Small Business Marketing: Optimizing for a Local Audience

This article originally appeared on PRWeb

Unless you are reading this post very late at night; take a moment, close your eyes and think about the last search you did on your phone.

Was your stomach rumbling which initiated a search for ‘pizza’ or were you running in-between meetings and needed a quick stop at a coffee shop? In this, and hundreds of other scenarios, you are expecting the technology behind your phone and the search engine to deliver results that are relevant to your current location. And they both deliver, a million times over.

In fact, according to Google, 40% of mobile searches are local in intent. Combine this with the projection that by 2014, mobile internet use should overtake desktop use and it may be time for a mobile marketing awakening.

Any small business with an opportunity to attract and sell to a local audience can benefit from local optimization.

Evaluate Your Audience

As with any marketing initiative, it’s always important to evaluate your target audience. There are a plethora of scenarios where it absolutely makes sense to have local marketing efforts. A few of the quickest examples include restaurants, retail shops and local-intent services such as dog grooming, salons, health and fitness, etc. The list goes on.

If your small business marketing strategy already includes a focus on local optimization, leverage your customer database to mine data and potentially uncover new opportunities. For example, if you can export a list of all customers from the last 12 months and then sort by zip code.

Is there a concentration of customers from an area of the city – outside of your specific location - that surprises you? If so, this can help guide your local optimization efforts to include information relevant to that part of the city and ultimately cultivate new clients.

However, there are also scenarios where Local Optimization may not be the highest priority, if you are looking to prioritize. For example, if you are creating medical device implants and your audience is national and you don’t openly invite drop-in visits there may be other high-impactsmall business marketing tactics to pursue first.

Know the Local Search Landscape

To uncover opportunities for local optimization, start first with checking your current site analytics. Specifically, look for:

• Broad, competitive phrases where you aren’t on Page 1 in Google and therefore likely your site showed up in local results – i.e. pizza
• Broad, Geo-Modified phrases – i.e. Washington DC pizza
• Specific, Geo-Modified phrases – i.e. Dupont Circle pizza

Next, perform test searches to see where your site is ranking for terms which are sending traffic to your website and those which aren’t sending traffic but are relevant. Try variations including different search engines, mobile vs. desktop and even do test searches when you are away from your location for a more realistic experience.

With this information, you can identify:

• Keywords where you are receiving traffic, but could benefit from higher visibility
• Keywords where your site isn’t on page 1, but should be

Apply Local Optimization

Leveraging the keywords identified in test searches, you can apply local optimization to the following.

• Google+ Local (formerly known as Google Places)
  1. Make sure you set up and optimize local listings, which is critical in alerting Google to your location(s)
• Your Website
  1. Identify opportunities to incorporate keywords into the site that represent high-priority phrases. Key pages include; home page, about us, locations and contact us page
• Content (Blog Posts, Press Releases & Social Media)
  1. Blog Posts – consider created a series of localized content, such as a blog post featuring each location and what makes each one unique
  2. Press Releases – from localizing your city, MSA, keyword optimization in the post and boiler plate, press releases offer strong local signals
  3. Social Media – leverage similar efforts as the blog posts and feature your location(s) within social media content, your customers, new offerings etc all to create a larger online footprint of locally-optimized content

Localize & Measure

Go forth and localize! And when you do, it’s important to benchmark current results so you can understand what’s working and what’s not post-optimization.

Here are a few items to measure along the way:

1. Sales
2. Foot Traffic (if appropriate)
3. Changes / Increases in search engine traffic (keyword referrals)
4. Search Visibility
5. Referrals from Social Media / Press Release Channels

With mobile searches increasing, and search engines making a more concerted effort to deliver local results across a wide spectrum of intent-based phrases, there’s no time like the present to start optimizing for local audiences. Do you have a unique approach you have tried when trying to spur local interest? Share with us below and we’ll pick the five we feel are the most creative comments and send a free copy of Marketing in the Round, by Gini Dietrich and Geoff Livingtsonto any US postal address.

