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Is Wi-Fi Marketing Right for Your Business?

You’re happy when you go into a business and they offer free wi-fi. Don’t you want your customers to feel that way too?

Let’s face it. Nobody likes having to eat into their monthly data allowance to look something up on the fly. When you’re home, your phone’s connected to your wi-fi. And, when you go into a business that makes their wi-fi available to customers, you’re grateful.

Guess what that means?

The free wi-fi you offer your customers is also – drum roll, please – a terrific marketing opportunity. Handle it right, and you can use that connection to build your list, gather information about your customers, and even improve your customer service. Here’s how.

Using Wi-Fi Marketing to Build Your List

Do you have an email list? Granting customers access to your wi-fi is a great way to build your list.

You could open up your wi-fi without gathering information about your customers, but why would you? Most people will be willing to give up their email address to get some free wi-fi. You can tether your wi-fi login to a simple opt-in box that asks for the customers email address and first name.

Once you’ve got their email addresses, you can use them to send promotions and relevant content that will help turn them from one-time visitors into loyal customers.
Another option, if you’re using SMS marketing (or want to) is to ask customers for their mobile number instead of (or in addition to) their email address. A word of caution, though – I’ve told you before that adding one extra field to a form can decrease your conversion rate. My advice is to pick either an email address or a mobile number and go from there.

Wi-Fi Marketing Ideas to Try

Building your list is only the start of what you can do with wi-fi marketing. Here are some other ideas that you may want to consider.

Collect Customer Analytics

Having access to your customers’ mobile devices means that you can collect a huge amount of data about them without any fuss. Wi-fi marketing allows you to collect:

Demographic information
Purchasing behavior
Physical behavior (the frequency of their visits)

You can use the information you collect to tailor specific offers to your customers and send them notifications of upcoming sales and events.

Social Wi-Fi Marketing

Another option is to allow customers to log in to your wi-fi using their social accounts. You’ve seen this on lots of sites, I bet. Many customers will choose the convenience of logging in with an existing account over creating a new one.

You might wonder about this one. After all, it doesn’t allow you to collect email addresses or mobile numbers. Is it really worthwhile?

I’d say it depends. If your social media game is strong – and it should be! – then you can use your wi-fi login as a way of encouraging people to follow your social media accounts.

When people follow you on Facebook and Twitter, you get access to both demographic information and their personal interests. That data can help you do a better job of targeting them with marketing and offers.

Inform Customers

Wi-fi marketing offers you the ability to provide relevant and useful information about your business and products directly to your customers.

A lot of products have a learning curve. Whether you’re introducing a new product or offering up ideas of ways to use an existing one, your wi-fi marketing can help you prime your customers to buy from you.

It’s also a way of engaging with your customers on an ongoing basis. People like to feel connected to the brands they use. You can do that in a way that doesn’t seem pushy by giving people access to your wi-fi connection.

Think of it as wireless lead nurturing. Every person who walks into your business could turn into a long-term customer. Wi-fi marketing can help you move them down that road.

Provide Customer Service

In an ideal world, every customer would be thrilled with you and they’d buy from you for the rest of their lives.

But we don’t live in an ideal world. You know that.

Wireless marketing can allow you to follow up with customers after they leave your business and gather information about their experience. For example, you could send them a survey to complete. Or, you could simply touch base with a quick email or text.
Either way, you’re letting them know that you care about them and their experience – and that you’re willing to do what’s necessary to turn them into loyal customers.

7 Conversation Starters to Get Your Audience Talking

Local Marketing, Small Business

You can’t read anything about marketing these days without reading about engaging your customers. But what does that really mean?

Engaging means capturing someone’s attention – connecting – and having a conversation. Not easy to do on the internet, particularly when there are millions of other things clamoring for attention at the same time.

But, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. It just means you need to try harder.

The thing is, your customers want to talk to you. They want to know what you think, and most importantly, they want to believe that you care what they think.

It’s not as hard as you might think. Here are 7 simple conversation starters to get your audience talking to you.

You want to build authority within your industry or niche? One of the best ways to do that AND start a conversation with your followers is to express an opinion – particularly if it might be new or controversial. Of course, you should only do this if you can back up your opinion.

