Has your day-to-day operation changed?

Has your business focus shifted to online sales? 

Is your business falling short in reaching new and existing customers? 

If your business has hit some speed bumps during the past year, simple actions can be taken now to navigate the new year with confidence . . .

Things Small Businesses Have Learned During the Past Year

Constant Contact, an online expert marketing provider has spent the past year working with small businesses to make smart use of the digital marketing tools their company offers, so businesses could thrive and grow with the ever-changing challenges they’ve encountered.

Potential customers can decide in an instant not to make an online purchase.

Customers can drop your company in a snap and buy from a different business.

Why?

People are listening, watching, and reading everything online. More and more, buyers are doing their due diligence prior to making online purchases.

If they see one little thing that casts doubt about your business, they’ll click away and never give you a second thought. They’ll also jump-in to tell others their opinion of you – good or bad.

Back in the day, a business’s trust and reputation was built on word-of-mouth, the best advertising a business couldn’t buy.

Today, buying is shaped and motivated by online social media, brand and product influencers, past customer reviews, communities, blog posts, rival websites, news and review websites.

Businesses are using Instagram more and more to extend their reach and bring awareness to their Brand with local, regional and national audiences.

Local businesses have learned that Instagram is all about bringing people and communities together that share mutual interests, and they’ve discovered that Giveaways work especially well for them.

When launching a new product or service, a Giveaway is the perfect way to draw attention!

A little perk from Google for your business to use on your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) listing.

What is a GMB/GBP Short Name?
Per Google, a short name is a unique identifier used to “represent your business name, brand, location or other description”.

Who is a Short Name Available To?
After you’ve verified your business, you can create a short name for your Business Profile to make it easier for customers to find you. This feature is available for most merchants and business categories.

Have you gotten caught up in ‘making sales’ rather than ‘how to make sales’? Sometimes we hit a wall before realizing it’s time to make a change.

Hit a Brick Wall?  Let’s Knock it Down!

If people aren’t visiting your website as much as they should, aren’t adding products to the cart, or haven’t become repeat customers – then let’s take a look at one high-performing ecommerce tool designed to help your business build stronger sales.

Have you been on the fence about setting up a Facebook Shop because you thought it’s too confusing or it would take too long?

Good news! It’s not.

Facebook has refined their shop setup process, so it’s straightforward, quick and easy.

If you’re using a website to sell products, people can be sent to the website from a Facebook or Instagram shop to complete the purchase. There are also options to setup a shop with checkout.

Shops set up from a Facebook Business page, can be customized in their Commerce Manager. 

Local and small businesses have found using the Instagram stories feature helps to boost engagement, and sales.

Why?

Instagram is a platform that people spend time on – they watch things they weren’t specifically looking for, and find themselves clicking on stories where their interest is piqued. Quite often - they’ll see a story, or click on an ad, then go on to buy the product.

Instagram data shows their stories feature now has over 500 million daily active users, so it’s a feature businesses shouldn’t overlook utilizing.

Need some holiday email marketing inspiration?

For many businesses, online holiday shopping is their most profitable selling season of the year - and this year won't be any different.

Did You Know?

Businesses who participate in holiday marketing have learned that no tool offers more opportunities to increase sales than email marketing.

Managing a Facebook page for local business is far different than running a non-business Facebook page.

The challenge for local business pages is twofold:

• Create compelling content that resonates with both customers and community.
• Create a balance of product/service promotion with entertaining content.

Whether you're just starting out on Facebook or have been working your business page for quite some time - take note of our tips on how to leverage Facebook for more business awareness and sales.

What’s your experience been the past few months with Social Media?

• Are people still reading your Social Media posts?

• Are people not engaging with your account the way they used to?

• Are you wondering how to up your game and grow a larger audience?

The one thing that many Social Media account owners overlook, is how important it is to know their audience.