10 Tweets That Are Invaluable Startup Advice

By Alyson Shontell, as seen on Business Insider

 

Turtable Co-founder

Turntable.fm's Seth Goldstein took the stage at Big Omaha yesterday.

He gave entrepreneurs advice in the form of 10 tweets, i.e. 140 characters or less.

Here's what he's learned from over 20 years in the tech industry, as both an investor and an entrepreneur:

1. Anything worth doing is worth doing badly. If you think there's a market for something, go for it even if you feel under-prepared. Don't wait until the right moment.
2. Leaders believe it before they see it, managers need to see it to believe it. Leaders are the people with the visions. Managers have a place too; they help leaders execute and prioritize.
3. Dress British, think Yiddish. Look conventional, think unconventionally. Startups need to have a good brand, says Goldstein.
4. Scale a single, social gesture. Find one thing people enjoy doing and hammer away at that. It worked well for Instagram.
5. Hire slow, fire fast. Don't hire just to fill a hole in your team -- Goldstein calls this hiring while wearing beer goggles. B players bring A players down to their level, and B players never reach A level.
6. Have difficult conversations. Don't wait for the other person to bring something important up.
7. What is going up and to the right? Chances are you're doing something right. Even if users aren't growing, there might be another positive metric to focus on. Really examine whatever is working and highlight it.
8. Raise money when you can, not when you have to. Goldstein says the #1 reason startups fail is because they run out of money.
9. It's hard to bring an investor in, it's 10X harder to get them out. Think of it like a marriage to someone who's impossible to divorce. An investor won't be writing a check then walking away, so pick carefully.
10. It's not about the money, it's about the money. "We are being fattened like cows by our venture capitalists for the big exit," says Goldstein. Don't be too proud to sell; billion-dollar exits are rare.

U.S. House Passes Controversial CISPA Cybersecurity Bill 248 To 168

Reprinted from: The Best iPad (Frederic Lardinois) - 4/26/12 7:33 PM



This afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) by a vote of 248 to 168. UnlikeSOPA, which focused on copyright violations, CISPA wants to give Internet companies and the U.S. government the tools to protect and defend themselves against cyber attacks by sharing information with each other. Critics, however, argued that this information sharing would be happening with very little oversight and would put Americans’ privacy rights at risk.

Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), an outspoken critic of the bill, argued that the bill would “waive every single privacy law ever enacted in the name of cybersecurity. Allowing the military and NSA to spy on Americans on American soil goes against every principle this country was founded on.”

Even though this bill has now passed the House, chances are that it will not get through the Senate. On Tuesday, the White House issued a statement condemning the bill and on Wednesday, President Obama threatened to veto the legislation because it “fails to provide authorities to ensure that the nation’s core critical infrastructure is protected while repealing important provisions” of long-established privacy law.

Critics, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, argue that the current version of this bill is basically a major violation of established privacy rights and would allow companies to hand anything and everything you do and say online over to the government in the name of “cybersecurity.”

Proponents of the bill, including House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.),argue that the bill is “needed to prepare for countries like Iran and North Korea so that they don’t do something catastrophic to our networks here in America.”

An earlier provision in the bill that would have given Homeland Security more authority to monitor the Internet was dropped before the bill (PDF) passed. In return, though, a number of last-minute amendments, including one that expands the list of reasons for which shared information can be used. While the bill still allows for Internet companies to hand over confidential customer information to U.S. security and intelligence agencies, as well as local low enforcement services, it is worth noting that it does not require them to do so.

You can read a full version of the bill here (PDF).

How are journalists using social media?

As a PR professional, one thing I’m always interested in is the mind of a journalist. As someone who believes that social media is a valuable business tool, I’m constantly preaching to my fellow PR professionals about how social media can be used to connect with journalists (sorry guys, I’ll get off my soapbox eventually). 

I know some of them are on board, but there are still quite a few that aren’t sold on it yet.

