Step By Step Local Marketing Action Guide

Tammy Hawk-Bridges
Step By Step Local
Marketing Action Guide

Hi there I’m Tammy!
Ready to learn about
marketing?!
© Content Intellectual Property of Perfect Marketing Equation. All Rights
Reserved.
Hi there! My name is Tammy Hawk-Bridges. I provide
marketing training and education for entrepreneurs.
I hope you’ll visit my website Perfect Marketing
Equation - www.perfectmarketingequation.com and
also follow me on Twitter @THawkBridges.

Local marketing is a gold
mine to a business that:

2. Develops a process
businesses follow through
without fail.

3. Stays aware of new
trends and integrates what
makes sense for their
business model.

This presentation will lay out
the entire groundwork of
considerations needed
before you can develop an
awesome local marketing
strategy.

Local Marketing: Lets
Cover the Internet Bases

1. Your Website
You must have a website
that was built with the
customer in mind.

•How is it laid out?
• Is it user friendly?
•Do you have an idea of
how people would search
for what you sell?

•Did you consider this when
it was designed?
•Is there a place for clients
to sign up to your email
list?

•What’s the incentive for
clients to sign up?
•Is there valuable
information that serves as
answers to clients potential
problems?

•Do they see you as a leader
in your space?

Important:
Is your website mobile?

Action Item 1:
Take out your handheld and
look at your own site.
•What do clients see?
•Is it mobile friendly?

The whole idea is to use
your local marketing efforts
to drive traffic to your
website.
•When they get there what
do they find?

Action Item 2:
Look at your website from a
visitor perspective and answer
the following questions.

•Is your website user-
friendly?
•Is the content done well?
•Do people find what they
need right away?

•Is there a place for
potential clients to sign up
to your list, front and
center?
•Is there valuable
information for them?

•Does your website make
you look like a leader in
your space?

2. Search
When people need what
you sell they do a search on
the Internet.

Your local marketing efforts
are more successful when
people can actually find you.

Action Item 3:
Type into Google what
someone would type into the
search engine if they were
looking for what you do or sell.

•What comes up on the first
page? (Make sure you are
logged out of any Gmail
accounts while conducting
this search, as it can create
false results.)

If you’re already on the first
search engine page, that is a
huge asset to your local
marketing efforts. Huge
points if you are!

If you aren’t on the first
page your competitors are
getting the action.

Make note of who is on the
front page. You’ll need that
info for the competitor part
of this exercise.

Don’t type in the name of
your business and find
yourself on page 1.
Most of the time nobody is
going to search for you
under your business name.

For example:
Search engine keywords will
look like this:
•Hairdresser Atlanta GA
•Restaurants Detroit MI

Local Marketing and Geo-
Targeting

Search engines now identify
a visitors location according
to the Wifi, IP and GPS data
They are content specific to
that location.

48% of mobile users have an
iPhone. That’s almost half!

Apple has a partnership with
Yelp, so when an iPhone
user conducts a search for a
local business the first
resource offered up is Yelp
pages.

Fact: Most businesses have
either claimed their Yelp
page or completely ignore it
and don’t monitor the
reviews.

Action Item 4:
Do a search for your
business and find your Yelp
Profile. Make sure there isn’t
one that already exists
before you recreate one.

You don’t want two Yelp
profiles out there for the
same business.
Once you find your
business’s profile, claim it.

Your Yelp Profile is crucial to
your local marketing efforts.
Never overlook profiles that
carry this much weight on
the Internet.

Next, make sure its
populated with pictures.
Now you will need to check
your profile on a regular
basis for good and bad
reviews.

Respond to ALL reviews
good and bad.

Important Trivia
1. 73% of consumers lose
trust in your business if your
online listings aren’t
accurate. (Search Engine
Watch)

2. A one-star increase in a
business rating can equate
to a 5% to 9% revenue
increase! (Harvard Business
School)

3. Apple maps are used 3
times as much as Google
maps on iPhones and iPads.
(Venture Beat)

3. Reputation Marketing and
Reviews
When was the last time you
did a search on the Internet
to see what’s being said
about you?

When a searcher sees a bad
review about your business,
you have lost a potential
customer.

Put a dollar sign on it – How
much is this new customer
worth to you?

There are services you can
pay for to keep a track of
your reviews like Trackur,
Reputology, and Review
Trackers.

Step 1: Weekly check and
respond to ALL reviews on
the following websites:
•Facebook
•Google
•Yelp

Step 2: Once a month type
your business name into the
search engine.

Go back at least 4 pages to
look for any potential bad
feedback on any websites or
listings.

What if you get a bad
review?
Don’t ignore it! Talk to
everyone involved and get
feedback from all sides.

Once you have researched
the incident, contact the
customer and do your best
to smooth it over.

Most of the time people just
want to be heard and have a
feeling of resolve.

Try to reach an agreement
and ask them to remove the
bad feedback.

If they won’t remove the
review there’s nothing you
can do but strive to get
more positive reviews to
push it down.

