Small Business Summer School

Good. Morning, or, good afternoon depending on, where you are school, is now in session, I hope you're in the right spot my, name is Whitney Cox I'm on the small business marketing team at Google and I am thrilled to be coming to you live from New York where, I'll be hosting the, small business, summer school livestream, we. Are so excited we, have a little more than half we're a little more than halfway through the year and to help you prepare for a strong second, half of 2018, we have constant, contact Google LinkedIn. And Vistaprint coming, together to, help you learn, about lessons, to help grow your business and prepare, you for a successful 2.h. And holiday, season. All. Right I am thrilled, that we will be having a packed, agenda for, you today first, we have Julia Cabral from LinkedIn, teaching. You about social marketing, 101 Dave. Stress from Constant Contact teaching. You about email marketing 101. Thirdly. We'll have Stasia KU dress from google teaching you local, marketing, 101, and then lastly Kristin Johnson from visa print is going to be teaching you about holiday. Marketing, 101. Then. Following, those back-to-back presentations. We, will have a live Q&A, where, we'll bring all four presenters, back, on the screen to, take your questions, live to. Ask one head, to Twitter and post your question with the hashtag small, biz, school, and then, stay tuned to, possibly, hear it answered, live all, right with that to, kick us off get those pencils, and the notepads ready for your first lesson we. Have social marketing, 101 with, Julia Cabral. Hi. My, name is Julia Cabral I lead small business consumer, marketing for LinkedIn and I'm excited to talk to you guys today about how you should market yourselves, socially, on LinkedIn first. Let's start with why as a, business, owner you're the face of your business and how you show, up on LinkedIn establishes. Credibility not. Just for yourself but also for your business, people. And your customers, want to do business with people that they know that they like and that they trust LinkedIn. Gives you the opportunity to, establish yourself, as someone who's credible and someone who your customers, will want to do business with so. Today will give you everything you need to know to market yourself and, your business on LinkedIn we'll, talk about the power of your profile, your, connections, and how you should interact with your network the. Bottom line is that LinkedIn is an opportunity, not to be missed market, yourself and, establish, credibility for, yourself as the face of your business as well, as for your company let's. Dive right in it, all, starts with your profile so that's where we're gonna start today. Throughout. The session we're gonna use derek as an example derek. Is fictional. But i guarantee, you his story is made up of real stories that we see every day on linkedin, for. The sake of example let's, say that derek started his own design, agency, which is called low design and is based in minneapolis, again. For sake, of example, let's pretend that i am looking for a design agency and i'm looking for someone in minneapolis. I've, heard great things about, Derek, and about Lowe design so, what do you think the first thing I'm gonna do is, most. People, like, me would go and start their search for Derek on Google, so. I'd go to Google I type in Derek's name and I'd hit Enter the great thing about LinkedIn, profiles, is that they are built specifically, to be optimized, for searches so, that means when I type Derek's name in and I get my list of Google search results the link to Derek's profile, is very likely close, to the top there and I invite you to try that for yourself try googling your own name and see, what happens see if your own LinkedIn profile shows up within that first set of search results I bet you it does, so.

Let's Say I googled, Derek and I click on his name, I want to check out who he is and I want to consider doing business, with Derek if, Derek's. Profile, isn't filled out and looks like this he, is totally missing, an opportunity to, connect with me a potential, customer. Total. Missed opportunity, so, let's help Derek, fill out his profile. It. All starts with a photo a photo is, so so critical to making yourself visible, on LinkedIn we've, got some great stats on this slide you, get nine times more connection, requests, twenty to one times more profile, views and 36. Times more messages when you add a photo to your profile so, this is super important, it. Doesn't have to be a professional, headshot in fact it doesn't have to be a professionally, taken photograph. At all you. Could totally take a selfie, with a neutral, background the, most important, thing is that your face is front and center and whatever you're wearing reflects, the type of business that you're in I probably. Wouldn't, take a picture of myself with. A selfie, at a bar and crap out my friends and my drinks but anything with a neutral background that focuses, on your face and who you are is totally, fine, so. Once you've got your profile. Let's. Start, adding more information. One. Thing that we recommend is to add your industry, it seems a little bit nuanced, but we see over 300,000. People searching. On LinkedIn every, week and using. That industry, filter when they search so. If you're in the design agency, like Derek is make, sure you show up in LinkedIn search results when someone's looking for designers, so. Adding, industry, to your profile is a little-known tip that can help you become discovered, much, more frequently like, it says on the screen you can get up to nine times more profile, views so, that's a really important, piece of your profile. The. Next thing is to use your summary section that, summary section shows up right below your face and your title on your LinkedIn profile and sometimes. It feels a little bit intimidating. To encounter a blank box and figure out what to put in it but you're, a small business owner and small business owners often have the most amazing, stories about why they went into business and so I would recommend that you use your summary section to really share that story with the world so use, that, blank box and start, talking about what got you into business and why you do what you do that'll. Really help you create a common, bond with your customers, give. Them something to read that will sound compelling, and make them feel like they want to work with you furthermore. You should be strategic, here use, key words in that story so. Each, key word that you use will help you optimize your profile and show up even higher in search results so. For someone like Derek who works in the design industry and lives in Minneapolis we, would definitely want him to include key words like graphic, design and Minneapolis, right there in his summary section don't.