Well, yesterday the topic came up in a Twitter conversation I was having with a freelance journalist: Matt Lindner. Currently, Matt writes sports feature stories for ESPN, so he and I don’t work together professionally but we do enjoy a good sports conversation. 

Yesterday, though, Matt and I were talking about social media and PR. More specifically, how the two tie together. I was very interested to hear his point of view as a journalist. Because I was so interested, we followed up the conversation via email where Matt was able to expand beyond 140 characters. 

So what did I learn (right from the horse’s mouth) about how journalists are using social media?

They’re seeking out relevant story ideas:

“As a feature writer, I’m constantly looking for the stories that are going to get people talking. Part of my job is keeping a finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the world of sports, asking questions the fan would ask if they had the platform that I do,” Matt said. 

Where is he looking for these ideas? 

“The people and organizations that I follow on Twitter are those that I feel are relevant—relevant to me, my readers, and to the conversation that I’m hoping to further in both the world of sports and pop culture.” 

An example from Matt: “I’ve got another pitch to my editors in the works right now that I learned about after an old professional acquaintance that I met last summer and kept in touch with on Facebook posted something on her page.” 

They’re listening to what you’re saying :

Who/and what do they listen to?

“The biggest ‘secret’ to getting my attention is to have an active account,” said Matt. “If you’re talking, engaging, humorous without pandering, I’m going to listen.” 

He also added: “The problem a lot of organizations run into is that they have social media accounts and they want to have a lot of followers, but they don’t want to share. Or if they do share, they only post messages that are blatantly promotional, serving only to further their own interests without acknowledging the needs or wants of their digital fan base as it were.”

They’re doing research: 

Matt told me: “In my previous life as a local television news reporter and in my current one as a national freelance sports writer, social media was an integral and indispensable tool in my toolbox. I cannot tell you how many times one of the influencers I followed tweeted about something cool they were doing, or some random nugget of information which caused me to think more about them. I’d investigate it further and work with my editors to see if there was a story there.”

They’re building relationships:

This is a huge one for PR pros to keep in mind. I read some great tips about this recently:Fifteen Ways to Use Twitter to Build an Army of Adoring Journalists.

Matt explained to me why relationship-building (rather than just blinding reaching out) via social media is so crucial to the PR-journalist relationship: 

“If I’ve had prior contact with you and you’ve got a story idea that you think I might be interested in, by all means pass it along and I’ll see what I can do. But if I’ve never heard of you, and then I get a tweet like ‘Hey @mattlindner, have you heard about our widgets and gadgets? You should totally write about them’ you will get blocked in a shorter period of time than it took me to type that sentence.”

I’ll leave you with one last comment from Matt to sum up the bottom line of the role social media plays in the PR-journalist relationship:

“Media is constantly changing. And an increasing number of journalists are on Twitter and Facebook, using them to listen to what the public is talking about. I’ve used social media to reach out to sources that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to get ahold of through traditional means.”

So there you have it. If you weren’t sold on it yet, I hope this post helped you realize yet another opportunity that social media provides to us.

Originally submitted by Jackie Lampugnano

This article originally appeared on Social Media Club 

What Startups Can Learn About PR and Crisis Management

by MARK SUSTER on AUGUST 14, 2011

I was recently approached by Fast Company to comment on “crisis management” at startups in the wake of the Airbnb “ranksackgate” story. I agreed to do the interview because the story was about what other companies can learn rather than about airbnb in particular.

What are the teachable moments? The short article in Fast Company is here if you’d like to read it.

In a nutshell – I think airbnb eventually got to the right place and I was impressed with the letter their founder Brian Chesky wrote and their new commitment to safety and damages. Obviously they wish they would have figured this out a bit more quickly, but as a young team I personally cut them a little bit more slack than I would if it were Oracle, for example.

And as long as people put things right and show contrition, situations like this eventually become a “tempest in a teapot.” Today’s Internet titans are filled with such momentary lapses.

