10 must-do actions for small business to do to beat your competition

10 Must Do Actions for Your Small Business to do to Beat Your CompetitionPresenter: Doug Hay, CEO

Dead Simple Internet Marketing™ Series

Presenter: Doug Hay

• Early adopter of Internet marketing & social media

• 30 year marketing veteran • Sought after speaker -

presented at local, regional and national conferences

• Lectured at two universities for the Sales & Marketing Executives program

Presentation

Q & A

Ask for Slides

Agenda

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2

3

Our Services For Small/Medium Biz

• Website design & programming • Social Media consulting,

implementation & training • Small business SEO – Search

Engine Optimization: Keywords, link building & content creation.

• Press release writing, optimization and reporting

• Blog set up, strategy, and training • Email programs• Online reputation management• Video production & marketing• Staff training

Ask for a complementary consultation

Doug Haydoug@doughayassoc.com

Direct: 250-756-0306 Toll Free: 877-226-3823

Free Internet

Marketing Analysis

More Sales?

More Leads?

The Marketing Viewpoint

1

Marketing

Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers, for the purpose of selling the product or service. It is a critical business function for attracting customers. - Wikipedia

The Marketing Cycle

• Determine customer needs • New products or services are

developed• Prices are set• Distribution in place• Promotion of all kinds to

create demand• Sell: Satisfy customer needs• Measure and adjust

The Good News vs. Big Biz

• You're a small business

• You’re nimble• You're

adaptable• Extra bit of TLC

The New Marketing

Stop interrupting people and start engaging with them. 

Image credit: http://www.gapingvoid.com

Brand

Brand

Brand

New Marketing

Brand

Brand

Brand

Brand

Brand

Brand

Conversion Drives ROI

• Getting the user to convert (make a purchase, download a case study, etc) is what you are after.

• Use calls to action to drive conversions.

Research & Surveys

2

2. Research & Surveys

Story of a restaurant who blew it

Correct Marketing Sequence

1. Research & Surveys2. Prepare a plan

3. Execute4. Monitor and adjust

Surveys

1. Survey your customers2. Survey your prospects3. Survey from a

purchased list (targeted audience)

4. Use survey software e.g. SurveyMonkey, Constant Contact

Past Sales

1. What sold the best?

2. What sold the least?

3. What products or services have the highest profits?

Get Hot Buttons From Surveys

• A hot button is a cue that triggers an emotion in a prospective buyer that causes that person to buy that product.

• It's a cue that causes a person to buy something or to execute some action--like purchasing something you're selling.

• A hot button is an emotional pull, or even a statement that makes the earth move for someone.

• It's how you talk about your product or service and speak directly to a customer's needs in terms of his or her personal buying motivations.

Use the Hot Buttons

• From Surveys you got buttons

• E.g. for a dentist in Seattle a keyword would be “Dentist Seattle” but the hot button might be “A Beautiful Smile”.

The Green Positioning = More Ethical

Ongoing Surveys

One of the best survey questions ever.

To an existing customer:

Would you refer us to someone else?

Pricing

3

Lowest Price

Don’t discount yourself out of business

Pricing Strategy

You don’t have to be cheaper than your competition

The Competition

You can’t beat your big competitors with lower prices!

The Solution

• Provide high quality, personal service

• Change your product line - different than big competitors

• Add services – supply and install• Do services only e.g. hardwood

flooring installer

Make Your Website Visible

4

Memo:

A billion people search on Google every day

The Objective

SEO

• Short for search engine optimization.

• The process of increasing the amount of visitors to a website by ranking high in the search results of a search engine.

Internet searchers rarely look beyond the

first page

The ‘natural’ or organic search results that appear in the main body of the SERP (search engine results page).

Paid ads appear in the right column and sometimes at the top.

Organic Search Results

OrganicListings

#1 on National Search Results

#1 on LocalSearch Results

Think Like Google (it pays)

• Google is a giant advertising platform - but needs people to see the ads.

• Google’s goal is to deliver relevant search results – not spam.

• If the searcher finds what they were looking for – they will continue using Google as a search engine.

Website

VisitorsGood Offer Sales

Successful SEO

• The site itself must be optimized– Key word research and content strategy– Write new content for web pages using key

words– Design, programming, tags, etc per the

strategy and key words• Link building with new editorial content

(blog, press releases, articles) which Google places heavy emphasis on.

Keyword Research

Build SEO Friendly Site

Optimize Site

Back LinksRegister Site

Lead Generation

Buy your

product

Content Marketing

5

Customers Have Choices

• Ads rate low in trust factor

• Junk mail is just that

• Newspapers are disappearing

• Skip TV ads with mute or a DVR

Enter Content Marketing

“Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.”Source: Content Marketing Institute

Think Like a Publisher

Sales Funnel

Prospects Sales

ReadersComputers Leads

Content MarketingBlogs Newsletters

Use Social Media

Push out your content – blog posts, short messages, events, promotions, images

Email is Your Best Friend

6

“85% of internet users use email, vs. 62% who use social networking”

- Study by Ipsos

“…when a group of small-business owners were recently asked which marketing activities they find most effective, 83 percent had email marketing at the top of their lists.

“Email remains the preferred method of communication among consumers.” - Open Forum from American Express

Even Your Social Media Accounts Updates Use Email

Use Auto Responders

• Welcome emails

• Thank-you emails

• Series emails

Create Great Email Content

• Feature article e.g. “How to Use Facebook for New Business”

• Summarize your blog posts

• Others’ content• Make it personal

Email Promoting Video

Grow Your Email List

Focus on Quality

7

Under Promise, Over Deliver

• Better quality• Longer-lasting• Prompt delivery• Fast response

to issues• Better customer

service

Bean Counters

8

Cut Expenses?

Often when business slows down the first expense to be cut is promotion.

Bad idea. 

Reducing Promo Budgets?

“I avoid clients for whom advertising is only a marginal factor in their marketing mix.

“They have an awkward tendency to raid their advertising appropriations whenever they need cash for other purposes.” – David Ogilvy, Advertising Visionary

Source: Wikipedia

Let Them Trust Your Business

9

Trust Factors (Badges)

Gain Prospect’s Trust

Bottom of Web Page

Dr. Mercola

Referrals

10

Benefits of Referrals

It’s easier to get an appointment with a referral

You get “trust” much faster

Often it’s easier to close the sale.

Price is generally less of an issue

Steps in Referrals

• Ensure customers are delighted with your services or products

• Emphasis on customer service

• Aim to exceed client’s expectations

• Ask for referrals

• Ask for testimonials

Putting it all Together

10½

Email

IntegratedMarketingStrategy

SocialMedia

Blog & ContentCreation

OfflineMarketing

WebSite

Referrals

Strive to be amazing to work with & make the services/products you deliver beyond outstanding.

Final Thoughts

Takeaways

Create a plan

Do some homework – surveys & research

Get content created

Regular review & adjust

Get it out – email, website, social media

Be the best you can

Doug Haydoug@doughayassoc.com

Direct: 250-756-0306 Toll Free: 877-226-3823

Free Internet

Marketing Analysis

More Sales?

More Leads?

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are protected by Canadian and United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Doug Hay.

The names of actual companies, products or images mentioned herein may be the copyright or trademarks of their respective owners.