Last updated 1 year ago
Nothing gives us a sense of purpose like seeing a review of our products and services directly from a local business owner we’re honored to work with. And as far as online reviews go, videos are among the most powerful forms of digital content. After all, it’s easy for anyone to leave an unsavory text review when the author can hide beyond an anonymous screen name. But a review featuring an actual business owner has an authenticity that stands on its own – and we think you’ll agree.
Here are two recent video reviews that have been making the rounds and raising morale at ReachLocal offices:
1. Midtown Podiatry
Memorable Review Quote: “Been working with ReachLocal for four years now; definitely seeing an increase in our business over the years both with our PPC advertising and more recently our SEO and social media with ReachCast.” – Dr. Paul Betschart
2. Prime Time Party Rental
Memorable Review Quote: “We’ve been on since November 2008 and it’s now April of 2011, and we’re going to keep going!” – Bart Nye
When reading any review online (no matter what kind of product or service) it’s always important to consider the source. It’s one thing to hear a company tout its own products and services, or to read anonymous reviews that can be difficult to verify. But it’s something else altogether to see a review from an actual client – especially when they back their review with their real name and face.
Wondering how ReachLocal can help your business? Visit our website and contact us to learn more.
Last updated 1 year ago
You may know by now that remarketing, also known as retargeting, is a simple and cost-effective way to re-engage prospects who have previously visited your site with a targeted display ad. Because you only have a few seconds to make an impression on these lost prospects as they surf across the Web, you need an engaging remarketing ad to capture their attention and compel them to click through to your website.
Although there may be similar elements in each, your remarketing ad should be different from your general display ads. This is because remarketing targets prospects who have already visited your website, not an audience who has potentially never encountered your brand. So include these five elements in your remarketing ad to remind your prospects of your brand and encourage them to revisit your website.
Business Logo - Because previous site visitors are already familiar with your brand logo, displaying it on your remarketing ad will help prospects quickly recognize your brand. This helps remind them of their last visit to your website and the products or services they were interested in, so they’ll be more likely to remember your business when they are ready to buy.
Special Offer – If a prospect didn’t convert by calling or emailing you on their first visit to your site, you can entice them with a special offer or discount on the products or services they are already interested in, like $10 off their first haircut and style. Plus, highlighting the same offer on your landing page will help increase conversions once they come back to your site.
Call to Action – The best way to get a prospect to take action is to tell them what to do, like “Reserve Your Spot Today”, or even something as simple as “Book Now”. Adding an incentive, like a free gift or convenient online booking, can entice them even further to complete the suggested action.
Photo of Product or Service – If a picture is worth a thousand words, why clutter your ad with copy? Instead, present your prospects with one or two quality photos of your product or service. If you own a high-end hair salon, feature a photo of a happy customer with a new ‘do in your ad. An authentic photo from your business could be just the thing that drives a valuable prospect back to your website to convert by calling, emailing, or completing a web form.
Simple Design – Having a clean look is a best practice for any banner ad, and your remarketing ad is no exception. Use a design that mirrors the colors and fonts on your website to reinforce your brand, and keep the text and pictures simple. Using bold fonts and animation can draw attention to your ad on a crowded website, but don’t overdo it, or you could risk turning off your potential customers.
Learn More
Need help finding a remarketing technology or banner ad that’s right for your local business? ReachLocal offers ReachRemarketing, an advertising tool that recaptures lost prospects, and TotalBannerNow, a professional ad design service that brings banner ads to life. Contact us to learn more.
Tamara Farley helps equip small business owners with information about local online advertising, social media marketing, and more as a blogger for ReachCast and ReachLocal.
Last updated 1 year ago
It’s been a busy week for ReachLocal’s Chief Executive Officer Zorik Gordon. In addition to an interview with Bloomberg, he was also interviewed by MarketWatch and gave a keynote at Vator.TV’s VatorSplash LA event.
In his candid discussions with Bloomberg and MarketWatch, Gordon discusses the changing landscape of local advertising, citing the movement of small- and medium-sized businesses from traditional offline media like Yellow Pages to the online space, including search engine advertising, display advertising, social media marketing, and deal commerce, and how ReachLocal is helping them get there.
As Gordon put it in his interview with MarketWatch, “Our SMBs are asking us, ‘how do we play in social?’ They’re on Facebook themselves, so our job as a company is to look at these things such as social, display, and deals, and come up with intelligent ways for them to play in those spaces.”
At ReachLocal, our approach to local business marketing is a total Web Presence that enables them to get found by and engage local prospects and customers, no matter where they choose to look for information and interact online.
Last updated 1 year ago
When running a group deal, merchandising is key to success. What exactly is merchandising? It’s everything that makes the group deal ‘sing’: imagery, headlines, reviews, summaries, highlights, uniqueness, deal details and fine print (if any). After all, the specific details of your offer will impact whether or not a customer will be compelled to make a purchase – as well as whether aggregators and publishers will pick up the deal.
