MassNet Marketing Blog

Today’s question; is it better to invest your marketing dollars in a phone book advertisement, or a website?

Here’s my spin on it. Phone books have been around for decades, they have stood the test of time, and people are used to looking up business information in their local phone book.

The internet, on the other hand, is fairly new, constantly changing, and can often be confusing (search overload.)

However, the fact is; the internet has already proven itself to be the fasted accepted “information sharing” medium in history! 

People are familiar with the internet, they love it enough to pay for it, and moreover, they simply can’t get enough of it. Whether they are using it to stay in touch with friends and family, searching for a job, keeping up with the news, or searching for a local business; the internet is (already) intimately intertwined with our daily lives…and it’s not going to go away.

The key point for small business owners to realize is that when choosing to use the internet for marketing purposes, you’ll find (when done correctly) that it beats the phone book ad handsdown!

Internet marketing is cost effective, easily changed and updated, does not have “ad size” restrictions, and you have the ability to zero in on your local target market at the exact moment they are looking for you.

So what’s the best investment of your marketing dollars? Of course, the answer really depends on your budget; if you can afford it; choose to market your business with a phone book ad AND a website. If cost is an issue – choose the internet.

Today, I want to discuss the various things that you need to check to ensure that your website is ready to receive traffic.

Think of this: If you were expecting company at your home, there are certain things you might do in advance. You would make sure your home was clean, that there was fresh soap and clean hand towels in the bathroom, and you might prepare some snacks, or even an entire meal.

Preparing your website follows the same concept. You want to make sure that things are neat, tidy and pleasing to the eye. Check to make sure that your navigation follows a logical sequence. Make sure everything is spelled correctly and update your website regularly with plenty of good content. (Don’t under estimate the importance of updating your website frequently – nobody wants to visit an ‘outdated bulletin board’…and search engines are notorious for rewarding frequently updated websites with higher rankings!)

If your site isn’t pleasing and welcoming, any traffic generation activities you do from this point on are wasted. Take the time, and put forth the effort to make your site is as good as possible – and learn to look at it from your visitor’s point of view.

After you do this, make sure that you are using all of the best Search Engine Optimization techniques, such as making sure that you have clean HTML code and that you’ve used your keywords effectively. If you’re not familiar with SEO strategies, find someone who is. (Kentucky small businesses can contact us for a free SEO consultation.)

Once your website is ready for company, only then are you ready to start inviting that company…

You bet it is! In today’s economy, people are absolutely looking for ways to save money. Every little bit helps, and consumers are actively searching for discounts on everything from medical expenses to car repairs…

Why is this important to you as a local business owner? There are many reasons, but the one thing you should realize is that customers will often choose one business over another just because they have a coupon! By offering coupons, you are in essence telling your potential clients that you care about their needs (moreso than your competition) and you want to help them save money.

 How many new customers per year do you need? What is each new customer worth to your business? Do your current advertising methods provide you with verifiable returns on your marketing investment?

You should take some time to answer those questions…then consider the fact that coupon marketing provides you with an opportunity to effectively meet each of those goals – with verifiable returns!

As marketing consultants, our job is really about making your marketing efforts easier. As a small business owner myself, I realize how much easier it is to have others assist me with tasks that either; 

A. I don’t have time to do myself, or

B. I would simply prefer to place in the capable hands of other professionals.

The old saying goes something like this “SMART PEOPLE PUT SMART PEOPLE AROUND THEM’  -  which simply means you can’t do it all yourself. 

I truly believe that many business owners should try and put aside a small amount of time to examine whether or not they are asking for help when they really need it…  

But, how do you know when your business needs help?

It’s simple; the time to enlist the assistance of others is not necessarily when your business is sinking: 

The time to ask for help is before you leave the dock.

The time to ask for help is before you fall behind your competitors.

The time to ask for help is before the next sales rep comes knocking on the door.

The time to ask for help is before you lose money on outdated advertising methods.

Put yourself in a position of continuously being one step ahead, anticipating the next opportunity, recognize you can’t do it all yourself, and then find qualified professionals to help you get where you’re going.