulating a marketing message or niche campaign. The dynamic forms of advertising in Linkedin, like personalized sponsored messages, translate into a great return and a solid amount of exposure. Because of the detailed targeting and tasteful amount of advertisements, the conversion rate is relatively high compared to other platforms. A higher conversion rate and better quality audience indicate higher ad spend, but with the potential of larger margins of return. Advertising on LinkedIn provides marketers unprecedented targeting abilities that transcend into high conversion rates based on their professional practice, status, and qualifications. All said and done, LinkedIn may be the number 1 rated social network for lead generation because it is made up of people that make decisions for companies. That reason alone is a strong indicator to take marketing to this platform or to increase marketing spend on LinkedIn. Strong messaging is best when diversified across all platforms and through all means of messaging. Make Sure Your Business Can Be Found Online Stay consistent across multiple digital marketing platforms and new leads will be a given, not a hypothetical. These platforms include Google My Business, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Linkedin. In addition to these platforms, Investing money in a company capable of local SEO will help your business rise through the ranks of Google search queries, which will ultimately lead to a very profitable return on investment. Brand North is a Boca Raton SEO company that specializes in website design & development, SEO, PPC advertising, and any other form of digital marketing. 1 - https://www.go-gulf.com/local-search-engine-marketing 2 - https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/importance-local-businesses-being-found-mobile-devices-infographic 3 - https://sparktoro.com/blog/google-ctr-in-2018-paid-organic-no-click-searches/ 4 - https://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-statistics/ 5 - https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/audience
Local Digital Marketing
The power of local digital marketing cannot be understated.
97% of search engine users searched online to find a local business in 2019. Ranking on page 1 for your local industry on a Google search is a necessity in today’s age, and not investing in marketing avenues such as a Google My Business listing is essentially a liability. Local digital marketing can turn a business into a local leader in their given industry.
Access to national & expansive target markets through social media platforms and Google make it easy for businesses to become overzealous, which may cause them to overlook their local market. Before you redirect your focus on the mass of potential customers at the national level, make sure to consider your hometown.
Although successful for some companies, neglecting the surrounding community is detrimental to most businesses. A healthy combination of the digital strategies below will help form a great recipe for online growth.
Google My Business
Google my Business (GMB) is the condensed and easy-to-read business directory that appears on the right hand side of the Google search results. It includes the business name, location, hours, and contact information. It is a free, invaluable tool for businesses across all fields, regardless of the number of years in operation or how strong their web presence might be.
Google can be the lifeline to a company’s bottom line.
Over 50% of Google searches are no-click searches, which means that someone may have searched for a local business on Google and found the address/store hours/phone number from the GMB (without even visiting the website).
This is why a GMB listing is vital to virtually every business in our closely connected world. According to a Google Movement Study, 88% of consumer local business searches on a mobile device either call or visit the business within 24 hours. Clearly, ranking number 1 on Google with a GMB is extremely profitable for local businesses.
Consumers either directly search the business name or “discovery search” the business by looking for a category, product or service offered in their area. The majority of businesses are found through discovery searches. The caveat with discovery search though, is that in order for Google to display a businesses’ GMB, it has to be ranked first on Google.
Local SEO
This is where SEO - search engine optimization - comes into play. SEO grows businesses organically by climbing Google’s search ladder. If you partner with the right Boca Raton SEO company, you’ll be on page 1 of a Google search in a few months.
SEO is great because it has the highest return on investment of any digital marketing strategy statistically. A few examples of Technical SEO would include incorporating header tags with high-volume keywords, optimizing meta descriptions, adding schema markup, and utilizing backlinks and SEO best practices.
Other factors that boost ranking in combination with SEO include a secure, fast, & accessible website, page speed, mobile-adaptability, age of website (those under 1 year don’t rank as well as older websites), user experience, internal links, shareable content, and - of course - business information accessible through Google My Business and Facebook.
