Word of Mouth now happens online. People are talking up their favourite businesses directly; they’re consuming and sharing content they find useful or entertaining from those businesses, and they’re asking connections for recommendations. This topic is brought to you by our partnership with Constant Contact.
Your business has an opportunity to be part of more of these conversations, but first, let’s get back to some basics.
People like to Talk about their successes.
The more you can do to keep your business top of mind and make it easy for others to talk about you, the more you increase the chances of people recommending or seeking you out when they need what you offer.
Beyond being part of the conversation, you must understand what people may find when they go looking for your business specifically by name, or by something your business offers.
And, of course, be aware that if people don’t find your business when they go looking online, it begs the question, “Does your business even exist?”
What do people find when they go looking online for your business?
It’s no secret that people turn to search engines like Google to get more information about the businesses they’re investigating. Let’s take a look at some of the things, including what is now considered word of mouth, that may show up on a search engine results page (or SERP) when someone searches for a business by name:
- Paid ads
- Organic (non-paid) search results
- Google My Business listing
- Social Media accounts
- Reviews
- Info from other sites
Example using “Constant Contact” as the search term
(click here for a LARGER image – a new tab will open)
What if people are looking for something your business offers?
In the example, we searched for a specific business — Constant Contact — by name. But, people don’t always search by name. Sometimes they know they want to buy a product or a service, but they don’t know who offers it. Then they type in a more generic search term, like “restaurants near me” or “tax preparers.”
Let’s take a look at an example of online Word of Mouth marketing.
Imagine you were throwing a dinner party and you want to impress your friends with a selection of cheeses not found at the grocery store. So you jump on your computer or mobile device and search “cheese shops near me.” Here’s an example of what may come up — of course, your actual results will differ.
Notice that “cheese shops near me” brings up the listings in Google Maps first. This information comes from Google My Business profiles (more on that later).
This is Part One of a three-part series. Be sure to join us for content delivered to you by filling out the form below, or on the pop-up, or in the sidebar of this blog.
Everything we do in business is surrounded by the messages that we put out, however, most of us — if not all of us — did not get into business to write about it. I’m William Dickinson, owner of Cortex Marketing and I specialize in creating compelling content and engaging marketing when business owners find it difficult to create it themselves.
Compelling and Engaging Content, Copywriting and Marketing Development | Get Seen. Get Heard. Get Noticed.
Contact me or call me direct: 1-888-502-3523