Using video as part of your marketing plan is a smart move these days. Even smarter is getting the most out of your efforts by applying basic SEO to your YouTube videos.
Like photos on your website, YouTube & Google have limited ability to understand what your video is about unless you tell them. You don’t want to be spammy about it, but you do want to be consistent. Follows is a simple infographic with the basics of YouTube SEO.
If you’re one of the small local businesses trying to move your marketing online, this article is for you. Perhaps you already have a website, a blog, and even a page on Facebook. If you do, great! You’re making progress. Depending on whether you are doing the work yourself or hiring it out, you may have missed the opportunity for some of the best free advertising you can get — listings in some of the larger online directories… the ones that count. (Being in a bazillion small meaningless link-farm directories doesn’t help and you want to stay away from those!)
The biggies:
If you’re a restaurant you should also be in:
Start with your Google listing, then do Bing. Make sure you enter the exact same data for each of them! Entering the data into these sites will be a bit repetitive, but that’s okay. Different search engines serve up results from many different sources and you want to make sure you’re included in the ones that matter. This is a really basic list, there are lots of other good, solid directories, but folks just starting out should worry about these first.
Most of these sites also offer upgraded ‘paid’ listings or other features. For now, just stick with the basic free listing, you can always upgrade later. Ideally these listings will include a link back to a website, but if you don’t have a site, put up a page on Facebook and link to that.
When provided with the opportunity to enter a description about your company, it needs to be well-written sales copy that tells the potential customer what benefits you offer them. Why should they come to YOUR business and not the guy down the street?
The book “Duct Tape Marketing” by John Jantsch is easily one of my favorite business marketing books. Jantsch takes tried-and-true marketing concepts and breaks them down into understandable, usable, basic methods – suitable for the average business person.
In no particular order, here are my favorite strategies:
These are just some of the high notes from the book, which is chock full of practical techniques. Jantsch builds on the basics of good marketing practices in a way that the average Joe-business-owner can understand and immediately put to use.
Here is an internet marketing secret most people ignore: get your business in Bing Places (Bing Local). While you might think nobody actually uses Bing, you would be wrong! Bing is the default search on every iOS device sold in America. If you talk to Siri, or use spotlight to search, you are using Bing, and that’s a significant amount of traffic. It would be foolish not to add your business to their local listings. It’s free. Free advertising is ALWAYS good.
You have to have a Windows Live ID to create the listing, but that only takes a few minutes to set up, so don’t use it as an excuse.
Make sure to take advantage of all the category and services fields, just like on Google Local, the more information you provide, the better your listing will work for you. For instance, instead of just saying “handyman”, spell out “tile repair, cabinets, faucet installation, etc.” Really use the space they provide to provide specific details in order to capture more of your potential audience.
Bing verification is pretty much like Google’s, they’ll send you a postcard to validate your business.
Press releases are a great way to get media coverage of your business as well as links to your website. The trick is getting the press releases to the right people. There are several ways to go about this, some are free and some cost money.
For now, let’s consider the free options. There are many, many sources out there that will distribute your press release for free. I found a fairly comprehensive list of free press release sources in an article on Mashable.
Another source of contact information is to pay for access to a site such as Mondo Times. They maintain comprehensive lists of staff members, editors, etc., for most newspapers, magazines, tv stations, etc. Each record contains the name, phone number, fax number, email address, and street address. The basic membership gets you access to each individual record, but they can be painstakingly slow to build one record at a time. The costs for specialized purchased lists can add up quickly.
When choosing to promote your business with press releases, you may want to consider hiring a professional writer to help compose it. A professional can help maintain the focus of the information, as well as write in a professional format that media folks are used to reading. I work closely with a few professional writers, so please contact me if you need help with this part of your marketing campaign.
By Erin Ferree
Experts urge small business owners to “brand” their business – to use a logo and a set of consistent marketing materials. But, they rarely go into the reasons behind this advice. Here’s a list of some of the benefits to having a professionally designed logo and marketing package:
Not to look so small – Home-printed business cards with perforated edges, or cards printed with standard designs available through Microsoft software or online business card vendors (like Vistaprint) scream, “Small-time vendor!” to your potential clients – and you’ll be similarly compensated.
To increase your chance of getting venture capital or selling a business – If you present a thorough business package, including marketing materials and graphics, your business will look more complete.
To attract more clients – Some clients look for a well-defined company look-and-feel as part of their qualifiers for making a purchasing decision.
To brand yourself – If you’re a consultant, you need a logo in order to build an image and a brand that’s bigger than just yourself.
To convey that you are established – A logo and professionally printed materials show that you are committed to both your business and to your clients.
To give clients a sense of stability – You may not have been in business “Since 1908”, but if you’ve invested in an identity, you’re much less likely to fold in the eyes of your customers. It goes a long way toward building the all-important “trust” factor.
To be more memorable – Forty percent of people better remember what they see better than what they hear or read. So having graphics associated with your business and having consistent graphics on your business materials make you more likely to come to the forefront of potential clients’ minds when they have a need for your goods or services.
To explain your company name – If your company name contains a little-known word or an acronym, the logo gives visual clues to its meaning.
To endear your company name to your clients – A difficult-to-pronounce or -remember company name may make it difficult for your clients to hire you. When potential clients have the need for your services, they can’t recall who you are! But if you reinforce the name with interesting, compelling graphics, they’re more likely to remember that hard-to-recall name, and to pick up the phone and hire you.
To explain an unusual line of business – If your business is nontraditional, or in a hard-to-explain industry, a logo can help to explain exactly what it is that you do.
To show what practices differentiate you from your competition – A well-designed logo can have many subtle meanings, and it can begin to tell the story of how you do business – what special practices make you stand apart from the competition.
To stand out in your field – A well-designed logo and an identity system can put you far above the competition, especially if they are paired with a strong marketing program.
In some industries, a logo is just expected – In the creative services industry, especially, having a logo is an industry standard.
Lastly, do it for yourself! – To show your commitment and for the sense of personal pride it will add to your practice.
These are just some of the benefits of having a professionally designed logo. If your business could use the kind of boost that having a logo provides, then contact us today for a free estimate!
