If you could only pick one method to market your business, what would it be?
If you had to choose one method only to market your business, and the wrong answer meant the end of your business, how would you know what to do? The good news is, it probably isn’t that dire and won’t be the end of your business. However, I posed that question to encourage you to consider what the most permanent way might be. Let’s assume there is a longer-lasting, results-driven way, and then there is a way that might stop producing results if you back off on the efforts to maintain it.
This first article is to set the tone for the rest of the articles in this series.
Imagine building a beautiful new building without first laying a solid foundation. At first, it might look great, but as time passes, cracks begin to form. The structure shifts, doors stop closing properly, and before long, the entire building becomes unstable and starts to crumble. Marketing works the same way; without a strong foundation, like your Google Business Profile and website, every campaign you create is only temporarily effective.
I will not minimize the power of social media.
You can reach a lot of people very quickly through social media, and you can sell a lot of products and services. The same applies to various forms of advertising online and through different types of media. My goal is to help you understand the power of your marketing efforts and develop the most effective strategies to grow your business.
This series will specifically focus on building a strong foundation using your Google Business Profile along with your website.
Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing
Another way to look at it is by dividing customers into two groups. The ones who are actively looking for your product or service, vs the ones you’re trying to reach, through many different marketing channels. Also, if you wanted to cut back on your marketing budget temporarily, which one would be affected the most? One would still exist, and the other would not.
Your Google Business Profile Could Be the Platform for Your Other Marketing Campaigns to Point To.
As you’ll learn in this newsletter, your Google Business Profile has evolved into a robust platform that showcases all of your products and services without redirecting you to another platform, such as your website or social media channels. And the best news of all is that most businesses don’t spend the time to consistently optimize their GBP, which can give you a significant competitive advantage. Most companies think it is something you update once or seldom, and it’s done. Many never explore the features GBP offers, which could cause their profiles to start dropping in the rankings.
Google Rewards Complete and Consistent Updating
Never assume that the top rankings are for the most established businesses. Google states in its documentation that its goal is to show the most relevant content for each search query. A lot of detail goes into how Google determines the most relevant. Your best strategy is to understand what Google is looking for and to maintain and optimize your GBP consistently.
Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day
In this series, we will start at the very beginning, taking care of the basics of your GBP, and then move on to the finer details that could get you to the top of the rankings. This is the most solid way of building trust and credibility with searches and attracting more customers to your business.
Thank you for following along.