A good way to get started with this tactic is to follow relevant publishers and influencers in your industry. When you see them post a piece of news that’s relevant to your followers, read the article (or watch the video) and figure out what you can add to the conversation. Then share it – and make sure to include a call to action that encourages your followers to chime in with their own opinions.

Everybody has a story to tell – and when you’re speaking to an audience who all have something in common with you, then it’s easy to think of a topic that may inspire people to share their stories.

The key here is to share your own story and then ask your followers to share their best stories with you. For example, say you own a travel agency. You might tell a story of a trip you booked for yourself before you were a travel agent and how it went wrong. Then, you could ask your followers for their travel horror stories.

The benefit of this type of sharing is that it provides you with an opportunity to respond, express sympathy or amazement, and build a bond with potential customers online.

People might love to tell stories, but do you know what else they like? Giving advice and making recommendations! And asking them for recommendations is a great way to get them talking.

What kind of recommendations should you ask for? Ideally, they should be relevant to your product or service. For example, I’m a marketing guy. I might ask:

What are your favorite marketing podcasts?
What publications do you follow on Facebook and Twitter?
Which marketing technique is your favorite, and why?
What marketing apps would you recommend?

You get the idea. The key is not to stray too far from your brand and product. Instead, keep a tight focus and encourage your followers to share their experiences and recommendations with you and each other.

Are you appearing at a local street fair or charity event? Sharing your involvement is a great way to remind people that you stand for something other than making money – and to underscore your involvement in your community and industry.

Even if you’re not appearing at an event, there’s a benefit to letting your followers know what’s going on in your community. Giving a nod to other businesses or to local charities can help you build trust and earn the admiration of your followers. You can encourage conversation by asking questions like these:

Will you be attending the Fourth of July celebration?
What the last community event you attended?

Another option is to include an open call to action at the end, something like “We hope you’ll stop by and check out our booth! There’s a free gift in it for you!”

Whatever industry or niche you’re in, the chances are good that your followers have some DIY experiences that are relevant.

Asking about them is a great way to learn about potential customers and build a warm rapport with them by responding to what they share.

Ideally, a DIY project should be something that uses (or could use) your products.

However, it doesn’t have to be. The key is to find a way to make what you post relevant to your brand – and then stand back and let your followers do the rest.

Asking questions is one of the best ways to get your followers talking. It’s especially helpful to you if you can get them talking in a way that helps you to learn more about them – because that’s information you can use to create future content.

For example, if you’re targeting small business owners, you could ask questions like:

What’s your biggest challenge as a business owner?
What problem do you wish someone would solve for you?
What product or service has helped you the most?

The answers to these questions can help you write blog posts, create a social media strategy, or even develop new products that are ideal for your target audience.

You already know that reviews and testimonials are hugely important in the world of marketing. What better way to get some new testimonials to share on your site than to ask your customers to provide them on social media?

Not only will asking for opinions help you get some positive testimonials, it may also help you discover potential issues and nip them in the bud before they become big problems. You should be prepared for some surprises – but if you approach the request with the right mindset, this technique can help you learn a lot about your customers.

Look who’s talking…

The bottom line is that your audience wants to talk to you. They don’t read your blog or follow you on social media because they’re looking for a lecture. The key is to give them the encouragement they need to share their thoughts, experiences, and opinions with you – and then, to stand back and listen to what they say.

5 Foolproof Ways to Get Visitors BACK to Your Website

Content Marketing, Local Marketing, Small Business

Attracting a visitor to your website once is good. It means that your marketing is strong enough – or your Google rank is high enough – that you stood out from the competition and snagged some traffic.

So what?

If you know anything at all about marketing, you know that it’s rare for a first-time visitor to a website to buy anything or even fill out a subscription form.

It’s what they do on their NEXT visit – and the one after that – that will determine whether you’ve gained a new customer.

Makes sense, but it never ceases to amaze me how many businesses don’t focus on repeat traffic. But, that’s about to change.

Here are 5 foolproof ways to get those first-time visitors BACK to your website so you can make some money.

I know, I just said it was asking a lot to get a first-time visitor to your site to subscribe to your mailing list. But I didn’t say it was impossible!