If getting new customers through your door – and incentivizing their return – are your goals, here are four major factors to consider when merchandising your group deal:
Offer Something Unique
Make your deal stand by out providing something exclusive that isn’t normally offered at your business, or from a competitor. For example: if you own a restaurant with an award-winning chef, you could offer a special like a one-time-only group dining event hosted by the chef himself with a unique menu you can’t get from the regular dining experience. Ultimately, by offering something exclusive (or that seems exclusive) you’ll highlight something unique about your business and create a strong incentive for a consumer to purchase your group deal.
Evaluate Your Online Reputation Before hand
As your group deal may be the first introduction local consumers have with your business, they’ll often research your business online before deciding whether or not to purchase your offer. So make sure your user reviews and ratings have more positive feedback than negative by encouraging your regular customers to share their happy experiences on sites like Bizzy, Google Places and Yelp. This is also a great time to ensure your website is up-to-date and that the deal you’re offering is listed – along with the “usual” price (so new customers know they’re getting a significant discount). Also, remove any other specials that might compete or interfere with your group deal so the latter remains an attractive incentive to visit.
Pick the Perfect Price Point
Based on historical data from DealOn, $25-35 is a “sweet spot”when it comes to pricing your group deal. However, all businesses are different; your prime discount level with vary based on your business type. As a general rule, products and services that are more widely available might need a deeper discount to remain attractive to new consumers, but if you have a particularly unique offer you can probably afford to be a bit more conservative.
Consider the Season
Group deals that observe a specific season can be very successful in driving new business (e.g. florists are typically busier around major holidays, and ice cream shops may attract more customers during summer). Even though you might enjoy steady customer acquisition on a seasonal cycle, offering a group deal is a great way to position yourself against competitors who may not be offering a similar discount. Think of deal commerce the same way you might strategize your traditional and online advertising: it’s always best to ramp up your presence and promotions during seasonal times.
What are some other factors that might make your group deal stand out from the rest? Share your thoughts in a comment!
Angela Epley writes about online advertising & web presence for the ReachLocal blog, which focuses on small business online marketing strategies.
Last updated 1 year ago
Social media is a great way to deliver a human response in real-time. But that doesn’t make it immune to human error. When it comes to social media, accidents can happen – and can go viral in seconds. While the thought of making headlines with an off-color mis-tweet from your brand might send a chill down any local business owner’s back, don’t despair! Shifting the tone is possible if you’re willing to demonstrate the right attitude in the face of a social media faux pas.
Road Rage from @ChryslerAutos
As a general rule, profanity has no place coming from a business Twitter account under any circumstance. Perhaps that’s why a tweet containing a certain four-letter word from Chrysler’s twitter account in March made waves seconds after going live.
What happened next? The tweet was deleted and an apology was issued, stating that the “account was compromised.” The person responsible for the profane tweet was fired, then sought to pursue legal action against the Twitter application he blamed for the social media snafu.
Frank Opinions from @SecretService
The verified Twitter account from the Secret Service let loose with a tweet this month that set off a spark in political blogs all over the web. While many high-profile public servants like senators, congressmen and the President himself broadcast their political views on Twitter regularly, government agencies usually don’t, which is why the @SecretService tweet criticizing Fox News was especially noteworthy.
Naturally, the tweet was taken down almost immediately, but its legacy lived on through many retweets. As might be expected from a government agency with “Secret” in the title, not much else has been discovered as far as who may have been responsible and what actions may have been taken as a result.
Boozy Slang from @RedCross
Finally, this third case of a personal tweet being published accidentally from a professional brand took the social media world by storm back in February, when the American Red Cross published a tweet about, well, beer. Citing the brewery, Dogfish Head, by name meant the tweet would get picked up on the beer brand’s radar. But if that weren’t enough, the tweet also contained a hashtag containing a slang synonym for intoxication: #gettngslizzerd.
For a humanitarian aid organization with tens of thousands of followers, this could have been a real disaster. But the Red Cross handled the situation professionally – and with a great deal of humor. They took it down, replacing it with: “We’ve deleted the rogue tweet but rest assured the Red Cross is sober and we’ve confiscated the keys.”
That forgiving, good-humored attitude did not go unnoticed by Twitter fans following the real-time debacle. As CNN reported, “Impressed by the Red Cross’ calm and humane response, other tweeters – especially @dogfishbeer’s fans – launched a fundraising and blood donation drive. Its hashtag: #gettngslizzerd.”
Lesson Learned?
When it comes to a social media slip-up on behalf of your brand, it’s not a matter of if – but when. Mistakes happen, and most people (including your customers) understand this. One way to prevent mis-tweets like these is to encourage the people in charge of your brand’s Twitter account to use one Twitter app for their personal account(s), and a different Twitter app for their professional accounts. Switching between two separate apps is a small price to pay in the long run if it can mean avoiding a social media snafu on behalf of your brand.
But if a bad tweet does come from your corporate account, try to have a sense of humor about it as much as you can. Of course, some mis-tweets will be worse than others, but anytime you can make light of the situation instead of treating it like it’s a doomsday scenario, your brand personality will come across as more friendly than fearsome. And in the online social sphere, friendliness gets you much further in the long run.
Angela Epley writes about online advertising & web presence for the ReachLocal blog, which focuses on small business online marketing strategies.