Forget As a small business owner you have an amazing story to tell the world and I think this summary section is one of the best places on LinkedIn that really helps you give visibility, to your story. We. Also encourage, you to create a page for your, business on LinkedIn, you, can do this by navigating from. The top bar to the icon that says work, with a with nine little squares up in the top right this. Allows you to give your business a presence, on LinkedIn and, it, also allows you to upload a logo that can then show up on your personal profile, that really helps solidify the brand of your business and connect it to your own identity on LinkedIn so get, started by clicking on that work icon, in the upper right from, there click on create a company page there, are only a few steps to get started it's super simple and you can just follow the prompts. Once. You've done that you're able to add that work experience, at your company to, your profile and your logo will show up and people will be able to see who. Someone is for instance derek miller here, we'd see him and we'd see that he works at Lowe design and that he's the founder super. Important, to really tie together that brand of yourself and of your company for you as the business owner we. Also see that people who create, work experience, and really fill that out once, again get more connection, requests, more profile views and more messages so. This is another super, important, piece of your LinkedIn profile it's. Another great opportunity to get a little bit more specific, about your role at the company so as the founder as the owner what. Exactly do you do what types of customers, do you try to connect with. If. You're. In a visual field you also have the opportunity to add multimedia, to, your experience, section so, for someone like Derek this is a great opportunity to. Add, videos. To add pictures to add graphics, examples. Of the types of work that Derek does if you, have white papers or customer, testimonials. This is another great opportunity, to showcase that. Finally. It was the last thing for your profile we. Think, it's a great idea for small business owners to add recommendations. It's, really easy to do once you're editing your profile, you scroll all the way down to, the bottom and there's a prompt to ask someone for a recommendation you, can type in their name and specify. That they were a client of yours and then, it'll give you the option to reach out to them with a customized, message you, could even pre write the recommendation you want them to give this. Is a great way for people, who have worked with you to, show that they've worked with you and show that they liked working with you and have that show up right on your LinkedIn profile once, again this is a great way to establish your credibility so. If I had worked with Derek in the past I could write an amazing recommendation, about all the design services, that he did for me and then, other people who are considering, working with Derek would be able to see my recommendation, think about how powerful that is in terms of establishing your credibility both.

For Yourself and for your business. All. Right. So, once you have a great profile, let's, talk about finding connections because, let's, face it LinkedIn, is more fun when you have connections, a. LinkedIn. Connection, means that, you'll never lose touch sometimes. Your email or your address might, change but, once you're connected with someone on LinkedIn you're connected for life so, it's super super important, to make, LinkedIn connections, with people that you want to be able to stay in touch with long term. We. Recommend, that you connect with two different types of people existing. People that you already know and the, new people that you want to get to know better in terms. Of existing people some, ideas for, folks, that you should connect with include your, recent clients, your suppliers, other, business, owners in your community, your, family and your friends colleagues and alumni from wherever you went to school sometimes. You never know who's, gonna know that person that you're trying to get touch with so again, imagine, that, Derek. Wants to bring me on as a new customer and he discovers, that we have a mutual connection, someone that we both went to college with, leveraging. That mutual connection to get an introduction, to me could be strategically, very. Important, for Derek to bring me on as a new client. So. Then we also like to think about who, else should you connect with that you might not know personally, yet think. About every day if, you're, at an event with you know 10 plus people and you all turn fine on find nearby you'll see the list of everyone in the room and you'll all be able to connect with each other right away super, super efficient. Great. So. One more thing about connections. We want to talk about etiquette because, sometimes, people have questions, about when. I reach out to someone on LinkedIn what should I say how. Should that sound etc so. We want to give you some tips there one. Of the biggest tips is to always customize, your message so, when you send a connection request on length maybe you haven't met before so make. It personal, always, use their name feel. Free to play the small business card you know hey I see you're also a small business owner I'm looking to connect with people who are in my local community and experiencing. Some of the same things I am I think that's a great way to introduce, yourself, some. Things that we don't recommend are you. Know making it impersonal, or overly, salesy remember, you want to nurture these potential, customers, and these new connections, so, don't, feel like you have to sell your product right off the bat and. Make sure that when you personalize. It you use, the right name and you trust, me it's happened before and. That he would say something about wanting. To connect and, wanting, to meet, up in Minneapolis, or something, like that to just start the conversation without, actually pushing his business on me right off the bat. Okay. So now you've got a great profile, you know about how to connect with people let's. Talk about interacting. With, your network on LinkedIn, so. Once, Derek has established his credibility.

With His great profile and he's built out a network of connections, he's, gonna start engaging with his network to really drive more customers and more, eyeballs, to his business, and to himself on LinkedIn. So. The first and easiest way to get started doing this is to start paying attention to what's happening on your newsfeed, liking. And commenting is, super, lightweight and allows you to join the conversation without. Having to put in too much effort it's. Really, really easy so just start reading that newsfeed, and liking, things that are relevant to your business maybe, to your industry maybe to where you live and. If you have something interesting to add to the conversation go. Ahead and add a comment again super easy just gets you sort of in the door and interacting, with your newsfeed. Another. Really important, thing to look out for is. Something like a job change so, let's, imagine that. Derick, has a customer, who's, been an amazing customer for ten years and that person takes a new job at a new company, Derek. Would see a notification on, LinkedIn, that his old customer, has changed jobs this, is a perfect, time for Derek to reach out to the cub to, the customer and potentially. Got get brought into the new company super. Strategic, so watch your LinkedIn newsfeed and try to identify moments. Like that when, people are making moves and you, can strategically reach, out to them and see if you can get further introductions, so keep, an eye on that newsfeed and really, think about how you can interact with the people that are moving around in your network. Once. You start liking and commenting it's. A great thing to start posting yourself, we're, really advocating, for video because we're seeing that video is being shared more than 20 times more. Across, the platform so, much like other social platforms videos, really caught on I would say LinkedIn is no exception. I'm gonna give you a personal, example from, my own life when. I'm not working in marketing at LinkedIn I actually teach, cycling, classes at a small, local business in San Francisco and for. National Small Business Week I really wanted to recognize my, studio, and my co-workers at the studio and the entire small business community, so, I shot a video of myself at 5:45, in the morning preparing.