The key, of course, is to give them a compelling reason to subscribe. Here are some ways you can do that:

Put your opt-in form above the fold. That way, they won’t need to scroll down to see it – and they’ll know what they’ll be getting if they decide to subscribe.
Simplify your form. I get that it’s tempting to ask a new subscriber for extra information – but all you really need is their email address and maybe a first name if you want to personalize your emails. Anything else – whether it’s their phone number, mailing address, URL, or shoe size – is extra. You should think long and hard about adding fields to your form.
Incentivize the opt-in. A compelling and useful lead magnet can do a lot to get someone to fill out that form.
Write a killer headline and call to action. Instead of just “Subscribe to our newsletter,” try “Get new marketing tips every day” as a headline. And make the CTA just as exciting.

Once a potential customer’s on your mailing list, you can email them with reasons to come back to your website. Simple, right?

If people aren’t coming back to your website, it could be because they didn’t enjoy their experience the first time they visited. That means that prioritizing usability is one of the best ways to encourage repeat visits.

Some of the things to think about when it comes to usability are:

Your site’s loading time
Mobile responsiveness
Clear and easy-to-use menus
Text that’s broken up with white space, images, and formatting (sub headers, bullet points, numbers, etc.)
Working internal and external links that make it easy to find related content

If it’s been a while since you’ve evaluated the usability of your site, now’s a good time to do it to make sure that you’re not frustrating visitors and discouraging them from returning to your site in the future.

Are people finding what they expect to find on your site? If a customer comes to you because they’re searching for art supplies, for example, think about what you can offer them that will add value to the products you sell. Can you provide a video tutorial on painting technique? A link to the website of an artist who uses that product?

The idea is to make sure that the content on your site – whatever it is – is directly relevant to the people you most want to attract. If you’re selling Human Resources software, have blog posts about topics that are relevant to HR professionals.

Because it’s rare for first-time visitors to convert, it’s essential to have a way to connect with them again even if they don’t opt-in to your mailing list. That’s where re-targeting comes in.

As you probably know, re-targeting is a kind of advertising that targets individual visitors to your site based on their behavior when they’re there. For example, you can:

Display an ad for a product they viewed – or an alternative product.
Let them know about a new blog post on a similar topic to an older post they viewed.
Remind them of the lead magnet they passed up when they didn’t opt in.
Encourage them to complete the checkout process if they added items to their cart.
Re-targeting is something you can do on Google or on social media. Simply pick the actions you want to target and watch your conversion rate soar.

The final thing you can do is to make the content on your website solution-oriented. Most people who type a keyword into Google do so because they’re looking for answers. That means that if you want them to bookmark your site, you need to provide them with what they need.

Focusing on solutions can also help you improve your site’s rank for keywords in voice search. Given the increase in the use of “Ok Google” as well as virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Cortana, it makes sense to think about the questions that searchers are likely to ask when looking for sites like yours. Then, you can optimize your useful content for those questions.

Your solutions may come in any format you choose. You might create a blog post with a response to one question or produce a video or even a short webinar for another. The key is to focus on the visitor’s needs instead of promoting your company or brand. There’ll be time enough for that later.

Visitors need an excuse to return to your site

Top 7 Marketing Trends You Cant Afford to Ignore

Content Marketing, Email Marketing, Local Marketing, Social Media Marketing

Who cares about marketing trends, right?

If that’s your attitude, I get it. Some trends are here and gone before you even have time to figure out how to take advantage of them. It’s easy to dismiss trends as fleeting.

But the truth is… some aren’t fleeting. Some are here to stay. As the year ends and 2019 approaches, it’s a good time to take stock of your current marketing strategy. And, if you’ve been ignoring all trends in favor of the tried and true, then guess what? 2019 is the year to shake things up.

Now, I’m not saying that you need to jump on every trend as soon as you become aware of it. I am saying that I’ve noticed that a lot of small businesses aren’t taking advantage of the big trends – the ones that, for better or worse, aren’t going anywhere. And with that in mind, here are 7 trends that you can no longer afford to ignore in 2019.

1: Artificial Intelligence

I wrote about artificial intelligence last month, so you already know I think it’s important for small businesses to embrace this technology.

In marketing, the use of AI in the form of chatbots has taken root and many small businesses are adopting it. The bottom line is that a well-programmed chatbot can improve your customer service and increase sales.

