Some local small businesses throughout Australia seem reluctant to open their marketing minds to the idea of SEO and Digital Marketing in general. They are not saying all, because our awesome list of small to medium business clients suggests otherwise, but some of you are still afraid of investing in SEO. Some of you don’t think you need it. Others are worried about ROI. You should read on and make sure you’re not ignoring some important trends in your niche and local area.
Here’s an example of a discussion they had after pitching a local business on our local SEO services:
“They are the only mob in this area who does what they do. They don’t need SEO and all that technical jargon.”
They showed that customer a local business in the same niche that they hadn’t noticed. That supplier didn’t need our help as they’d been investing in SEO already. True, they weren’t getting much local business but what they got from online sales trumped their competition who wasn’t leveraging SEO.
That prospect hadn’t heard of that competitor. Because they weren’t listed in the local Yellow Pages, they didn’t think they could possibly be a big threat.
Do you subscribe to Yellow Pages advertising being the ‘be all and end all’? If that’s all you’re doing, you’re missing the boat on today’s consumer who often just uses their Yellow Pages just to boost up the visiting toddlers at the dinner table, to prop a door open, or to level their wonky coffee table.
Is your site just sitting there in static mode? If you do have the tech savvy to have a website for your business, it needs to be more than brochure-ware.
They asked the naysayer:
“Have you found your sales have slowed down over the recent months?”
They said had but flippantly chalked it up to the global financial crisis and the fact that people weren’t spending money.
They said “Well, hopefully that is the case… ” and they shake hands and smile, of course, leaving a business card at the counter. They left purely and simply because a mind like this is not going to be converted in an instant. The sense of ignorance, the lack of knowledge, and most of all the pride won’t open their eyes straight away. The joy is, the benchmark is usually 48-72 hours later when prospects have had a chance to digest what they’ve said. They often receive many return calls, from the same business owner asking for a follow up meeting.
The moral of this story is “store blindness”. Ignorance is bliss until the bank account runs out! Then it’s pure agony.
Don’t fall victim to losing the marketing reality of your business. Be online, maintain your presence, and execute a multi-faceted online marketing strategy. If you want to grow and retain your customers, you need to continually push your efforts forward. Technology is a huge part of that equation. If you’re not using SEO to your advantage and you still have a strong presence in your local area, chances are strong that someone is down the road, off your radar, is and is just inches away from stealing your thunder and… your customers. Want to talk SEO strategy? Contact an SEO expert.