But I thought I’d use the situation to talk more broadly about some PR lessons you might learn for your own business and also incorporate some situations I’ve faced recently with some portfolio companies.

1. If You Don’t Shape Your Story, Somebody Else Will
My golden rule of public relations is that “if you don’t shape your story somebody else will.” We see this in politics all the time. Think John Kerry and the “swift boat” scandal. Whatever your political view we can all agree that John Kerry is a terrible communicator. He’s verbose, often off message and wooden.

During the 2004 election he was accused of having made up material facts from his service in the Vietnam War in an election against somebody who didn’t serve in a war. How do you lose that debate?

Simple: he let other people tell the story. He didn’t respond quickly and forcefully. Journalists write stories that have an appeal to readers whether the accusations have merit or not. Just look at the silly Obama birther debate that we wasted so many news cycles on.

You know the saying, nature abhors a vacuum. The story will get written whether you want it to or not.

Don’t be “swiftboated.” Shape your own story.

2. Understand the Gravity of the Situation for Your Customers
So how do you know when to publicly come forward with information and when to not do so? Is it ever appropriate to just let a news cycle pass assuming the story will move on and die down? The obvious starting points to think to yourself are:

• Has something happened that fundamentally affects my customers or partners?
• Is there a story that negatively affects how people perceive my brand?
• Is there a reason I need to communicate to my constituents?
• Is there a need to change my policies, announce a mea culpa or get a topic focused on the right points?

If you’ve done something that is wrong you should put it right immediately. Do not expect it to blow over. The perception of your brand by not responding will not recover. You cannot seem overly defensive. If you believe that journalists or competitors are telling a story that isn’t right you need to put that straight. Do so by winning the hearts and minds on substantive talking points rather than attacking others. Attacking always comes across as petty.

3. Don’t Bury Bad News
If you have information about a situation that has gone terribly wrong don’t cover it up. Remember that the cover up always ends up worse that the actual infraction. We learned that from the original “gate.” If you were hacked and customer passwords were stolen, get the story to your customers ASAP. Yes, it will be bad. But imagine how much worse the story will be in 30 days when people find out you knew their information was stolen and they didn’t have a chance to reset passwords, cancel credit cards or whatever other remedies they would have preferred to make.

Consider the flawless response from Brian Norgard at Chill. His product auto-posted a testimonial from Dave Morin into Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg called the tactic “lame.” Pretty tough when you’re called out by Zuck himself. Yet a quick response clearly made this Chill moment into lemonade.

If you want to see flawless in action, read Chill’s post. They shaped the story. They reacted quickly. They didn’t try to bury the news of what they’d done. They turned off the feature (took the high ground) while defending the practice in their post. Moreover, they drove a lot of attention to social TV viewing and Chill through their response. 10/10.

4. Never Blame the Press
The most tempting thing for inexperienced entrepreneurs to do is to attack the press. It’s easy to say somebody hates you, got the story wrong, is lying, has biases, etc. In fact, some of these things may even be true in some circumstances. Your job is to change the situation, not shoot the messenger. Build deeper relationships. Have private conversations to change opinions. Find other media outlets to tell your story. Know your positive talking points. But don’t pick a fight with the press. That’s a war you’re not going to win.

We live in a free society. It’s the job of the press to hold us all to account and question our conduct, our performance, our accuracy our businesses. Sometimes the story will be dead-on and will benefit us all by protecting consumers, sometimes I won’t agree with the story and think it will be proven largely wrong. In any event, I’ll take a free press any day. Journalists are doing their jobs. When many do it simultaneously – even when some stories aren’t 100% accurate – we have way more transparency in our system.

The positives far outweigh any possible negatives.

5. Know Your Key Messages
I was recently talking with an entrepreneur who had just gotten a ton of press around his company for an interview he gave to a journalist. The story was controversial enough that it created follow-on articles. He seemed proud, “all press is good press, right?” Wrong. I told him,

“Look, all of the press you got was totally ‘off message.’ You’re being talked about for the wrong thing. I don’t mind controversy. But if you’re going to say something controversial make it about the market you serve. Make it about the point-of-view you’re trying to change.

