Don't Run Your Maketing Plan Like Tim Tebow

So we are getting very close to the end of yet another year; where does time go? Now is a good time to reflect on the past and plan for the future. What are you gonna do in 2012 different that will bring more business. What a lot of small business owners get stuck doing is not taking the time to plan and continue to do the same old marketing things that don't work. Or even worse do the same things they did years ago because they worked back then.
Marketing your business is all about planning and executing, marketing is not taking the Tim Tebow approach and do nothing all year and then in the last quarter of the year pull out a miracle. That may work on the football field but it will never work in the business world. In order to achieve success in 2012, you need to develop a STRONG MARKETING PLAN. Start looking at Interent marketing, the Internet has changed dramatically over the last 5 years and thanks to Google and a few other companies, the emphasis is LOCAL INTERNET MARKETING.
Today less people are using the older forms of marketing like Yellow Pages and print media, and searching online for local businesses. This is not just some flavor of the month thing, local Internet search is here to stay and with more consumers using smart phones the search is happening everywhere. It would be a critical error to not take place in this medium.
So where do you start?
Local Map Optimization
Getting your company listed on Google Places is so important for local businesses. Google has placed an emphasis on this by putting it at the very top of the page. The first thing to do is submit your business, fill out all the fields completely. Make sure your address and telephone number are exactly as they are listed for your business, add your hours of operation and make sure they are also listed on your websites contact page. Add ten photos, real photos from your business. Photos of your staff your building, things happening in your business and your logo. Add a description of your business, a real good story of your business, not marketing speak stuffed with keywords.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Getting your website properly optimized for the keywords people are using to find you. Running a keyword analysis and then putting the keywords together with the cities your business caters to. For Instance "Buffalo Plumber, Buffalo Leak Detection Service, Buffalo Hot Water Heater Repair". Properly optimizing your website consists of the proper title tag for each page, linking within your site, building out your website from 5 pages to 60 or 70, putting together a link building campaign and constantly creating fresh content are a few of the things that have to be done.
Video Marketing
Did you know YouTube is the number two most searched site behind Google? People are searching to find videos to entertain and even educate themselves. How about putting together some educational videos about your services. Publish them to YouTube and post on your website. Keep them short, 30 seconds to a minute is all you need.
Blogging
Start a blog in 2012, blogging is not dead, in fact its a great way keep the content on your website fresh. Write about your business, your industry, trending topics on Google and things happening in the world that could effect your business or your potential customers.
Social Media Marketing
I know I know you don't do Facebook, it's stupid right? Well 700 million people don't think so. Facebook is the new referral, years ago you provided a great service for a customer and he or she told one or two friends. Today nothing has changed, people still want to refer you but it happend on Facebook, where the average person has 130 friends, and when they say good things about you or press a LIKE BUTTON on your Facebook page, now hundreds of people see it. Cha Ching!
Pay Per Click
I'm not a big fan of Pay Per Click advertising as a long term solution, but for the short term I think it's ok. Its the only way in the world you can get your name in front of hundreds if not thousands of people right away. It's an auction system where you bid on keywords you want to show up for. The downside here is that the cost per click can get very expensive and if you fall into a trap with one of these companies that specialize in PPC marketing there is really very little ROI. Many third party companies are marking the click up two or three times, they have a lot of overhead and have to make the money somewhere. If you're thinking about running a PPC campaign avoid companies that won't tell you how much they markup the click. Do it yourself on with Google Express or hire a company that has just a set fee.
Email Marketing
So you went out performed a service and got paid. Is that your customer for life? LOL (Laughing Out Loud). No sir, it sure is not. They are basically up for grabs for the next company to take. Putting an email marketing campaign in place is the ideal way to keep your name in front of your customers every month. A simple email newsletter with tips, ideas, maybe a coupon info about something you are doing in the community.
So there you have it; some ideas you can use to start planning your Internet marketing for 2012, this is not everything but it's a good start. So don't throw that hail mary Tim Tebow bomb in October hoping for a last quarter miracle, plan now and execute through all 4 quarters of the year. Because next year at this time, your won't be saying "what now", you'll be planning for a great 2013.
Happy Holidays.