For Class and I, wrote a little post on LinkedIn to accompany the video where, I'd mentioned, the studio where I work and I, called out by name a few, of my favorite clients that I love to work with and then, I hashtag, National, Small Business Week I was. Totally, shocked by the amount of traction that this video got it was viewed over 9,000, times within the first couple days, I had a ton of likes and a ton of comments. And, I just really couldn't believe how excited, were people to were. To watch my dorky, video of myself at 5:45. In the morning preparing, to teach a spin class and the. Other thing that I noticed was, that the views of my LinkedIn profile increased, by over 400%. Week, over week that. Seems incredible, in terms of getting eyeballs on my profile you. Might be wondering how I knew that, LinkedIn. Exposes, some really unique information, about, who looks at your profile it's, really hard to find this information anywhere, else so be sure that you check it out if you're, a free LinkedIn member you'll be able to see the most recent five people who viewed your profile, in the last 90 days and you can upgrade to premium to see the full list this. Is a great thing to keep an eye on and again let's go back to the example with Derek and think about how you can use this page strategically. As a small business owner so. Let's pretend this is Derek's who's viewed my profile page and if you look closely you'll see that I Julia crawl have, viewed Derek's profile sometime, in the last 90 days so. If I were Derek and I saw this this would be a perfect, time to recognize. That a potential, customer was, viewing my profile this, is such a strong signal that Derek has a great opportunity to reach out to me so. If I were Derek I would see who's been viewing my profile identify, any potential, customers, on that list and then say hey I noticed, you were checking me out I would love to talk to you more about the services I offer I think that's a perfectly. Great lead-in so, keep an eye on that who's viewed my profile page and watch, how when you post more content the, views of your profile go up. Okay. I've covered a lot and so. Let's take a quick moment to review if, we go back to our friend Derek, he used his profile and his network to establish his credibility and, connect with key people to, help him and his business stay, top of mind, so. I'll urge you to take a moment to think about what your own LinkedIn profile looks like I know a lot of people feel, like it's a heavy, lift to update your LinkedIn profile, but really take a moment to reflect because. You're a small business owner and you have an amazing story to tell and your LinkedIn profile can be an incredible, asset and helping you tell that story in a really visible way so. Go back to your profile, invest is 20 or 30, and, thinking, about how your story can come to life on LinkedIn. Beyond. That there are a ton of other things that you can do on LinkedIn from, hiring employees to, paid marketing products there's, a ton more information, for you and it's all available at small business LinkedIn, com everything. I covered will be there and then information.

On All of our other products is there as well so I'll urge you to go to small business LinkedIn, comm to. Recap, what we just learned and then learn even more thank. You so much so, glad to talk to you this morning I'm gonna bring up Dave next, Davis, from Constant Contact and, he's going to talk about email marketing 101 Thanks. Hello. Hello everyone Dave here from Constant, Contact and, thank you so, much for. Joining me for email. Marketing 101. So. Today, we're gonna discuss how, you can prepare, for, a strong. Second, half of the holiday season and the second half of the year and we're. Gonna talk about the fundamentals, of email marketing now, why, is this so important, for your business well. Plain, and simple, email, marketing drives. Holiday. Sales, email. Actually, accounted for 20%, in 2017. Of online, holiday site, visits, email. Also demonstrated. The highest conversion rate of digital sales on Black Friday through, Cyber Monday and. 77%. Of consumers. Prefer, email over, social media for permission-based. Promotional, messages. So, with that information in mind here's, what we're gonna cover today. We're. Gonna talk about how, to collect email, addresses now. So, you actually set yourself, up for more success during the holiday season then, we're gonna talk about how to engage to. Strengthen, those relationships with, those new contacts, and then, we're gonna talk through a few email, tips and ideas, leading. Up to the, holiday season so, first. Up is how to collect email addresses now. It's pretty obvious right, that the more email addresses you, have, the more ability, you have to contact more people, to encourage them to do business with you again and, again now this is important, because. If. Once someone leaves your store or leaves your website, you're, really just leaving it up to them on whether or not they're gonna come back to your store or website again but when you have their email address, you have that opportunity to, contact. Them again and encourage, them to come back so, this. Is why it's really important. That you practice your, ABCs. So. What do I mean by ABC's that's, always be, collecting. Email, addresses and, there are basically three ways that you can do this that means collecting, email addresses in, person, in print, and online, now. Constant, Contact as, you might imagine offers. Plenty of ways to help you do, this in each of these scenarios whether, it's scanning business, cards with our mobile app or. Hanging. Up signs around your store to allow people to text in their email address to you or. Using. Pop-up forms on your website all of these are ways for you to be always be collecting, email.

