Marketing Promotion Mix: Make Your Website an Asset

Keyword Research and SEO

For local businesses, the importance of having an integrated, holistic marketing strategy online is growing. Now it’s a matter of having a website that is properly optimized for Search Engines, assuring that local optimization through inclusion in Google Maps, Yahoo, YELP, HotFrog and other directories. Keywords are important in all of this, so good keyword research is important as well.

Social Media Decisions

Then there is Social Media. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Google+ are the primary sites, but there are many more according to your market. The FIRST step is to “LISTEN” to each of these social media sites to determine the best one for you. Where are your customers most often? Where do they go for peer recommendations? That’s where to put your social media energy.

Is Mobile Marketing Right for You?

People rarely use phone books any more. With cell phone technology, the IPhone, IPad, GPS and more, the place to be found is through the Internet and technology. There are more people on cell phones than on the Internet.

The first step is to assure that your website and social media look good on Smart phones. There are several ways to accomplish this. No matter how, it’s an important step.

After that, develop your overall marketing strategy including offline, website, social media and mobile. Take it one at a time to master each. Get online management tools to make your online marketing work each day efficient. Become familiar with the various mobile marketing tools available to you in your community.

Groupon is often used and is NOT a tool to generate profit. It has the ability to bring in massive traffic, but not at a profit. It’s a recognition, awareness tool that can be great. If that is your goal, Groupon is great. Make sure you have the budget to use it just like you would an advertising campaign.

There may be mobile marketing services local to you. Investigate and compare before making a choice. These coupon campaigns can be a way to start getting mobile marketing traffic, but again, be careful. They are not profit making but rather awareness generating.

Do It Yourself?

You may have guessed by now that doing it yourself has its benefits and challenges. First, unless you really understand the Internet, it can be ultra-time-consuming to do it yourself. However, if you’re not careful, you can make mistakes choosing someone else to do it for you. There are a lot of people out there claiming to know what they’re doing, plus there are companies who know what they’re doing and are charging top dollar for it.

My recommendation? Get a consultant who comes recommended who can review your business and suggest steps and resources for you.

In my community, there’s a nonprofit called Women’s Economic Ventures that has a program specific to helping local businesses grow cost-effectively. In fact, I’m their lead case manager and consultant in Santa Barbara. What impresses me about the program is it’s budget friendly yet provides wonderful resources and support to small businesses ready to grow.

What if I’m not local to you?

Because I’m on the Internet all the time, and because I work with “local” businesses, I know how to combine the two to work with people at a distance. If you would like me to take a look at your e-marketing, simply email me at RLEschler@SociallyConsciiousMarketing.com. I’ll give you a free video review of your website and social media..

From there, we can decide how to proceed.

Do-It-Yourself Mastery Workshop

To help small businesses that simply don’t have the budget to hire a pro, I also provide Mastery Worshops that are kept small to give more personalized attention. You see, I can afford to charge less for a full day of work if there are several people I’m helping at once. Express your interest in attending a workshop by either clicking on the tab under this page’s tab or by clicking here.

Bottom Line, my goal is to help business succeed. Your success if my success. Either email me or complete the opt-in form on this page’s top right corner to express your interest. I’ll be in touch.