AI is also becoming increasingly important in the field of marketing analytics. You can use it to make market predictions and get ahead of the curve as your audience’s preferences change and develop. And, let’s not forget that programmatic advertising – which uses AI to automate ad buying – is on the rise.

2: Personalization

One-size-fits-all marketing is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. While there’s still some benefit to targeting ads to a large audience, the trend increasingly is toward the kind of one-to-one marketing that Amazon has done brilliantly for years.

If every visitor to your website is seeing the same content, it’s time to think about how to personalize it. You can do that using cookies that make recommendations based on a user’s previous activity on your site. Or, you can allow users to choose the type of content that they want to see. Either way, the goal is to make every customer feel that you’re speaking directly to them.

Incidentally, the same trend should be applied to email marketing. Sending emails that are triggered by a customer’s behavior is three times more effective than sending batch emails – something to keep in mind in the new year.

3: Influencer Marketing

Ad blocking has been a challenge for marketers for years now, but the recent stats show that it’s now impacting mobile advertising as well as desktop. What can you do to get around it?

I’ve written about influencer marketing before, but it really has proven to be one of the best ways to engage with potential customers without needing to worry about ad blockers. It uses influential social media accounts that appeal to your audience.

It can take a bit of trial and error to find the right influencers but once you do, influencer marketing can be a cost-effective way of attracting new customers to your business.

4: Video Marketing

If you’re not making marketing videos to share with your audience, it’s time to stop pretending that video is too expensive (or too technical) to be worth your while. Research shows that businesses who use video marketing grow 49% faster than businesses that don’t. How can you ignore that?

The good news is that video doesn’t need to be expensive and you don’t need to be Spike Lee to make a terrific marketing video that will attract new customers. Even a simple Facebook Live session where you take questions from your followers can help you grow your business.

5: Social Messaging Apps

Did you know that every month, businesses exchange 2 billion (that’s with a B!) Facebook Messenger apps with their customers? That’s not just a trend – it’s a tsunami.

Using social messaging tools like Messenger or WhatsApp can help you connect with customers on a personal level. And – hearkening back to the first trend I mentioned – artificial intelligence can help you do it.

Creating a chatbot for Messenger or any other app is a relatively easy (and affordable) thing to do. A lot of companies use chatbots to suggest products or answer simple questions. That means that using messenger apps is an extremely effective way to connect with your existing audience and attract new potential buyers for your products and services.

6: Voice Search – smart speaker

If you’ve said “Okay Google” or asked Siri, Alexa, or Cortana to find something for you online, then you know that voice search is here to stay. In fact, researchers estimate that 50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2020 – and that means that it’s time to optimize your web content for voice search now.

You can start by using the language of voice search – optimizing for the terminology that your audience is most likely to use. You may also want to start thinking about audio-only ads. It’s probable that you’ll start hearing sponsored content on Alexa before long. This is an opportunity for you to beat out your competitors who may be lagging in this area.

7: Social Media Stories

If you’ve logged onto any social media account lately, you’ve probably noticed something: stories. Facebook may prompt you to add to your story, and other platforms – including YouTube – have jumped on the trend.

A social media story is temporary content that can be used to trigger your customers’ FOMO (that’s fear of missing out.) It’s ideal for seasonal promotions and deals, and it can be a great way to engage your audience. If you’re not already using social media stories to connect with your customers, 2019 is the year to start.

marketing trends typewriter storytelling

Why You Should be Doing SMS Marketing Right Now

Local Marketing, Small Business

What does your marketing mix include?

If you’re like most local businesses, you’re probably doing a mix of online and offline marketing. You might be engaging with customers on social media, hosting local events, blogging, and advertising in the local paper. Perhaps you’ve even targeted mobile customers by using Facebook’s “Call Now” button on your ads.

But guess what? There’s one thing that you’re probably not doing that could help you connect with customers when they’re most likely to engage with your business. And you might not even have considered it.

I’m talking about SMS messaging, more commonly known as text messaging.

More than 2.5 billion people worldwide own a smartphone that’s capable of text messaging.

That’s a staggering number – and it begs the question:

Why aren’t more small businesses using text messaging for marketing?