Addresses Now. Here are a few things to think about when you're actually collecting these email addresses, here's. Tip number one for you one, of the things that you want to make sure that you don't do is ask. People to join your email list I know that sounds a little reverse right the. Idea here is that nobody. Wakes up in the morning although one, of the first things that they do is check their email, nobody really wakes up in the morning saying I can't wait to receive more email today so, you don't want to make it about receiving. More email, so that's tip number one so. What is it then that you want to do well that moves us in to tip number two is to, focus. On what's. In it for them so, we actually asked. Consumers, why, is it that they subscribe, to email lists and they told us three things promotions. And discounts, exclusive. Content, and to, show support of, an organization. So. When. You set this up in a way that you're presenting, something valuable, to them that's, going to give you more, ability. To collect those email addresses to people so more people going to be willing to give up that information for, you so, let's take a look at some examples of how you could ask using, this information, that we know so. If you take a look at the screen here, there is an, example here from a business to consumer business, so this is somebody selling retail and, what, they're doing is instead of saying join, our email list they're saying actually get 15%. Off your next visit they're, sending up some information and their position to get that way so it's positioning, what the person is going to get in exchange for their email address, now. If we look at another example of a business-to-business or, b2b company. Here's, geraldi, consulting, who's actually saying sign up and receive a free consultation, so, it's about the consultation and again not the email list and let's, look at one last example here from a nonprofit organization, here. You can see that they're saying sign, up to receive our free adoption. Guide and this is actually setting up success, on both one helping, their, potential, user. Or email address that they're collecting helping, them you. Know better, use their service by adopting, the right type of animal but also support, the organization. Goals right so, this. Is why it's really important again in all of these scenarios we're not positioning, it as email, but positioning, as what you're going to get in exchange for that email address, so here's, what you need to remember through all of this first, are those ABCs, right always, be collecting, email addresses at, any chance you can whether that's in person, online or, in print secondly. Don't, make it about email, once again focus. On what's. In it for them okay. That's, going to move us here to part two, how. To engage and, strengthen. Relationships. Now, this, is really important, what we recommend, that you do is when somebody joins your email list you want to engage with them right, away and what we recommend is that you do a welcome, series, and that's a series of two emails and I'll show you what those look like in a second but why is this so important. Well, welcome. Emails are actually, incredibly. Effective. Three. Times the transaction. And revenue per email over regular. Promotion emails, is what they drive 86, percent lift in unique open rates a hundred, and ninety-six percent lift, in unique click rates in three, hundred and thirty six percent lift in transaction. Rate so, as you can see welcome, emails that ability to talk to somebody right away after they've joined your list are really important, and incredibly. Effective for you so let's take a look at what that welcomes, Cirie's looks like. So. We recommend sending two emails in this series email, one is on the screen there and this is your welcome, email and, your the idea here is that you're gonna send that email to, someone immediately. Once. They enter their email address they're gonna check their inbox and they're gonna find this email here and the goal here is to deliver the asset, that you promised, them so in this example you'll see they enjoy the 15% off that we had talked about right. Once they get that information you'll also be able to welcome them to your list let, them know that you're glad that you've joined them and then set expectations, or reaffirm, those expectations of, what they're going to get from you moving. Forward, okay so, that's email, number one the welcome email now. If we move to email number two we call this our invitation. To connect, now, this is something you're gonna send a few days later and the idea is to invite, them to connect with you or let them know how they can reach you right, so if you're active, on social media channels.

You're Going to want to put those channels there so that they know that they can connect, with you there now, not only does that give you another opportunity to stay in front of them and stay top of mind with these contacts, but if they engage with you on those social channels, that's, actually, an opportunity, to get in front of their connections, which, also make great prospects, for your business, the, other piece here is also that just let them know the pertinent information about your store whether that's a physical location or online and let them know those ways that they can contact. You okay so. Let's, recap here what, you want to remember to do when you're creating this welcome series and engaging with new contacts, is you want to make a timely, and relevant, first. Impression, in the inbox, secondly. You want to deliver on those promises what, did you offer in exchange for that email address what are they going to come back to you for and then, lastly make, sure that you send that second email that invites, them to connect with you beyond, the inbox or you have more opportunities. Okay so. Now. Let's move into some email tips and ideas that you can do now leading, up to the holiday season so here. Are some ideas the, first thing here I want to mention to you is you want to make sure that, you plan, your, work, consistency. Is really important, when it comes to marketing, and a. Lot of times what you'll do is you'll get started, with something you'll have the best intentions to do it but your everyday life of running a business is going to come up and if. You don't have a plan you're, going to come up last-minute and say oh I was supposed to send an email and then what happens is you end up not doing it right and so you really want to make sure you put a plan in place and we recommend that if anything, you send or plan on sending at least once, a month now you can and should send more than that but at the very least plan, on sending once a month and then, the other piece of this is as you're planning that think about how you can personalize, those messages that you're sending out and actually, automate, part of those processes for, you so it doesn't screw. Up your day to day of running the business okay so that's tip number one plan your work, secondly. You, want to make sure that you're designing for today's audiences. Now. 56%. Of emails, are actually, opened on a mobile device and, so that's why it's really important, when you use a service, provider like Constant, Contact all, of the templates and emails that you create are actually going to be mobile, responsive, and basically, what that means is that those emails are going to adapt to whatever screen, that they're being read on so whether that's a tablet the desktop or a mobile phone they're gonna look great across all of those devices now.

The Other piece here is you. Know gone are those days where. You were taking a paper newsletter and then just transferring, it to a digital format, with tons of information that you're throwing at at somebody, what, we find is that the emails that work best are emails, that are focused, on trying to get somebody to achieve, a particular goal your bit and go for your business but there's one action that you want to have somebody take. Right so anything, that's in your email that does not help somebody take that action, is what, we'd consider non-essential. And you want to remove that information so, you can focus on getting, somebody, to do what, it is that you want them to do next now, simply to think about this is picture. Paragraph. Call-to-action. Okay, let's. Move to our third tip here, now. Our third tip and we mentioned this a little bit before how we ask for email addresses but the idea is to remember to always be, providing. Value. Focus. On the customer focus on the contact, what, is it that they want to receive, from you right we mentioned, promotions, and discounts Rivera, mention, mentioned exclusive, content, and revenge, and ways for done justice show, support, right so, think. About the things that you can provide them in relation to your product or service that will help add value. To the conversations, that you're having with people now. We know a big term a lot of people use is email, blasts, and what I like to encourage you to do is stop, using that term don't think about it in terms of an email blast because when you do that it actually presents. This image of just shooting out information to people right and the idea is that there are actually people at the end of that and you want to provide that value to, people so think about it as sending messages. To people, rather than a blast of information, right and then look for ways that you can actually ask for feedback find. Out what, it is that they're looking to receive from you ask them encourage. Them to engage with you because the more people do that the more connected they feel to your business and the better you can use that information to create more personalized. Messages, and get ideas for, the types of things that, you're going to send to people so. The thing to remember here, is that you want to make sure that you plan for consistency. You, want to design for today's audiences. And you want to make sure that you're always providing. Value, to your email contacts, so, let's just recap everything, that we've talked about here today because, this is gonna set you south and set yourself up for even more holiday. Success coming, at the end of the season so remember. Be, collecting, email addresses now. For, a strong end of the year do, that everywhere you can make. Sure that you're engaging with, people immediately. To strengthen, those relationships, with new contacts, and then, make sure that the message that you're sending in some way provide, value, to the contacts, so. You can get better results and, I'll leave you with one. Last thought you. Can, do this and I just want to remind you that Constant, Contact is here with these powerful easy-to-use, tools, world-class. Support, and education. When, you need it to help you be, more successful. Thank. You so much for your time today I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you and with, that I'm gonna pass it off to say Jie about. Local, marketing, 101. Thank, you. Hi. Everybody, I'm Statia, and I'm from Google's get your business online team today. I'm gonna talk about how you can get a head start on the holiday shopping season using. A product called, Google my business and you, can use that to connect to local shoppers, who are searching for you in their, moments, of need so.