Make the story be about your market. Journalists aren’t going to write about you all the time unless you’re Facebook. You just burned a story. You wasted that opportunity with that journalist and that journal. What a shame.”

Know your talking points at all times. Know what you want the market to talk about. Stick to your script. All press isn’t good press. Off message press is a wasted opportunity.

6. Don’t Take the Bait
Another entrepreneur contacted me recently because a competitor had attacked his company in the press. I’ve written about this topic before – you should make your competitors frenemies, even when the do stupid things like attack you. Sure, if it’s a major attack that you believe will hurt your business you need to respond. But my view is that you take the high ground. Attacking back makes you both look petty. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Lead in the press with your positive attributes. Use it as an excuse to get a journalist to write about you.

The story of X company attacks Y, how does Y respond is an angle journalists can sink their teeth into. Of course they want you to attack back hard – that makes a great story for them. It doesn’t help you. Stay focused on your message.

And privately reach out to your competitor. Go meet them in person. Explain that your biggest competitor is inertia as it almost always is for startups. That, or incumbents. But tit-for-tat between small companies NEVER makes sense. Don’t do it.

See here how much perfect bait was tee’d up for MG at TechCrunch in this public fight between Google & Microsoft andagain and again. Public fights are the gifts that keep giving for journalists and those fighting never come off looking good – they just convince themselves they do.

7. Develop Trusted Advisors
Like in every part of your business you need advisors. Startups often have advisors that help on recruiting, fund raising, biz dev, sales, etc. You need friends who have lots of experience in dealing with the press and hopefully relationships with journalists themselves. Trust me, these advisors will prove invaluable if you don’t have a lot of media experience. It isn’t something that comes naturally to most.

I’m always surprised how friends ask me for media help after they fawked up a story and never in advance when they’re planning. With portfolio companies I’m always involved in the planning phase. I want to know our media roadmap.

8. Get to Know the Press Now
Most startups talk to the press when they have a big event they want to talk about. That’s too late. I know it’s counter-intuitive because it seems like you shouldn’t talk with the press until you’re ready with something to say.

The reality is you want to have journalist relationships well before you have a story. Help them with other stories. Get to know what areas they’re knowledgeable and passionate about. Become interested in their profession and in them as people. Just like I advise people to get to know VCs early, so too with journalists. Here is a quick action plan for you in how to build journalist relations.

9. Get Media Training
I do a lot of public speaking and that includes speaking on television. Very few people are good at TV and many are sh*t scared of it. Yet with some simple media training you can be an effective communicator.

The same goes for press interviews. Knowing how to stay on message, knowing what your talking points are, knowing what the journalist’s angle in the story is, etc. are all parts of effective media training.

And any great PR firm will have a media training department. It’s how I learned the golden rule of TV interviews – ABC. Answer, bridge, communicate. Answer the question your asked briefly, use a bridge sentence to change to what you want to talk about and then communicate your key messages. It works every time. No media training for me = no ABC. It was worth every penny.

10. Have a PR Strategy
You probably also want to have PR people with whom you work. Sometimes they will work inside your company, sometimes they will be external. Here’s a 10-point guide on how to work with PR firms.

PR doesn’t happen by accident. It’s a business function and a very important one at that. Good PR will help you punch above your weigh class. Bad PR will bury you and make everything harder: funding, recruiting, biz dev, sales.

Draw yourself a chart as a CEO of all the activities for which you must dedicate time. Make sure at least 5-10% of your time allocation is in this bucket. Year round. PR is a continual process, not an event.

Read the article as it appeared on Both Sides of the Table

If you're new to Mark, you may want to subscribe to his RSS feed, follow him on Twitter, or subscribe via email.

Image courtesy of Fotolia.