How many times have you said, “The best advertising on the planet is Word-Of-Mouth!” You’re right it is! What most Small Business owners often don’t realize is that Social Media is “Word-of-Mouth” advertising! Are you taking advantage of the benefits?
Let me explain. In days gone by we all had time to set down in the evening, enjoy something cool to drink and talk to all our friends and neighbors about…. what we did today? …..how we solved that problem?…. where we found that ultra cool bicycle or…? I wish I could figure out what happened to those times?
Now how do you do it? You read that text that Joey sent you, you catch Jack’s comments on Face Book and Jill on Twitter! But it’s more that than….when you go looking for goods or services what do you do? You get your phone book or newspaper? Not likely! You grab your smart phone and do a Google Search, usually a Google Voice Search. It goes something like, “OK Google Bicycles Riato California” …. and the phone says, “Here is Don’s Bicycles Riato California.” Oh yeah that’s the place Joey was talking about…where he got that hot deal! I can’t remember what Jill was Tweeting about!!
Then when we get to the online page we stop and read the reviews of other customers. Why? We want to get a feel for what others think of the place.
By the way… this is a common path to doing business now days! In fact online reviews have a huge effect on decision making and the search engine delivery of your search. There’s a lot more to it actually. Your friends, contacts, previous searches, geo-location and many other factors affect what Google renders for you in any given search. Where does all of this material come from….most of it comes from the businesses Google+ Local page. Maps, directions, addresses, contact information, customers reviews, business description, methods of payment and almost anything else you want to know is right there for the customer’s convenience.
So let’s see …Word-of-Mouth; 1.) you heard about the place from a friend who may have done business there 2.) you read the reviews of others that had done business there.
So where are you advertising your business? Google+ is free. Customers are coming to you everyday online. You Do Not need a website to benefit from Google+, Google Searches and Google Maps. It just takes a little effort.
Need help….have questions or comments….I would enjoy hearing from.