You Might be thinking it's the middle of July why, are we actually talking about holiday. Shopping right. Now well. The answer, to that question, is that it is not too soon it is time to start we. Have found that, 55%. Of. Searchers, are actually. Beginning their research, in October. Or even, earlier I can't, see our hands out there I know there are lots of people watching but, how many of you out there have already started thinking maybe some of you even purchased, holiday, gifts, for, this upcoming season, what, that translate, to you to you as a business owner is that it is time to start getting ready for this you, need to make sure that. When people are searching and, they typically search online that, they can find your, business when they're looking for products, and services at, that, moment in time and, today. I'm going to show you one easy way to do that that free tool called Google, my business, so. Here. Is the agenda for today I'm going to talk about three, different things I'm going to talk about first. Some trends, that can help you get started thinking. About what. People are doing this shopping season then. I'll introduce Google. My business and, show you how, to set it up and some of the things that are inside and then, third I'll offer four, tips for getting the most out, of Google, my business to, help you collect connect, to those local shoppers, this holiday, season and not only that but actually to engage with them so with that let's, get started so let's, start with those trends, I mentioned, that shoppers are beginning, their research is there research on products and services really, early, but, here's another interesting piece, to that it's that, shoppers. Maybe researching. Early but many of them won't, actually commit, until the very last minute, if we, look at search, queries, what people are typing into, Google we, see that the search for this query where, to buy, actually. Peaks on December. 24th. Can you imagine that all those last-minute, shoppers, are thinking where to buy this, gift now. Another, thing that's really interesting is, that mobile. Searches for, the search query, store. Hours, is actually. Peaking, on December. 25th. It is, the highest day, of the year for that particular, search, so, that gives you some idea as a business, owner that you want to appear you want to show those customers, that you are open and available and have the gifts that they're looking for up until that, very last. Minute. Another. Thing that we are seeing in, the research is that people, who are searching are looking for very specific answers. To the questions, that that type in the questions being about those search queries so, as an example people. Might be looking for a particular product, or service but also for a category, as, an. Example they might look for gifts, for co-workers. Or gifts, for hairdressers and, they, expect. That the results, that they see on that search engine results page will, help them find exactly.

What They're looking for, at that place in that moment in time or maybe, even to go a step further and to tell them what it is that they're actually looking, for in the first place, the. Third trend, that I wanted, to address today, was, that shoppers, are increasingly. Turning towards, video you. Should try to use every, content, format available to you to help people understand. The products, and services, that your company has available, but increasingly, video, is playing an incredibly, important. Role we're. Finding that more and more people are, exploring. Those products, and watching, those videos to, learn about what, it is and how to use them and how to set them up if, you've heard about a video type called an unboxing video where someone opens up a product and sets it up if you're wondering, if people watch them they really really, do according. To statistics, just. Looking at mobile devices, if we counted, the number of, hours, spent watching, unboxing. Videos we, could watch the movie Love Actually, more, than 20, million, times. So. Let's talk about how. We can actually capitalize. On all of, these trends, that we're seeing and, help, our business get found by searchers, during this upcoming holiday. Season and I, will be talking about Google my business it is one part of your solution, for showing up to those customers when they're searching for you online, it connects. Customers. To your business on Google search, and on, Google Maps by providing. Important. Information about your business like your store hours and bid, customer, reviews and your hours of operation, and a description. It also gives, features, it provides features that helps those users who find you actually. Connect, with your business and engage with your business online. Before. I get into them I want to first show you what it actually looks, like the anatomy. Of a Google my business listing. When someone sees it on Google or from, a mobile device or a desktop computer the. First thing that they will see is an overview, of the business they'll see your address, they'll see your contact, information, your hours, of operation and more for. Any of you out there who had a Google my business listing. And then notice. That they didn't have a description well good news is description, is back so, you can actually write, an introduction, that explains, what your business is about you. Have the ability to go in and update this, information, when things change, adding. Videos adding, photos to allow customers see what you've got what your storefronts. Might look like it's another great idea during, the holiday, shopping season to, add more photos to show what kinds of holiday displays, you have or what kind of holiday decor, that, you're adding you, can also see, reviews, here and Quick Links that we'll get to you get you to any of these different sections within, this Google my business listing. Before. You. Can do this, all of the things that I'm talking about today including. Updating. The information, on Google my business you, need to first either create, or, claim your listing so. The, way that works is you will go to google.com, slash. Business, and from there you will follow the steps to, go through and either end your information. About your business or say yep that is my business, once. You've filled in all this information make, sure you're signed in to the Google account that's associated with your business you. Will be asked, to verify, or. Claim. That listing, what, that means is that you are proving, that you are the owner of that information. Typically. Verification. Is handled, by mailing. A postcard, to your physical, address, once. That postcard, arrives, it will have a pin code inside that you can then enter into your account and that proves that the mail got there you, have the pin code and that listing, is yours to edit and update so. That is your first order of business to make sure that, you have created that listing and you're starting, with that verification, process, because, that will need to happen before, the updates, that I'm going to show you can go live. So. Let's talk about the, different, ways let's, assume you've done all that that you can leverage what's, inside, Google, my business to. Grow and connect, with those local customers I'm going to show you four, tips to help you connect with them today. Tip. Number one we, mentioned that you have the option to confirm. Your, business, hours and that's, really important. Because we, have found based, on people search queries, that 40%, of, searchers, looking, for local businesses, actually want, to find their hours, of operation and, remember.