To reiterate the importance of Google My Business for any company, according to SparkToro, 34.4% of all desktop searches and 62.5% of mobile searches result in no click. These no click searches mean that users are relying on data that automatically appears in relation to the search. This can include Google My Business Listings, database-style searches like currency conversions, dictionary and encyclopedia-style searches like definitions, or map direction-style searches like restaurants near me.
Appearing as the Google My Business Listing in searches for the business or related content is a predominant factor in driving consumer sales for local businesses.
Facebook Ads
Facebook is the world’s third-most visited website, has 2.41 billion monthly active users, and is used by 71% of American adults according to Hootsuite. That is an abundant amount of untapped potential for businesses.
Facebook is great for targeting a specific niche in a local community by publishing ads cater to specific demographics, age groups, and geographical locations. Facebook Ads are also great at providing basic business information about a local company.
Creating an advertisement on Facebook is simple enough. Facebook Ads Manager guides you through the process of setting the campaign’s intent, name, target audience, placement, budget, and schedule.
The success of the ad is monitored and displayed through the Facebook Ads Manager dashboard. This enables you to go through a trial and error process to optimize and personalize ads to see what type of ad converts the most.
Why are Facebook Ads Quintessential for Local Success?
This platform provides businesses with marketing gold: it eases the complexity of creating an ad, guides precise targeting, provides the space to offer promotions, spreads local awareness and engagement, and is adaptable to your budget.
With just about everything readily available at our fingertips, it can be hard to inspire customers to come out from behind their screen and pay a visit in-store. Facebook ads that encourage people to visit stores by prompting and incentivizing individuals to come visit are the instances in which the ad spend is well worth your while. Ads for in-store promotions have been found to convert well.
Facebook Ads have extremely specific targeting capabilities, which means advertisements can be hyper-targeted. Marketing directed towards small, distinct niches often has greater return and engagement when compared to generalized campaigns.
Marketing on Facebook is fast and can reach thousands of people within the same day it was created. It is also measurable, so tracking the success and conversions is easy. It can lower a businesses’ cost per acquisition because ads are cheap and effective on Facebook. Additionally, these ads can generate engagement, drive repeat business, increase word-of-mouth and referrals, grow blog and website traffic, increase SEO rankings, and help break into new markets.
Utilizing this platform to engage with more customers can also spread brand awareness, help local stores meet their sales targets, communicate events and special promotions, capture your target niche, and build buzz about your offerings.
If executed well, Facebook ads have the potential to be a pivotal local change in your business.
H2 - AdWords
Completing a Google My Business listing is the foundation for a business’s presence on Google. Google AdWords, combined with SEO, can help a business dominate the competition. More complex and expensive than Facebook Ads, the returns from Google AdWords are worth the investment.
AdWords lists a business first for any search related to the particular business offering, essentially the product or service. It drives website visits, prompts more phone calls, and increases store visits. The price is malleable and can fit into almost any marketing budget.
How AdWords Works
Google synthesizes the process well. AdWords collects information about what the goal of the ad is, where the business wants to advertise, guides message creation, formulates a budget, and finally, publishes the advertisement.
The advertisement can take various forms and can be targeted and retargeted to narrow niches and specific audiences:
• Display ads: banners across Gmail, apps, various websites
• Video ads: on Youtube
• Search ads: Appears on google search engine and additional search engines
• App ads: promote an app in other apps, or with the other forms of advertisement
The complexity resides in the logistics and details of the campaign. The core of the ad should be centered around keywords for SEO purposes.
Keywords enhance the user experience by providing insights to Google about what users should be looking for that relates to the business. High-ranking keywords will put you ahead of the pool of advertisers competing for the same space, otherwise known as the same query search on Google.
Google chooses the advertiser who is the most relevant to a certain umbrella of searches. It is important to do the research, prior to creating the campaign, on which Keywords to use.