Action Item 5:
Conduct a reputation search
on your business using the
steps I pointed out before. Do
it on a regular basis.

4. Directory Profiles
Its important to look through
any directory listings like
Yellowpages, Merchant Circle,
etc. to make sure your
information is correct.

You can usually claim the
free version of your listing
page.

There are tons of obscure
directory listings. It is their
business strategy to
populate your listings just
enough so you will contact
them and claim your
business.

Then they will hit you with
their pitch.

Does it help to rank better in
Google if I am on all of these
directories?

The answer is yes and no.
No – There is no value listing
your business in every
obscure directory listing out
there.

Having a ton of links to your
website used to be helpful
but now it can actually be
harmful.

It is helpful to have your link
on high ranking on sites like
Facebook, Yelp, LinkedIn,
Google, Yellowpages, etc.

It’s not helpful to have your
link on directory sites no
one cares about.

Yes – Populate the top
ranking directories that are
on the first few pages of the
search.

No matter what, make sure
the information is correct.

Important:
Google looks to establish
sources of data to both build
their database and check for
local business information.

Visit Moz Local . It grades
your effort in completing
your directories.
Enter the name of your
business and the city and it
will do the rest.

Action Item 6:
Do a solid search 5 pages
back. Look for all directories
where your business is
listed.

Claim listings and make sure
information is correct.

Know who your competitors
are and how they position
their business.

•Are they communicating
via social media?
•What does their website
look like?

•Where do they rank in your
searches?
•Are they advertising on
Google? Facebook?

“But we are special in our
space, no one is doing what
we do and the way we do
it.”

The consumer decides who
your competitors are, not
you.

If they can get something
you sell somewhere cheaper
then you have a competitor.

Brick and mortar businesses
are feeling the burn as
people start turning to the
Internet for a wider range of
products, cheaper prices
and free shipping.

The Internet is also your
competitor.
Competition is real.

Consider having some hard
facts on your competition as
part of your marketing
strategy.

Action Item 7:
Competition Analysis – Here
are a list of actions to take to
become more aware of your
competitors.

1. What would someone
type into Google if they
were looking for what you
do or sell?

Type that into the search.
List 10 businesses that are
there.

2. Visit the competitor
websites in the search one
by one. Write out
observations. How good is
their website?

3. How are they positioning
their business? Do you see
anything they are doing that
is different from you?

4. Do a check on their online
reviews.

This will give you an idea as
to their customer service
practices and how good they
are at their business in
general.

5. Look up their Facebook
page and see how well they
are at social media efforts.

Does it look like they care
about what their business
looks like on social media?

If not, then this is a big
opportunity for you!
Do they share useful
information and really
engage with their followers?

7. Look around for evidence
of email marketing efforts.
Are they offering discounts
or other incentives to get
people to sign up?

If this is something they are
doing and you aren’t they
are more aggressively
getting new customers and
staying in front of their
customers.

8. Do you see evidence of a
customer loyalty program in
place?

Customer loyalty programs
enhance the customer
experience and provide
incentives for clients to
come to you versus going to
a competitor or on the
Internet.

In today’s world if your
business directly deals with
the consumer, a customer
loyalty program needs to be
a part of your marketing
strategy.

Consider all these points.
How do you fare?
Make a list of action items
and list them in priority.

These are the types of
actions that are the
difference between growing
your business and losing
new customer opportunities
to your competitors.

Local Marketing:
Google Places is an
Important Tool

Utilizing Google Business
Places is just as important as
having a website.

When your customers go to
look for your business online
Google Business Places is
the first thing they see.

Did you know Google Places
can give you a huge Internet
ranking boost?

When people go to the
Internet to conduct a search
Google Business Places takes
up a large portion of the
landscape.

A greatly optimized Google
page with lots of good
reviews has 2 major benefits
to your local marketing
strategy:

1. It helps you to rank higher
in organic search results.

2. It shows people who find
your business online how
well you conduct your
business.

Remember a 1 star increase
can increase revenue by 5%-
9%!

On the next slide there is an
example of a client of mine.
We are on top of all their
keywords and they are on
page 1 for their search
terms.

We started focusing on their
reviews. Now for the first
time in 2 years if you type
“handyman Alpharetta”
their Google page ranks #2.

When someone conducts
this search on a mobile
device there is a call option
in addition to the website
and directions. A huge boost
to our marketing efforts!

Some interesting facts:
•73% of all online activity is
related to local content.
(Google)

•82% of local searchers
follow up with a phone call
or show up on your
doorstep. (TMP/comscore)

•66% of Americans use local
searches to find local
businesses. (comscore)

Action Item 8:
If you haven’t claimed your
Google page, find it and claim
it today! It’s critical to your
local marketing strategy.

Action Item 9:
Populate your Google
Business Page until it reaches
100%.

1. As before mentioned, you
will want to make sure your
profile is at 100%.

2. Include product or service
keywords in your listing
description.

List one or two of the
suburbs/cities where your
target market lives. DO NOT
overuse keywords.