When, On December, 25th, that is the biggest day of the year for the search first store hours, but. What about all those others that the other day is the days when you have irregular, hours those holiday, shopping hours, that's, where you can go into Google, my business and, actually. Proactively, let, people, know that, you have special, hours, for, the holiday, this. Is what it would look like on a search engine results page you see two screenshots one. Screenshot shows, a confirmed, hours, of operation, the other shows unconfirmed. What that means is that the owner of the business that, shows the confirmed screenshot, went, into Google my business and, actually. Went to their, special. Our section. And said, we are open, from 9:00, until 10:00. P.m. on, Christmas. Eve, as an example and then, that will show up on the search engine results pages that business owner having proactively. Said yes we have special, hours for that location you, can do this in advance so if you know right now what, your hours are going to be for the rest of the holidays, for the year for special days when your business has to close earlier, is going to stay open late for an event you, can go in and add those hours, into your Google my business listing. Here. Is how you do it first, of all sign into Google my business and. Then, second, go into edit the information. About your business find. The section that's, labeled, special, hours, from. There you can confirm, the hours next to a listed, holiday, or click, add a new date to choose a different a different date to add into, that, schedule, for your business, and when, you're finished click apply, this, will then send your special, hours live assuming. You have verified, your, business, listing, already, the. Second, tip I wanted to show you today is reviews. I want you to encourage, every, business, owner out there to. Ask happy. Customers, to give feedback about, their, experience, with your products, your services your. Business if appropriate and it's, important, because two, out of three customers, say that having positive, reviews was an important, factor, when, they were selecting, a business or a store to purchase from it provides, valuable, information for, people who are searching about, your business about their experience, with your business and it can really help your business stand. Out so, remind, your customers after, every interaction, to take a few minutes and to write review another great thing that you can do with, Google my business is, that once you've verified the. Listing, you, have the ability to go in and reply, as the business, owner and that's going to help show that you are engaged. You are listening, to your customers and have, responses. For them for anything. That they have to say about, your business your products, and services, another. Way, that you can help encourage people, to write reviews is to share a link to be able to do that and what. You can do is actually, do a search on Google and, then, find, your Google my business listing. You, will see a link on that, listing, that says write, a review from. There you can copy and paste the URL that you see in your address bar and then, you can share that and when, customers, click on that link it'll take them straight to the place where, they can then write, a review about your, your business keep. In mind that Google's, official policy. Does not allow you to incentivize. Customers. To write a review but, it is absolutely, appropriate for, you to say to them hey thanks. So much for coming in thanks so much for buying this thing doing this doing business with us please, if you have a few minutes let people know that you had a good experience with us and write a review here on Google my business, the. Third tip that I wanted to talk about today is one of my favorite, new ways that you can help your Google my business listing, fresh and up-to-date it's, called posts. You, can now post, directly. To your listing to promote events and, products, and services, across, Google search and maps in this, example, on the screen you, see a post from honest, soul yoga, from Alexandria. Virginia and, they're promoting, four days of deals if you, look at the details of the post you'll see a photo a catchy, title, information, about. The deal and a call to action button to learn more, once. You publish a post like this it will appear online with your listing within a few minutes and it, will stay live for, seven days across, search in maps the. One exception, to that would, be if you were publishing, about an event and if the event was happening in say two weeks, the, post would stay live up until, that event, end date, you, can, use posts, in a variety of different ways this screenshot, shows you several, example, of how you might use it you, can use them to make announcements, you, can use them to talk, about events, or to showcase. Products, or build awareness let's, look at some of the examples the first one you can see an announcement from Tico VA's boots where, they are moving to, or there wouldn't be planning to open a new showroom for, their western boots the, second, one, that you see is an, announcement from the mizura from, Missouri star quilt company, and, their.

Small Business celebrated. Their ninth birthday and, so, they want to let everyone know that they were having a birthday bash. The, third example, you see is a product. Feature from, a business called the natural baby company, and they have these really super, cute baby. Teethers, that are shaped like ice cream cones and they're using posts, to feature that the. Fourth is also, from the baby company and they're showing that they moved locations and, they can actually see a map that helps people find their new storefront and the, last example you see is showcasing. The ability, to actually, add a coupon, code or promo, code an offer code directly. Into your post so, think about who, your audience is, who, are you trying to reach who are you trying to attract, during, this holiday shopping season, and then, think about what kinds, of posts, you can create, to, help best connect, with them and hopefully, convince, them to come in and do business with, your small business here. Are some tips for writing a, great post first, of all consider what type you're writing again, what it is what is it that you want this post to actually, do and that will help you decide is it an announcement, it is an event is it a time-sensitive, deal, think, about the visuals, that you plan to incorporate high, quality, videos that are in focus, and well-lit and bright, colors, that can help it stand out you, can also upload, videos, with a maximum, duration of 30 seconds, file size of 100 megabytes, for an, event you actually, have the ability to add a title, up to 58 characters, about four or five words one, quick tip here is that the name of your business is already going to appear with this post so, you don't need to include the name of your business with the title which will give you more room to work with and last, but not least always add, a, call. To action tell people what it is that they want what you want them to do with, this post I said, last but not least but there's still one more thing there's a description in there so about that CTA, you can have a description, as well just, to let you know you have a maximum. Size of. 1,500. Characters. For that description. But best practices, would be about 150. To, 300 characters, okay. Let's move on the, fourth and final tip, is to use videos. To promote your products, and services because, remember going back to our trends, we talked about how important, video is to today's searchers. Today's, consumers. Well now you can add them directly into, those posts, again. It has a limit. Of 30 seconds, with up to 100 megabytes, for a post and here, you can see two examples of what potential, customers, might see, if they, were looking at a post with, a video, for, your business listing, now. You might wonder exactly. How much impact, a 30-second. Video could have on a potential, customer and the, short answer is a ton if you, structure, your video, content, in a way that. Really resonates. With those customers it can have an enormous impact.

