Qualify Your Client for the Best Online Marketing Results

In the world of online marketing, not all businesses are created equal. When it comes to marketing to small businesses, your SEO and local online marketing strategies will differ from business to business. A lot of this is dependent on whether the business offers a product or service. If the business offers a service, the focus of the online marketing campaign will be geared more towards the review type strategy, where as those offering physical products will have an online campaign that is a little more complex and diversified.

With service based small companies, it is more common for customers to patronize local businesses as most services cannot be offered from long distances. This is where the customer review strategy comes in to play. When a customer is researching companies locally, they want to know that the business is not only competent, but offers the best value for the money. This is very simple to do by allowing customers an avenue with which to provide positive feedback. This feedback can then be converted to reviews that can then be published online. The bottom line is, these reviews will make the small business name stand out in the crowd and sets it apart as the premiere business for a particular industry.

Local businesses offering physical products however, have more competition. Many products can be purchased online with the customer never having to leave the house. This requires the online campaign to have a little more focus. Often, this requires the local business to offer something of value that precludes the customer from purchasing online. In most cases big name products are everywhere and the customer is inundated with offers. A local business could use the review strategy to set themselves apart, but in the case of most physical products, consumers are looking for the best value. This is where local online marketing becomes a bit more complex with the implementation of an online store.

An online store allows the small business owner to compete with the big boys on a smaller scale. While large retailers have a large catalog of products, small local businesses would do best to focus on a specific product or niche within their industry. It’s easier to achieve rankings for specific products or niches than a generalized category that would cause the small business to compete with sites such as Amazon, Best Buy or Wal-Mart. These large retailers are trusted names and it’s difficult to compete with them for the customer’s business. By presenting the local business as an authority in an industry, a consumer might be more likely buy from them based on knowledge and experience. Yes, they can buy that particular fishing pole at Wal-Mart, but is the Wal-Mart associate going to know anything about bass fishing and what bait would work best?

As with any market, research is essential in qualifying a small business for online marketing. Knowing the customer behavior in any given industry will help you gear the online local marketing in a direction that benefits the small business. Having a successful marketing campaign involves a lot more than putting up a website and hoping customers find it. A good way to find out where customers go is to browse forums that customers in the industry frequent. Customers will say what they want and where they go to get it. This helps you when marketing to small business for online campaigns. You know exactly who buys these products and how to get them to buy from your client.

When meeting with prospective clients, do your research first. This way you can approach the meeting with the best strategy for marketing the business online. This allows you to establish realistic expectations on the part of the customer, building their confidence in your online marketing abilities. Qualifying the business for online marketing insures a positive outcome in the future.

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