Online Marketing Goes Social Local !

We are more likely to use a business if we discover or read information about them on a social network. It’s an example of direct online marketing intended to bring two parties into closer engagement. Except at local level the proactive role passes from business to consumer who waits in vain to be served!

When a business is proactive, it researches, plans and implements marketing strategies to position brand identity and put their message out there to their market niche and then, in this traditional ‘push’ approach, awaits a positive, consumer reaction.

With local search, it is the prospective consumer who takes on the proactive role by using multiple search platforms and channels from search engines, social media and mobile apps to find the object of their search campaign. Thus, local eCommerce business now becomes the passive subject expected to quickly and comprehensively react.

The powerful influence of social media has changed the power play and it is now the consumer who has readily adopted the proactive role. The problem is that local businesses appear to be sleeping and are not providing their potential customers with the information they need to make an informed decision, whether to interact further or indeed make a purchase.

As local search enquiries continue to rise as a result of Google local mapping, Geo local mobile apps, and social networks – not forgetting sites like Foursquare – the importance of optimising for localised area traffic is more acute than ever. In other words, optimising say, for website design cheshire as well as Provoke website design, and to be loaded with key information which targets specific benefits at known, local region b2b or b2c segments visibly flagged up.

When consumers become proactive in local search, just as with business marketing research, they will base their targeted selection upon vital data they need to clearly know before arriving at a final decision, e.g. products, services, location, business hours, contact info, history, previous clients, testimonials, etc.

Today, savvy online consumers demand to know more specific and detailed information about a business before they engage further. Authority, trust and visibility has to be inbuilt by using same keyword search phrases, detailed descriptive images and videos, user reviews and blog comments.

The socially connected user is now more likely to first refer to social media sites to check out a business page/presence or seek recommendations from their friends on Facebook. With the surge of smartphone mobile internet, the process speeds up and if the required level of detail isn’t available at first touch, then the opportunity to be known as a local focus for a product or service is lost.