Capturing. Their attention, especially paired. With a call to action that helps them figure out what it is that they're supposed to do next but, what is it that makes video, content, effective, how are we going to get the next viral hit I wish, there was a simple recipe, for that but there are some, tips that you can keep in mind that can help you come up with a great video first, of all focus. On the front end because people, really, really have, a few, seconds, before they, will decide whether or not they're going to move on and watch something else, so another, way to present, this is to say front load your story arc that means put, all the good stuff up front and catch, them as soon as you can. Secondly. Brand. Placement is important. But you need to find that balance you don't want to make it too salesy, instead. Try to connect. Try to make an emotional connection. With. The person watching that video, you really, try to tell, a story, and bring, them into that video so they can see themselves in that scenario or, try to be funny we have found that videos, that incorporate, humor can really, have a high. Impact on brand, awareness and, retention. As well last. But not least provide, a very clear call to action for, all the things that you do online you always want to finish by telling a customer, what it is that they should do next, so. With that let's, recap, what we covered today the. First order, of business is, reviewing. Your Google my business listing. If you haven't got one yet you need to create, and claim that listing, and make, sure that all of the basic, info, that you see is accurate. And up to date now. To go specifically. Into our holiday, shopping tips, first, confirm, your special, hours so holiday, shoppers know when, you're open for business. Second. Of all encourage. Happy customers, to write reviews about their experience, so people, will feel comfortable saying yep this is the store where I can go in and find what I'm looking for and have a good experience third. Try, creating, posts, they can really do a great job showcasing, products. And services, and offers, and events that can help your business listings, stand out online, last. But not least include. A video in your business listing, and posts, with, today's influence, my 14, year old daughter she, watches video half. A day and we're, seeing that that trend is really carrying through and it's a great way for you to connect with holiday, shoppers this, season, so, with that my name is Stasia and I am going to pass the mic to Kristen. Johnson, from Vistaprint and she's, going to talk to you about holiday. Marketing, 101. Hey. Everyone I'm Kristin Johnson and I lead content strategy, at Vistaprint, I'm, here today to, walk you through mr. Prince holiday marketing, guide our step-by-step planning. Guide to help your business stay on track this holiday season and set you up for success. Before. I actually get into the step-by-step guide I want to just share how important, the holiday season is for small business owners in fact. Nearly 1/3 of business owners say, that the holiday time frame the. Success, of their business is entirely, contingent. Upon a successful holiday, season, however. When, it comes to their marketing, they really don't know where to begin, don't only do they feel that they have a lack of fresh ideas but they also don't have a significant, amount of time to actually devote to their marketing during this time.

In. Addition, to time they, also don't, have massive budgets, to devote to their marketing in fact, on average small. Business owners will spend roughly five hundred and sixty dollars on their marketing during this three month time frame. Now. Where, do you allocate those dollars when it comes to their marketing activities, the three primary activities. That they undertake. During the holiday time frame are decorating, their storefronts, creating. And distributing sales and promotions, and coming, up with campaigns, on social media. Now. How can you make the most of the holidays we have our step-by-step guides that I'm going to walk you through chronologically. So you can really understand, where to devote your time and resources during, the holiday season now bear, in mind all of these tips aren't for everyone but hopefully your small business can glean some tips and tricks to apply to your marketing this year. We've. Broken our guide down into three distinct, phases the, first of which you can start as soon as right now and lasting, all the way through until around the October, time frame now. Remember. If you start early you have more time to relax with friends and family when the peak season truly, hits. So. To begin, you're going to want to plan ahead so. Every, good successful, campaign, starts, with a great plan, so, come up with what that holiday plan of attack is going to be for you take, time before, you actually come up with this plan to think and reflect on last year what worked really well what, didn't work so well any learnings, that you were able to gather from the previous, year that you want to apply take, that into account next. You're gonna want to set up some goals and make them concrete specific goals, and you can actually check. Off during the holiday timeframe think, about do you wanna you know perhaps hit a new sales, target, or do you want to reach new audiences think, about what you're gonna be really proud at the end of December to accomplish, and create, actual. Milestones, you can check off during, the year and stay on track. Next. Everyone's favorite, topic is, to. Come up with a holiday, budget think, about what are these costs, that your business is going to incur not only from a marketing, standpoint but, what else do you have to worry about during the time frame is there going to be an increase, in inventory, that you have to think about to sort of hit, this heightened, demand during, the holiday time frame are there employees, that you're going to hire for, any sort of coverage, are there other operating, expenses that you know are going to happen during the holidays that you need to bear in mind before, you can actually come up with a marketing budget that's reasonable, and you feel confident, and comfortable with the. Next you're going to want to come up with backup, the holidays, are really important, and busy, time for everyone, not just for you and your business think, about are there any days in which you know you want to be out are you going to bring in any sort of staff to sort of cover your your shifts during that time think, about what those are planned, those days out and then, hire and train well, in advance. Now. The next, thing is to do some research the. First is to go and look at what your competitors, did in previous years see if there's anything that you are going to want to apply to, your own marketing, plan this year one. Great, idea is to actually go to their social pages look and see what they did, were there any promotions. That they ran that you can potentially alter.

