These Three Common Online Mistakes Are Easy To Fix
As a small business owner, you wear a lot of hats. In addition to running business operations, those hats may include accounting, marketing and more. There isn’t a lot of time to oversee the marketing efforts of your team — or, if you’re doing it all, not a lot of time to dedicate to marketing. Time is precious.
That’s why it’s important not to spin your wheels by making these common marketing mistakes.
1. Failing To Have A Website (Or Having A Poor Website)
The numbers should convince you. According to a 2017 BrightLocal survey, 97% of people search the internet to find local businesses, 73% of consumers say that a positive review makes them trust a local business more and 85% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
Thus, the first mistake is not creating a quality website. Yes, it is possible to have an online presence without a website. Facebook business pages, Yelp listings and other sites allow businesses to list their information.
A good website drastically increases consumer trust. It also does wonders for local search results. You don’t have to be a web designer to create a simple and quality website. There are many software services available that the layman can use to build a beautiful templated site. Dedicate a page to customer reviews and provide a link to it from your homepage. Quality websites make it easier for customers to find you, but they also establish trust.
2. Failing To Commit
As a small business, there are often too many directions to go at once. New initiatives rise. I’ve seen small businesses dedicate hours to building an online presence and a great marketing plan, only to get pulled away by other issues. Momentum is lost and discouragement follows.
Online marketing, in particular, can be viewed as a seed. It remains underground and it may seem as if nothing is happening. But one day, the plant breaks through the surface. After that, progress can be charted daily and the plant grows exponentially. However, many businesses give up before the seed breaks through the surface. They may not understand the right metrics to track. They may have misconstrued expectations. However, consistent action is vital.
For starters, check your online presence. Make sure that your business is registered with search engines and the online directories available. Correct errors. Take ownership of your listings. There may be information online from customers that you aren’t even aware exists.
After that, set up the appropriate social pages for your customer base. Social is a great way to publish information and answer questions about your products or services. Publish regularly. That can mean anywhere from hourly or monthly, but be consistent.
Next, add additional content to your website. This serves two purposes. First, it answers questions about your product and sets your business up as a thought leader. It educates and informs potential clients and builds trust in your brand. Second, it builds trust with the search engines and assists with ranking. As a small business, you don’t need thousands of pages of content to compete locally. But content is still vital for showing up in local search.
3. Failing To Change
This may sound contrary to the previous mistake, but it isn’t. Committing and staying the course in marketing is essential. However, it is just as vital that your marketing efforts be effective. Creativity and innovation are key. The online marketing industry changes constantly. Social media platforms remix the way businesses interact with consumers every few months. As Heraclitus said, “Change is the only constant.”
Don’t stick to the status quo just because that’s the way you’ve always done it. Test new ideas. Try new things. I’ve seen small businesses that are stuck with a poor logo and color scheme simply because it was on their original business cards. Sentiment should only take up a small portion of marketing and should never take precedence over growth.
If you are hesitant about making a change, test it out. A/B testing is a great way to check that you are headed in the right direction. Don’t be afraid to test out paid ads online, but know that you don’t have to throw thousands of dollars at them. Test them in smaller increments. Take the ads that yield a higher response rate as a guide for your next direction. That willingness to try new things will bring surprises and rewards.
My advice in a nutshell: Be present. Don’t give up. Keep going. Enjoy the adventure.
