March 2005 Issue:

-There's No Place Like Home
-Filling the Gap
-Podvertising is Possible on iPods

Archived Issues

There’s No Place Like Home

The Internet is so big that sometimes small businesses don’t get the benefits they could by marketing on the web. The logic goes something like, “My business relies on local clients, so marketing on the web doesn’t apply to me.”

While that may be true now, there is a new trend emerging in the world of search: Local Searching, and it is a great benefit for businesses whose customers are primarily local.

For example, in a study by The Kelsey Group and BizRate.com, 25.1% of Internet users said they used the web when they were looking for merchants near their home or work, researching a purchase from a local merchant, or finding out where to go to make their actual purchase locally. Other results included:

• 64% said that "...search engines are better" than printed yellow pages for finding commercial information."
• 80% rated commercial search results as "good" or "excellent."
• 44% are performing more local commercial searches than last year.

So what’s going on? People are starting to realize that the Internet can be just as useful for local searches as the phone book. In fact, it’s better for the searcher because a web site has far more information than a print display ad does.

As this trend continues, local businesses are realizing that local customers are looking for them on the web! So how can you connect with those customers? Start with these two steps.

1. Make sure your business information is readily available in lots of places on the web. List your business on the local Chamber of Commerce web site, place it in local directories, and list it on professional association web sites. Also, make sure your local town or city name is listed on your web site as well. This improves your chances of being found when searchers type in words like “Milford Hair Salons”.

2. Keep your name in front of your customers. Send them regular email updates or encourage them to sign up for your e-newsletter. You could also offer special discounts or incentives that are only available to subscribers.

For instance, an Ontario grocery store recently used an e-newsletter to send its customers coupons, weekly specials, and recipes. After studying the results, they found that 62% of recipients opened the e-newsletter each week. They also found that the most popular features on their web site were online coupons (35%), weekly specials (25%), and recipes (17%), all of which came from the weekly newsletter. The same idea can be applied to other local businesses such as car repair shops, hair salons, and professional services such as lawyers or accountants.

If your business is locally focused, it’s possible that there are local searchers already looking for your products or services on the web. Make sure they can find you!

Filling the Gap

We’ve all heard of the generation gap, the gender gap, even bridging the gap, but have you ever heard of the marketing gap?

When trying to boost your lead generation efforts, the marketing gap might be a good place to start. Generally speaking, the marketing gap is the unoccupied “space” in your marketing efforts. Markets that are under-served, gaps in your message coverage, or just plain inefficient timing can all contribute to sluggish lead generation initiatives.

By filling the marketing gap, you can be more efficient with lead generation, and also see improvement in your overall results. Sometimes the marketing gap is hard to spot, so take a look at these common culprits:

Coverage
With the popularity of the Internet, companies are finding creative, cost-effective ways to fill the marketing gap. For instance, if you send out printed circulars or publications to your customer list, consider adding email announcements to your routine. Customers who receive online messages in combination with printed circulars are up to three times as likely to visit a business, as well as make a purchase.

Placement
Being in the right place at the right time is very important in today’s over-saturated and hectic world of consumers. We are all bombarded with ads, images, video, and audio messages all the time. Being in the right place at the right time has become more important than being everywhere, since targeting the right audience improves your chances of getting consumers’ attention and ultimately, their business. Find co-marketing opportunities (other products or services that are complimentary to yours) and include these in your marketing. Look for opportunities to get in front of customers when they are already thinking about your type of business (for example a landscaping business might try featuring services at a lawn mower shop or home and garden center).

Timing
When is a customer most likely to need your product or service? In the case of financial planners, they might consider targeting newly engaged couples, families expecting new babies, or families with teenagers. All of these apply to major life events (marriage, children, college) when customers may be the most interested in hearing what you have to offer.

Another way to make the most of timing is to find ways for staff, sales people, and customer service professionals to have more time to interact with customers. Take advantage of opportunities to cross-market other products and services based on what your customers are saying. Listen and anticipate their needs. Customers buying new computer equipment might also be interested in hearing about your network installation services.

With a little effort, you can find the gaps in your own marketing programs and take steps to close them. Closing the marketing gap in your organization can point you toward increased leads, better quality leads, and eventually better sales results.

Podvertising? Huh?

We’ve all heard of iPods, and we’ve all probably seen people walking around with those two unmistakable white cords hanging from their ears, attached to some kind of hand-held music player (also known as an iPod!). But podvertising?

Let’s start with podcasting, which is a new way to reach people with iPods. A podcast is a digital voice recording that is downloaded to a PC through RSS, or Really Simple Syndication. Once the digital file is on a PC, it can be synched up with an iPod so the user can listen to the recording whenever it is convenient. Radio stations are beginning to make some of their programming available in podcast form, and there are currently more than 500 distinct podcast programs, ranging from radio broadcasts to podcasts by individuals speaking on particular topics.

So podcasting is here and growing in popularity. Could podvertising be the next tool in the small business marketing toolbox? Only time will tell.

Analysts agree that traditional audio commercials may not be a good fit for podvertising, since listeners can easily skip over ads during a podcast. More useful approaches are emerging, such as sponsoring an entire podcast, or building ‘teams’ of advertisers who can provide promotions, giveaways, and big discounts to listeners, making it less likely that they will skip the ad.

No matter what form podvertising eventually takes, it’s important to start learning and experimenting with this new medium as soon as you can. Using new technology to reach your customers is a great way to increase your marketing options. It's also a good way to monitor how consumers integrate new technology into everyday life so you can continue to reach them effectively.

Five Sparrows values your privacy and will never share, sell, or rent your information to anyone, and you may unsubscribe from this publication at any time.

Copyright 2005 Five Sparrows, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
3889 Hartland Hills, Hartland, MI 48353
www.fivesparrows.com