Or Apply to make them work for you any other, social, campaigns, which they actually you, know uniquely, connected with their customers, that you're inspired by it's, a great exercise to do at this stage in your planning, next. You're going to want to do a little bit of market research, now, what I mean by this is going to the source your customers, they're gonna want to understand. What, are sort of the consumer, behaviors. Are buying trends, that you can't anticipate for, this holiday season so do, they plan to spend more than last year this year what are the types of things that they want to you know gift for, their friends, and family is it products, and services, or is it experiences. It's there anything that you can learn from your customers, themselves and, then, update, and potentially, expand, your offerings, to meet those needs. Now. That you're planning is you know check in place you're gonna want to just get your house in order the holiday, season will come very very quickly so the more that you can plan ahead the better first. You're gonna want to really prepare, your inventory, this is also a good time to take and reflect, on last year did, you end up having excess, inventory at, the end of the season, or did you miss out on potential demand by, not ordering enough in advance plan. Ahead get, everything ordered, and then you'll feel much for organized when the peak season hits one. Thing to note though is out also take stock mid season understand. What products, are selling really quickly, what maybe isn't doing so low and then you're gonna want to alter, and update not only your inventory, but your promotional, strategy, accordingly. Your. Website is going to be a very very important, place for your business during the holiday timeframe you're gonna want to clean it up in well in advance. More, and more consumers want to shop online they. Want it to be really convenient, and you need to be able to meet those needs ensure. That your website is up to date for, that increased, amount of traffic during, the holiday timeframe, in, addition, more, and more shoppers are wanting to purchase products, directly from their phones is your, website mobile optimized, if not, now, is a pretty good time to make sure that you've gone through those necessary steps so that your consumers, who are shopping from their phones can actually make an easy transaction, on your site if you. Don't actually sell, your products online but you do have a web presence there's, a couple of things that you may want to update as well first. If you have any sort of seasonal, hours, or promotions, and sales make, sure that you give up that online exposure, to your website so any customers, coming to find you online will, see that information. Now. It's time to come up with your holidays, fales so, I'm talking about Black Friday Small. Business Saturday Cyber. Monday these, are really going to be your major revenue, drivers, during the holiday timeframe so think about what, makes sense for your business to actually participate in if you have a brick-and-mortar location. You're gonna really want to you know focus, on Small, Business Saturday when, consumers are encouraged to go out and shop locally if. You just have an online business maybe cyber monday is the sale that makes a little bit more sense for you whatever. It is figure, out what those sales are what, are the launch dates how do you plan to advertise. What's, your targeting, strategy are you trying to you know reach. Out to new customers. Think all of this through and plan it out accordingly, so you have a plan in place before you actually activate on these activities. This. Is also a great time frame to get some professional photos, you're, going to be spending a lot of money and time creating. Marketing materials, and collateral, that you're going to send out to your customers, and you really want to put your best foot forward so, think, about what are the top products, that you're trying to promote do, you have any seasonal, offerings that you maybe don't already have photography. For take, some time to do a little bit of a photo shoot if you want to be a little bit scrappy, and do it yourself we, actually have a great guide to a perfect photo that, you can see link to on the bottom of this slide that will give you some tips and tricks that you'll be able to apply. Now. You're, ready to come to this different in order and design those, marketing, materials, so, you're.

Gonna Want to think through what are these goals that you have and what are the proper materials, for me to be able to hit those goals whether, it's getting banners. Postcards. Flyers posters. Foam boards, whatever, the products that are going to arm you with like everything, that you need to be successful you're, going to want to purchase think. Through when designing these products as well what, exactly do you want them to say what are the promotion's that you want to be there do you have a call to action whether, it's a limited, time offer a free gift think, of whatever it's going to take for, the consumer, who receives that piece of collateral to, actually come and purchase from you this season. Last. The. Holiday time is a great time to offer some sort of limited, edition product. Or service some, way to sort of tailor, your existing, offering, for the holiday season, is a great idea. We've. Made it through the early phase and now we're into the mid phase this, takes place around the November timeframe and it's typically when some of your bigger sales are going into market and you're really generating, the majority of your revenue for your business. It's. Time to get into the holiday spirit so. What I mean by this is to, sort of haulage eyes your store or your website and most, businesses those, in particular who have an actual brick-and-mortar, location, love to decorate their storefront, in this picture in this example this, is Brooklyn artery, and they were actually inspired by the Macy's, storefront, in Manhattan, and they actually applied, what they had done on you, know a much smaller and more a DIY, way for their business, so, it's a great idea to actually look at these larger companies and see if there's a way that you can be inspired but what what by what they're doing and recreate. It on a smaller scale, for. More inspiration we, also have a guide to, decorating, your storefront that's also linked on this slide and if. You have a website you can do a little bit of a refresher too for the holidays updating. Your photography. Or maybe adding some festive, design, elements, anything, to make you get into the spirit is a great idea in. Addition. To any marketing, collateral it's a great idea to also send, out some holiday, cards for your small. Business customers. Often, business, owners think it's more, of a personal gesture to send a holiday card but, in fact it's actually a great way to show your customers just, how important, they are to you and your business this season in addition. You could even include a holiday card with any new orders that come through on the holiday timeframe as well. Now. Before your major, sales go into market in the mid you know November, timeframe it's a great time to actually say thank you to your customers, so, whether it's sending a thank-you card or a gift either in addition, or in lieu of a holiday card it's, a great idea to maybe send a note a mug, a calendar. Another. Branded, promotional, item it could end up serving as a seasonal, or, even an annual, reminder to your customers and make sure that your business is top of mind throughout, the following year in. Addition, don't forget to fake thanks to your cost on social media, again, you're about to sort of hit them with these major sales, so, it's a really genuine, gesture to thank them for their business and being a customer of yours for this past year. Now. It's time to promote these major sales again, you've planned this out ahead of time so it should be really easy to get these into market after Thanksgiving. If. You're a storefront, business there's a couple of products that you should think about and really ensure that

2018-07-26 15:24

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