There are many ways that you, as a business owner, can connect with local customers to build trust, loyalty, and brand awareness. By doing so, you create a relationship with your customers that will keep your them coming back as well as recommending friends and family. Each of these methods require a little effort on your part and will not cost you very much, if anything at all.
- Twitter - Create a Twitter account for your business if you haven’t already. Twitter every day to communicate new products, services, deals, coupons, and what your business is doing in general.
- Facebook - Create Facebook Fan Page for your business and suggest all your friends become fans as well. Be sure to post new and exclusive content on your fan page too. It’s important that you connect and interact with Facebook fans differently than you would on your website.
- LinkedIn - Create a LinkedIn profile for you and your business and make sure you complete the profile 100%. Once you’ve done this be sure to upload all your contacts and invite them to link up with you. Lastly ask for recommendations and join and participate in groups. LinkedIn is a great way to generate new business leads.
- Blog - If you haven’t thought of starting a corporate blog, then now is the time. A blog is a fantastic way to reach out to customers and let them know what you’re doing. Blog each day about both personal and business achievments and be sure to ask for your readers input. This interaction between you and your customer is a powerful tool.
- Comment - It’s important that you not only blog but subsribe and read other blogs as well. Look for local blogs from newspapers, television stations, and other professionals in your area and comment on their posts. This not only puts your name out their but builds links back to your blog.
- Google Local Listing – This should be one of the first things you do as a business. Create a listing with Google for your business and be sure to pick several appropriate categories. This listing will show up when customers search for businesses in your categories.
- Local.com – Another great directory for businesses and will cost you nothing to register. The more directories you can register your business with similar to Local.com the better. The reason for doing this not only helps you build your brand but establish trust with both your customers and Google.
- Host a Free Seminar – Building trust is crucial to your business’ success and what better way than give away free and valuable information. Host a seminar in your community that will benefit attendees by sharing your knowledge. Whether you’re a real estate agent, attorney, plumber, or car dealer you possess specific trade knowledge that can benefit your customers.
- Sponsor a Local Event – Look for events in your community where you can have the opportunity to be a sponsor. Most of the time your business name and information will be placed in the event’s publications and printed materials. This is an excellent opportunity to build your brand.
Many small business owners and even some marketing firms fall in to the trap of sending targeted web traffic to a website’s home page. This may be fine for those visitors who come to your site through direct contact such as word of mouth, business cards, yellow pages ads, etc. but it is certainly not effective when it comes to buying web traffic. [...]
Time and time again I hear small business owners complaining that they don’t have the capital to launch an effective advertising campaign. The simple fact is there is absolutely no truth to that statement. There are several inexpensive ways to promote yourself, your business, or product that are very effective. The four methods of advertising that I’d like to share with you are:
- Networking & Word of Mouth
- Community Involvement
- Giving Something Away
- Performance Based Marketing
Each method, if implemented properly, can have a large impact in your business’ overall success. Combined, these tools create an advertising weapon like no other.
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Most of us recognize Facebook as a social medium that allows people to connect and share common interests through messaging, photos, videos, and other related online activities. As a business owner, Facebook offers you a great platform to reach out and connect with your customers in a way that advertising has never been able to before. [...]
1. Shoppers use search engines to find dealers
According to a study in 2003 by InsightExpress, 3 out of 4 online shoppers use search engines to find a dealer when looking for automobiles. That means 75% of all people who are ready to buy an automobile start their shopping using search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. Additionaly, StatMarket in 2004 discovered that more than 50% of all automobile searches on the web happen on Google’s ad network. It’s plain to see that if you’re in the business of selling cars, an effective online strategy is required to be competitive.