Some may not like this
Business owners should ask themselves where their company is on the Internet marketing landscape. Some may feel like they are under a rock, since the only way people get to learn things about some businesses is through conversation, business cards, ads, and/or lawn signs. Others may actually feel relieved as being under this stone they feel as though they have control over what people think and know about the company due to the limited Internet exposure. Either way, the tools of technology at the consumer’s disposal, along with the far-reaching access of the Internet, can provide consumers with enough information to allow them to form an opinion about the company, and possibly its owners. Do not forget, a simple conversation can turn into a ‘Tweet.’
Further, the video of the truck, which cut off the car in the parking lot, could have captured the company’s name, logo, and phone number, or a sign on the lawn with dying grass and plants can be easily photographed and posted on another popular social media pages. Believe it or not, this type of exposure is a form of advertising that will play a role in the consumer’s decision between different landscaping companies when they plan to spend money.
Even though these situations are subjective, consumers believe they are keeping businesses honest when posting such comments and videos. These methods are relatively new and are not going away any time soon. Like it or not, in a good way or bad, social media will not let companies hide under a rock for long.
As service providers, the attempt to stay relevant in commercial industry via word-of-mouth and a sign on the lawn in an ideal neighbourhood is not good enough to generate and maintain interest. For some, the fear of multimedia and mobile Internet exposure, or the anxiety over unregulated criticism, is enough to keep them off of the Internet radar. For others, however, the lack of technological understanding, or the expense of remaining relevant on the Internet, is enough to prevent them from crawling out from under the rock.
All is not lost
Some business owners do not mind their company being out in the open on the Internet landscape where they get exposure, reviews, and referrals from multiple websites. Some companies only have one website, which is all they need; however, how do these business owners know if the investment they made in developing a website is generating interest? Better still, what can they do about it?
What does a company know about the visitors to its website? Tools such as ‘Google Analytics’ can provide loads of information about those who are visiting the company’s website, including what web pages referred them and when. This data can help shed some light on a recent advertising or mailing campaign, including its rate of success. Businesses can measure this information as well as compare, for example, February’s visitor data against May’s to help determine which month was more successful for launching a media campaign.
Correlating additional data such as number of visits, time of day, and what type of device was used to view the website, can tell business owners whether more people are using tablets or desktops. Time of day web traffic will show when visitors are browsing a company’s website, whether it be at work with a lessened attention span, or from home where they can focus on written content. Information such as this can also tell a business owner if and when it becomes necessary to upgrade the website to be compatible with mobile devices, and/or contain more images rather than text.
It is also important to locate the business on Google maps. Not necessarily to let customers know where the office is, but more so because they want to know if the business is local and if it is supporting their community. It is surprising in this global economy how many people believe (for good reason) that a local company feels more responsibility to local customers.
Finally, another reason to have a presence on Google maps is to provide Internet users one more tool to bookmark the company as a resource. The additional web exposure does not hurt either.