AdWords assists users with the research with Adwords Keyword Planner, which is accessible regardless if you publish the paid ad or not.
Why AdWords are Great for Local Business
The caveat with Adwords for local business generation is that it can be hard to optimize the content and use the proper timing. The ad spend will have a large payoff if this is taken into consideration.
The benefits of using this service are substantial. First and foremost, AdWords provides businesses with the ability to capture customers who are currently looking for a particular service or offering that correlates to the business.
Geographical targeting enables a business to hone in on the local area and therefore converting on customers in the community. Local engagement with your business steers success and is vital to the prosperity of the company.
AdWords can direct customers to a designated landing page on the website that is optimized for conversion. The sales potential is rather large once the user experiences the website.
Results occur quickly and are trackable. Tracking clickthrough rate, ad spend, conversion rate, engagement, and various other analytics contribute to the precision of the ad because it indicates areas for improvement. For example, it highlights which days the ad engages the most people and which days have the poorest engagement -- it can be redirected to the days which receive the largest return.
It is important to understand that businesses pay for the campaign by paying by the click. A test period to see how consumers interact with the ad is great to implement before serious marketing dollars are spent.
The value proposition conveyed in the message should be clear and compelling; otherwise, conversions may not translate. With serious emphasis, keyword research truly is the key to a successful campaign. This is how you will capitalize on clients who already have the intent of making a purchase (which is called a transactional search).
H2 - Linkedin
To diversify the resources invested into marketing, LinkedIn is an additional avenue. In the same way an investor diversifies a portfolio with a multitude of stocks, a marketer diversifies the reach with a multitude of platforms. LinkedIn is embedded as a key player in today’s digital marketing mix.
The previous platforms are owned by or operated by Google. LinkedIn is a Microsoft-owned corporation, so diversifying on this platform is like adding an additional arm to a businesses’ reach. A different platform secures a new audience and functions fundamentally different than Google’s platforms.
The audience differs from the personal profiles on social media platforms and the massive, general audiences that use Google daily because LinkedIn connects business oriented audiences with otherwise secluded businesses.
With over 660 million users, LinkedIn is the perfect professional platform to advance careers, share knowledge and skills, keep updated on industry news and business trends, and connect with peers. Users can be more open and interactive with marketing messages because of the validity and professionalism the platform offers.
Targeting markets is easy to do with professional profiles. Skillset, previous work experience, company, and degree all come into play when formulating a marketing message or niche campaign.
The dynamic forms of advertising in Linkedin, like personalized sponsored messages, translate into a great return and a solid amount of exposure.
Because of the detailed targeting and tasteful amount of advertisements, the conversion rate is relatively high compared to other platforms.
A higher conversion rate and better quality audience indicate higher ad spend, but with the potential of larger margins of return. Advertising on LinkedIn provides marketers unprecedented targeting abilities that transcend into high conversion rates based on their professional practice, status, and qualifications.
All said and done, LinkedIn may be the number 1 rated social network for lead generation because it is made up of people that make decisions for companies. That reason alone is a strong indicator to take marketing to this platform or to increase marketing spend on LinkedIn. Strong messaging is best when diversified across all platforms and through all means of messaging.
Make Sure Your Business Can Be Found Online
Stay consistent across multiple digital marketing platforms and new leads will be a given, not a hypothetical. These platforms include Google My Business, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Linkedin. In addition to these platforms, Investing money in a company capable of local SEO will help your business rise through the ranks of Google search queries, which will ultimately lead to a very profitable return on investment.
Brand North is a Boca Raton SEO company that specializes in website design & development, SEO, PPC advertising, and any other form of digital marketing.
1 - https://www.go-gulf.com/local-search-engine-marketing 2 - https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/importance-local-businesses-being-found-mobile-devices-infographic 3 - https://sparktoro.com/blog/google-ctr-in-2018-paid-organic-no-click-searches/ 4 - https://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-statistics/ 5 - https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/audience