Texting by the Numbers

Text messaging has the potential to be a marketing superstar for your business. To get an idea of just how effective it can be, check out these statistics:

89% of people always have their smartphone accessible
97% of Americans text at least once a day
Texting is the #1 communication method used by people under 50 years old
82% of text messages are read within 5 minutes of receipt

That last statistic is particularly important, especially when you consider that consumers open only about 25% of the emails they receive.

People send and receive text messages. They give them priority over other communication, and they spend more time texting than they do talking on their phones.

In other words, text messaging is arguably the best way to ensure that the people in your target audience read what you send them.

Advantages of SMS Marketing

You know people are likely to read your text messages – but what are the other advantages of incorporating text messages into your marketing mix? Here are five that I think are key:

You can track SMS messages the same way you would any other marketing campaign using web-based tools like SlickText.
You can collect data about your text list by creating interactive content that allows them to reply to your messages quickly and easily.
Text messaging provides nearly instantaneous results and stats for you to use to fine-tune your campaigns.
Text messaging can be casual and personalized with direct language and even emoji to build a relationship with the people you text.
Text messages are a great way to connect with your audience when they’re most likely to be in your area or in the market for what you’re selling.

A good example of time-sensitive text messaging might be a restaurant or bar texting out a Happy Hour coupon at about the time most people are getting out of work. They might be planning to head out for a drink or a bite anyway, and you can provide them with a nudge to choose your establishment over others in the area.

How to Get Subscribers for Your SMS List

By law, you cannot send a text message to anyone who has not signed up for your list. That means that you must find ways to attract new subscribers. Here are some helpful suggestions to get started.

The first and potentially easiest way to find new subscribers is to add a mobile field to your existing opt-in form on your website. You can include a message letting people know that if they choose to provide you with a cell phone number, they’re agreeing to receive text messages from you.

Another option is to promote your SMS list in-store with large print posters, flyers and other print media encouraging your customers to sign up for exclusive discounts & offers. Make sure to mention what some of those exclusive offers might be.

You may also want to send out an email to your current email list and give your subscribers a link to sign up to receive text messages from you. Here again, it’s a good idea to tempt them by letting them know you’ll be sending out special coupons and deals via text message.

Using these methods, it shouldn’t take you very long to build up a sizable SMS messaging list.

Tips for Successful SMS Messaging Campaigns

Text message marketing has a lot in common with other forms of marketing. To be successful, you must conceptualize a strong campaign based on your knowledge of your subscribers, create compelling content, and track your results. Here are some tips that may help you.

Understand your audience. You may want to create a quick survey for your email list or social media followers to find out what kind of content they would like to receive via text message.

Keep your messages short and sweet. People are more likely to read your messages if they’re brief and compelling. A good rule of thumb is to make them about the same length as a Tweet – no more than 280 characters.

Offer mobile-exclusive deals to your subscribers. These might include exclusive coupons, discounts, and sales, especially for your mobile customers.

Use casual language that speaks directly to the recipient. Most important, use “you” and “your,” which underscore that the exclusivity of your list and make customers feel valued.

Don’t be afraid to bring some humor into your texts. It’s a casual form of communication and people like to laugh – but of course, keep it PG-rated and steer away from controversial topics.

Add a few emoji to your texts. People use them in their personal texts and they can add personality and fun to your marketing campaign.

Track your results and tweak your campaigns as needed.

Some text messaging providers try to include SlickText, SumoText, and SimpleTexting. You want a provider with affordable prices, an intuitive dashboard, and great analytics.

Conclusion

The bottom line is that if you’re not using SMS messaging to reach your audience, you’re missing out on a chance to build brand loyalty and increase your sales. Text messages are inexpensive to send and easy to write – and they can help you grow your business.

10 Killer Local Marketing Ideas to Try

Local Marketing, Small Business

Local marketing is a must, but if you’re like most local business owners, you’ve probably caught yourself thinking something like this:

I feel like I’m doing everything I can – why is my local marketing not delivering the results I want?

It’s a good question. After all, local marketing has a lot of moving parts. You’ve got to think about SEO, content marketing, social media, and PPC ads – it’s a lot for anybody to handle.

The real key to effective local marketing is knowing what ideas are worth pursuing and which ones aren’t. Here are 10 killer local marketing ideas that can have a serious impact on your profits.

