How to Be a Marketing Whiz

5 free tactics to boost your business

By Anastasia Stefanova, AVB Marketing

Investment in marketing is critical during these peak times, but there are also several no-cost tactics you can employ to help improve your online presence, increase your foot traffic and boost your business.

Best of all, these can all be implemented in 10 to 30 minutes.

Google Business Profile

Make sure your profile is filled out completely and that there’s a thorough description using important keywords or search terms that furniture shoppers look for, like “sectionals,” “living room furniture” and “recliner.” And be certain that all your information is accurate!

See: How to update your Google Business Profile

See: How to update your GBP business description

Next, you’ll want to post regular updates. These are posts (almost like social) in which you can share catalog pages, blogs or other website content. This does not need to be as frequent as social; once a month or even once per quarter is great.

Most important, you’ll want to share under “Promotions.” This lets you add any sales, specials or other current promotions you may be running with an image, link and start/end dates. During the entered dates, your promotion will automatically populate to searching shoppers in Google Maps — essentially free advertising!

Also, add showroom images and other photos to your profile. Photos are the most frequently engaged element of your Google Business Profile.

Social Media Posts

It’s best to have a professional strategy and a party that runs your organic social media (organic posts on your social profiles).

However, it’s easy for you to create your own original content too, and in less than a few minutes. Here’s how: Go to your showroom, use your phone to take a clear, appealing image of one of your floor models, and post it right to your business page with a call to action. You can mention financing, deals or custom features directly in your post to capture customers’ attention.

This does not replace a social media strategy (check out AVB Marketing’s low-cost social media packages), but does cover your social presence in a pinch. Here’s an example:

Reviews

Look at your reviews on Yelp, Google and other social media platforms. Are there too few? Is your rating too low? Even if you have a great rating, increasing the number of reviews on your profiles will help improve your rankings online and in Google Maps. Emphasize securing reviews as part of your sales process or by coaching your sales team.

Here are 10 top statistics you ought to know about online reviews (compiled by Management.org):

1. Only 5-10% of consumers write reviews.
2. Eighty-nine percent of consumers are highly or fairly likely to use a business that responds to all its online reviews.
3. Only 7% of consumers say they’re not suspicious at all of reviews on Facebook.
4. Thirty-four percent of consumers only leave positive reviews.
5. Seven percent of consumers only leave negative reviews.
6. Eighty-five percent of all review come from only four sites: Google, Tripadvisor, Yelp and Facebook.
7. Customers don’t trust businesses with ratings below four stars.
8. Ninety-eight percent of consumers read online reviews of local businesses.
9. Businesses that make use of free listings on multiple review sites make 36% more revenue.
10. Ninety percent of customers read online reviews before visiting a business.

See also: Online Reviews Aren’t Just for Restaurants

Customers are most satisfied at the time of purchase, so adding a link within a confirmation email or incorporating a way to gather reviews into your sales process can help remind your shoppers to leave positive reviews. Some members choose to collect reviews at point-of-purchase with a tablet, or collect reviews using software to send requests.

Make sure you answer all reviews, good and bad, which signals to Google that you are attentive to the consumer (this includes your reviews on Google and on your social profiles). And consider trying AVB Marketing’s SimplyLocal platform management tool.

Host Events

Have some extra space in your parking lot? Having a popular vendor, food truck or other entity rent a section of it for a day or a weekend can drive added traffic to your location. Take 10 minutes to place a call and discuss the details. Creating other free and fun themed days on site can be an easy way to draw a crowd. Making shopping more of an experience rather than just a transaction will separate you from other merchants. Your events don’t have to be extravagant or expensive to be a complete success.

Blogs and Content

Take a few minutes to write some content around your products or fabrics, or to provide some how-to-shop advice for different furniture or mattress selections. This can be an easy way to help the natural rankings of your website.

Working with a professional third party on SEO efforts will help you drive incremental growth for your business and will generate the best results. However, you can get a head start by curating your own content on your site with just a little bit of research on SEO.

If time is tight, AVB Marketing can help! And if you’d like to brainstorm strategies or other ideas, reach out to me at the email address below.

Anastasia Stefanova is director of marketing/home furnishings, at AVB Marketing, the advertising, e-commerce and digital marketing arm of YSN publisher AVB BrandSource. Contact Ana atAnastasia.Stefanova@avb.net.