The View from Conestogo

Latest Updates: local business RSS

• 

  A Marketing Solution for Local Business

  Rick 5:38 pm on June 18, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: blog and mail, Blogging (13), blogs (12), contact marketing, email marketing (6), local business

  There are several reasons a “local business” has difficulty reaching a local market by using the web. Let’s say, for example, you are an accountant, dentist or real estate agent. Or perhaps you own a restaurant. Your prospects (potential customers) are about 98% “local” – which means they are all within easy driving distance of your place of business.

  Relying on a blog or website to reach these people is almost guaranteed to be ineffective. Why? Because there is no way most of them will ever see your blog or website.

  Of course you can advertise your web address. But if you’re going to do that you might as well just advertise your business. The whole point (or at least one of the points) of having a website is to avoid having to use expensive paid advertising – either the traditional kind, or the Pay Per Click kind.

  But the only way you can get web traffic without buying advertising is by relying on Search Engine Optimization and Online Social Networking. And the truth is, neither of these do a very good job at reaching your (usually) narrowly targeted local market.

  Both of these (SEO and Social networking) are attempts to capitalize on relatively large numbers of web surfers. They are targeted to broad ”niches” of people (like sports enthusiasts, movie goers, music lovers, health nuts, etc.), not individuals.

  You, on the other hand, want to reach individuals  – your already existing customers, contacts, prospects, etc. – and narrowly defined niches – small business people in your town or city, movie goers in your town or city, etc.

  So no matter what you’ve been told, don’t expect that you can throw up a website, do some kick butt SEO work and expect hundreds of prospective customers to visit your site every day. Unless you have a very unique product or service and can build some buzz in your community, it just isn’t going to happen.

  The Blog and Mail Solution

  So if SEO and Social Networking are not the magic solution so many hypesters claim they are, what is the solution?

  I call it Blog and Mail Contact Marketing. This is a concept I have been wrestling with and developing for about 5 years.

  (More …)

   

  Reply Click here to cancel reply.

  Name (required)

  Email (required)

  Web Site

   
• 

  Why Local Business is Rejecting Traditional Advertising

  Rick 12:00 pm on November 22, 2008 | 2 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: local business, local marketing (3), media, newspapers, traditional advertising, yellow pages (2)

  In the previous segment we noted how quickly the local business marketing landscape has changed in the last few years.

  Traditional media have become splintered. Newspapers are losing readers and advertisers. Direct mail has become ineffective because of technology changes. Advertising in local magazines is over-priced because of high production costs and vigorous competition from the web.

  And most important, the Yellow Pages are no longer the dominant force they once were because fewer and fewer people actually use them for a whole variety of reasons.

  Environmental Concerns

  So far we haven’t even mentioned the environmental concerns about traditional print-based advertising. Don’t get me wrong. I was involved in the print advertising and related businesses for more than 20 years, and I’m not suggesting all print advertising should be banned because of environmental concerns.

  But let’s get real.

  Every week we get a big bag of junk mail flyers thrown in our driveway. My wife dutifully retrieves the local newspaper that comes wrapped up in the junk fliers. But I would just as soon chuck the whole mess just out of principal.

  (More …)