Is your business easy to find by your ideal customer or client?
If you have a service business, how does your ideal client find your business?
In the past, people used the Yellow Pages. But unless you’re selling hearing aids to 75 year old senior citizens, advertising in the Yellow Pages is not going to work anymore. Your ideal client isn’t looking there.
The Typical Buyer’s Journey
Awareness – Consideration – Intent – Purchase – Loyalty & Advocacy.
Your Google Business Profile
Most people use some form of search and the vast majority of people use google. It’s absolutely essential to have your Google Business Profile setup correctly so that Google can tell your ideal client to contact you. If Google doesn’t know what service you provide, where you provide that service, when you provide that service, then Google cannot present your services when someone is searching for them.
Your Google Business Profile is currently the single most important digital asset for any business. It’s surprising how many businesses do not have this setup at all or it’s setup incorrectly and providing no information or incorrect information to Google and consequently prospective clients.
Your Google Business Profile is how you will manage Google reviews. This is the account where you can respond to clients’ reviews. If it’s positive review you can express gratitude.
If it’s an unfortunate review, you can use this to learn what went wrong and improve your services. It is also highly advisable to thoughtfully and carefully respond to negative reviews. Don’t worry. Every business gets bad reviews. Some people are just difficult to please and some times you slip up. The thing is, all of your future clients will look at this bad review to consider it’s veracity and whether it’s valid. If there are less than 1/10 bad reviews, it’s not going to be a concern. But keep your cool and respond with an apology and ideally some sort of offer to compensate. Prospective clients will see your professional courteous response to this rare bad review and most likely they’ll continue to do business with you.
You can setup your Google Business Profile for free yourself. If you want help with setting up your Google Business Profile then there are many digital marketing services like ours at Liberty Digital who can assist you.
Your Facebook Page
Most of us hate facebook and the nonsense that goes with the drama on facebook. But it is still the most used platform on the internet and it is the single best way to build an audience. For most businesses, a facebook page is essential. If your competitors have a facebook page, then you’re probably going to need one to compete with them.
Yes. There are some businesses where it’s advisable to NOT have a facebook page. This is rare though.
Before making a decision to purchase your product or services, most people will check your facebook page reviews and google reviews. They want to see your business is legitimate, active and positively engaging with other clients.
Your Website
For most businesses, the website is still the most important weapon in their marketing arsenal.
Your website should communicate the value that you will provide your prospective client. Your ideal client should be able to google for your services in the area where they are provided, they will land on your site and your site should clearly communicate:
- Which services you provide, and
- Where you provide those services.
If you’re a plumber in Brisbane, then you provide no value to someone in Sydney. There also no value to you to present on your website that you provide plumbing services to “Brisbane”. If you’re a plumber in Chermside on the northside of Brisbane then your ideal clients are ideally within a 30 minute drive of Chermside. Sure, on occasion, you might drive to the Sunshine Coast or to the southside of Brisbane but every minute in the ute is a minute you’re not getting paid. It’s better to target the 20 or so suburbs within a tight radius around your base of operations. You can do this quite clearly on a website and you can communicate this to google and other search services. This way, the vast majority of your future clients will be in a much tighter geographic zone. This saves you money and allows you to make more money by being increasingly efficient connecting with prospective clients in a hyperlocal area.
Some service based businesses are broader. If you have a law firm in Melbourne then it most likely makes sense to advertise to all of Melbourne. However, a lawyer will have a speciality. An area of law where they focus on and can deliver the most value to a client. A criminal lawyer is very different from a commercial lawyer. This information is obvious to a lawyer but to a general member of the public who is searching for a lawyer, for a specific matter, for the first time in their life, it needs to be clear.
The information you provide on your website needs to be clearly understood by your prospective client. The question to ask is, if that ideal client lands on your website for the first time, is it going to be very clear to them? If you look at most websites, it becomes clear that they have not considered this and become carried away with the design or making assumptions.
There are some brilliant cheap or even free website builders available today. Some of these include Wix, Squarespace and Weebly. For some small businesses this will be enough to be successful. If you have a great social media presence on your facebook page, great reviews on google, then a basic website could be enough to clarify a few other questions they have about your business before deciding to do business with you.
The problem is, an amateur site might be a stumbling block. If a prospective client is considering a service, they will probably assess a few available options. Ideally, you need to be as good, or better than your competitors. You also need to APPEAR as good or better than your competitors. You might be a great landscaper but if this isn’t communicated with great Before and After photos available somewhere online for clients to see, then prospective clients aren’t going to know you’re the best man for the job. A professionally built site communicates that you are a serious player and you are far more likely to win their business and secure more of your ideal clients.
If you’re looking for a website for your business Liberty Digital is happy to assist.