3. Once your page is
completely finished and
optimized then encourage
all your best customers to
leave positive reviews on
your page.

4. Consider launching a
campaign with an incentive
for customers who leave
feedback for you on Google.

It can be a coupon, a special
discount – whatever you
want it to be.

Remember those reviews
revert back to sales!
It’s worth a well thought out
effort to create a marketing
strategy that increases
reviews.

5. Include your Google page
link on your newsletters and
your website.

6. Once you open up this
effort you can’t just leave it!
You should be checking your
reviews weekly.

Even when you get positive
reviews respond and say
“thank you”, it just looks
good.

When you have a bad review
address it immediately!

Nothing is worse than when
people see bad reviews on
your Google page that go
ignored.

Local Marketing:
Facebook is a Crucial
Element

Facebook is a huge part of
your marketing puzzle.

If your customer is 35-55
years old, this happens to be
Facebook’s largest
demographic, so you
definitely want to be there!

You actually won’t get a
whole lot of engagement
just doing regular posts. But
that doesn’t mean you
shouldn’t do them.

If you write something great
and people start liking it,
that will give it more views
in your fan feed.

I feel every business no
matter what you do and
who your customer base is
should be spending a small
amount on Facebook ads.

If you are promoting a
special product or sale, the
best thing to do is write a
post and then boost it –that
way you can decide how
many eyes see it.

Before you decide not to pay
$10-$20 to boost something
you feel should be free just
remember to always be
focused on the result.

If you pay $10 to boost an
ad and it brings in more
traffic to your store and
increases sales that’s a win!

You should ALWAYS think of
the benefit and value of
investing money to market
your business versus cost,
especially if it’s a tiny cost.

It is most important for your
Facebook to be fully
optimized and look
professional.

Important:
More people will engage with
your Facebook page from your
handheld so make sure it looks
good from all points.

Action Item 10:
Lets do a Facebook checkup!
1. First, take out your mobile.
See what it looks like to
experience what your visitor
sees.

•Do you have your call to
action set up properly?

For example: if your call to
action is “contact us” or
“email us” make sure its
connected to the contact
page on your website.

If you have a consumer
driven business my favorite
call to action is “Call Us
Now”.

If someone clicks that from
their handheld your number
will pop right up.

Look at the example from
my client on the next slide.
See how their call to action
is call now?

One of my other clients has
a retail store. Her button
says “Buy Now” and it goes
straight to her online store.

Make sure you make the
best call to action decision
for your particular business
model.

2. Get Verified. If your
Facebook page isn’t already
verified get that done right
away.

Getting verified gives your
page more credibility.

According to Facebook,
getting verified will give your
posts more advantage in
your fan feeds more so than
pages that aren’t verified.

Look at the white arrow on
the next slide that is
pointing to the verified
symbol.

To Verify Your Page:
1. Click Settings at the top of
your page.
2. From General click Page
Verification.

3. Click Verify This Page
then click Get Started.

4. Enter a publicly listed
phone number for your
business, your country and
your language.

5. Click Call Me Now to
allow Facebook to call you
with a verification code.

6. Enter the 4 digit
verification code and click
Continue.

3. Fill out your information
completely. Remember
people go here to read
about your business, so you
want to treat your Facebook
page like a website.

Make sure all your
information is filled out in
full like general information,
hours of operation etc.
Every single tab should be
filled in.

4. Set up your automatic
messaging options.

People can now send you
messages through Facebook
and because you can’t always
respond right away you want
to look professional.

Facebook has some great
options for you. Go to
Settings>Messaging. Your
options should pop up.

First set your response time.
Let people know how long it
typically will take for you to
get back in touch with them.

5. Below you can enable an
away message when your
business is closed. See
example on next slide.

Here you can set up instant
replies so when someone
sends you a message they
receive one back.

In the example on the next
slide, we provide clients
with our phone number so
they can call for immediate
assistance instead of waiting
for us to get back to them.

6. Scheduling Facebook
Posts- What if you are busy
during the week and don’t
have time to make posts?
Easy! Schedule your posts in
advance.

Write a post like you
normally would then click
the upside down triangle
you see the short arrow
pointing to, then choose
schedule.

Once you choose Schedule,
a box will pop up. (Example
on next slide)
Set it up for when you want
it to go out and click
Schedule.

I could go on about
Facebook but I have already
written a novel.
I hope you have found this
marketing guide useful.

Don’t forget to sign up to
download your action sheet
in a PDF format. That way
you can do your checkup at
a later time.

PLEASE get it done! It is
CRUCIAL for your business!

Once you set up your local
marketing online presence,
make sure you take care of
it. Cheers!

Reserved.
Please visit
www.perfectmarketingequation.com
for many other marketing lessons for
entrepreneurs!

Reserved.
Connect with me!
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/THawkBridges
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/TammyHawkBridges
YouTube:
www.youtube.com/user/THawkBridges
Google:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+TammyHawkBridges

Step By Step Local Marketing Action Guide

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