#1: Master the Art of Locational Marketing on Facebook

You should always be marketing your business to your local audience on Facebook. Increasingly, consumers are turning to Facebook for information about businesses. There are two types of ads that can help you:

Brand awareness
Website clicks

Starting with brand awareness can help you break down barriers and prime your local audience to visit you. Following up with a website click promotion will capitalize on your brand awareness campaign and help you attract new customers.

#2: Revisit Your Yelp Categories

You know that reviews are important – and Yelp has a huge SEO advantage. One of the best ways to boost your visibility online is to make sure that you’re using the right categories on Yelp.

A lot of local businesses choose their categories without giving them much thought. Go back and look at them – and keep your most important keywords in mind. Choose categories that highlight your capabilities and keywords and you’ll get more organic traffic from Google.

#3: Build Unique Landing Pages for Every Campaign

It might seem like a lot of work to build a unique landing page for every marketing campaign you run, but you can do it quickly using a tool like Unbounce. The benefit is that you’ll be sure that every click you get on an ad will lead people to a page that’s selling exactly what you’re advertising.
Conversion is an art and a science. The easier it is for people to draw a line between your ad and your call to action, the higher the chances that they’ll convert. Make it simple and you’ll see an increase in sales as a result.

#4: Use Remarketing Ads to Get Reviews

A huge majority of consumers rely on reviews to make buying decisions. The trick is getting your existing customers to review your business.
One way to do it is to set up a simple remarketing ad for people who buy from you or fill out a form on your website. Try a headline that says, “Happy with your purchase? Leave us a review on Google+, Yelp, or Facebook!” Not every customer will respond – but some will and every positive review you get will help increase your visibility and credibility.

#5: Create Guides for Local Activities Related to Your Brand

Local marketing is all about embracing where you are – and helping your customers to do the same thing. For that reason, it makes sense to create a local guide for an activity that is likely to appeal to your target audience.

For example, if you sell cooking equipment, you might create a guide to local farms. Or, you could create a guide to hiking trails if you sell outdoor equipment. The key is to marry your local knowledge to your brand to give your followers something they can use.

#6: Automate Responses to Your Twitter Mentions

Social mentions can have a big impact on how your brand is perceived. One way to maximize that impact is to automate responses to your mentions on Twitter.

A tool I like is Zapier, which allows business owners to set up triggers that send out instant responses when someone mentions their company. It gives an instant boost to your engagement and makes the people who mention you feel valued.

#7: Use Third-Person Ad Copy

Sometimes, online advertising can seem like a relentless wall of noise. Everybody – including your competitors – is out there shouting about how wonderful they are. If you want to get through to your audience, you’ve got to stand out.

One way to do it is to use a third-person voice in your ads. For example, you might pull a line from a testimonial and use it as your headline. “Hiring ABC Company is the best choice I ever made” is a headline that will grab attention and use the power of social proof to bring you leads.

#8: Use Radius Location Targeting on AdWords

Targeting your ads on Google AdWords is really an art form. By using their radius location targeting, you can maximize the chances that your ad will be seen by the people who are most likely to buy from you.

In AdWords, set up a series of radius targets so that your store looks like the center of a bullseye. Then, evaluate your data and adjust your local bids accordingly. Doing this can make a huge difference in your ads’ performance.

#9: Mention the Distance to Your Store in Mobile Ads

The chances are good that more people are seeing your ads on mobile devices than on computers. Since that’s the case, it makes sense to play up your local connection by including the distance from your store in your mobile ads on Google.

It’s easy to do. Simply use the Google Search Console to find new ad groups in your area. Then, add your zip code to your headline and see how easy it is to steal clicks from your competitors.

#10: Add Storefront Pictures to Your Ads

As a consumer, you’ve probably driven by local businesses many times without going inside. One easy way to entice people to come see you is to add a photograph of the front of your store to your ads.

Seeing a photo will trigger a, “Hey, I’ve seen that place!” response from your audience. It’s a simple, inexpensive trick that can entice people to stop and visit you instead of driving past.

Don’t waste your time on ideas that don’t work…

Stop guessing which marketing ideas are worth trying. These 10 simple local marketing tricks can make a huge difference when it comes to attracting customers and growing your business.

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