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Why Social Media for Small Businesses Is Essential

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

For businesses large and small, social media isn’t optional anymore. It’s essential. Does your business have a social media presence? If not, then you’re missing out on a staggering number of benefits—benefits your competitors are probably enjoying as you read this.
So, what are the benefits of social media for small businesses? How can you make the most of them? Keep reading to find out.

Social Media Fosters Connection

One of the biggest reasons for social media’s rise has to do with how easily and quickly it connects people. In your case, social media will enable you to connect with your target customers (and vice versa). By sharing, commenting, and generally interacting with current and potential customers, you’ll strengthen your relationship with them.
In fact, social media platforms like Facebook have become another channel customers are using to directly contact businesses. Whether it’s through public wall posts or private messages, customers may rely on social media to inquire about your products or services, send you valuable feedback, or to even ask for a price quote. Contacting you via social media is even easier than sending an e-mail (never mind making a telephone call), so the frequency of this method of contact is expected to rise.
As Lauren Friedman explains, 

Your customers are on Facebook throughout the day—especially those that work with the internet, so it’s only natural they would much rather stay on the same website rather than switch or pick up the phone to call you. Many of them use Facebook Messenger now like text message, chatting with their friends and family throughout the day.

However, if you aren’t on Facebook, then that’s one fewer way customers are able to contact you. And don’t you want to make it as easy as possible for customers to get in touch with you?

Social Media Makes You Feel Real to Customers

When you’re active and engaged on social media, you’ll also be showing off your personality and the real people behind your company. This will build a relationship between you and your customers. They’ll begin to see you as a group of living, breathing individuals. Eventually, this will lead to more business. As Internet entrepreneur Evan Carmichael says, “People buy from people, not companies.”
At the same time, a professional social media presence will also give you the appearance of a cohesive, legitimate company. Prospective customers will see your regular updates and posts on Facebook or Twitter and feel you’re genuinely invested in your business.

How to Make Social Media More Effective

Social media for small businesses doesn’t have to be complicated. It may feel like a daunting project at first, but once you get into the swing of things, you’ll barely even think about it. Heck, you might even enjoy it!
Here’s how to make your social media presence as effective as possible:

  • Be active. Don’t just create a Facebook page and forget about it. Regular activity is key.
  • Share status updates, photos, helpful articles and videos, and any other content that will give your audience a peak behind the curtain. Make yourself and your team seem as real as possible.
  • Regularly check your message inbox, as well as your page, and reply to anyone who has reached out to you about doing business with your company. You can’t reap the benefits of a direct line of contact if you aren’t there to respond!

How Prospect Genius Can Help

Feel like there’s not enough time in your day? Can’t figure out how to get started? Fear not! Prospect Genius is here to help.
Our selection of social media packages offers assistance at all levels. Whether you’re just starting out or you want a more advanced, fleshed-out campaign, we’ve got you covered. Here’s what we offer:

  • SocialStart: For clients who are just getting started on social media, we’ll create accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Then, we’ll write several blog posts for you that we’ll share on your accounts so you have a handful of posts right out of the gate.
  • SocialStream: For clients who are established on social media and want to share content regularly, we write a set number (determined by you) of blog posts each month and share them on your accounts.
  • SocialBuzz: For clients who want to be engaged on social media but don’t have the time to share updates on their own, we create and share weekly status updates on your behalf.
  • Paid Facebook Advertising: For advanced clients looking to expand their reach, increase visibility, and drive more traffic to their website, we create and manage targeted Facebook ad campaigns.

No matter where your business falls on the social media spectrum, Prospect Genius has a solution for you.
Social media for small businesses is critical, but that doesn’t mean you should lose sleep over it. Have fun with it! Sharing details about your company and interacting with your customers can be rewarding and even eye opening.
If you’re having trouble keeping up with Facebook or Twitter, simply give us a call and we’ll see how we can help. There’s no excuse for abandoning your social media presence!

Common Social Media Pitfalls to Be Aware Of

Last Updated: January 27, 2016

Today, in 2016, the importance of social media for local businesses has been well established. We all know it’s a vital way for businesses to connect and engage with potential customers nearby. Ask any online advertiser, and they’ll tell you the same thing.
However, digital marketing strategist and author Roger Rogerson raises an incisive point:

“Everyone is telling you to use social media – but who’s telling you to be careful?”

In his recent article, “The Hidden Social Media Dangers for All Businesses,” Rogerson describes an exhaustive list of scenarios that could get a business into trouble on social media. From disgruntled former employees posting irate messages on your wall to an employee accidentally sharing top-secret company news, he proves there are countless social media pitfalls your company must watch out for.
Young business man under stress
Other scenarios include:

  • Dissatisfied customers publicly complaining about your business.
  • Poorly worded posts being misconstrued and causing backlash.
  • Competitors slandering your company and spreading rumors.
  • The local media getting wind of something (such as an erroneous post or a bad customer experience) through social media and escalating the story.
  • Employee(s) exhibiting unprofessional behavior.
  • Nasty Internet trolls calling you out publicly or even harassing you.

Unfortunately, the list goes on.
Rogerson’s article is not meant to intimidate or scare business owners away from engaging on social media, though. It’s simply a warning about the various social media pitfalls that can damage a company’s entire web presence.
What you should take away from this article is that your company’s social media accounts must be handled by an employee you trust and respect. This will minimize the damage that can be done internally. You should also take time to develop a company-wide policy for dealing with negative customers, competitors, and other individuals who attempt to provoke you or do you harm. This way, you’ll have a go-to response tactic in place so you can react as quickly as possible. Of course, every situation is unique, but it’s a good idea to at least have a guideline.
Check out Rogerson’s article over on Search Engine Watch for the complete details.

How to Make the Right Change in Advertising for Your Small Business

Last Updated: January 21, 2016

Are you planning on switching up your online advertising? Nervous about making the transition? Whether you’re switching to a whole new advertiser or just setting a new advertising goal, taking the next step involves a lot of uncertainty. However, with the right tools and mindset, you’ll be able to confidently change directions and put your small business in the ultimate position for success.
Moving escalators stairs, good bad sign
In this post, you’ll discover how to make sure your next step is the right one—no matter which direction you’re headed.
Let’s get started.

What Kind of Transition Will It Be?

First things first: Decide what kind of transition you’re going to make.
For example:

  • Do you want to transition away from a trackable microsite and build your own, high-level website?
  • Do you want to shift your focus toward a different kind of campaign, like paid advertising instead of organic?
  • Do you want to change your advertising provider entirely?

Once you’ve set a specific goal, you’ll be on the right track.

If You Want a Higher-Level Website…

Small business owners often dream of having a dazzling, fully customized website to impress potential customers and blow the competition out of the water. Their budgets, on the other hand, often squash that dream. Most small business owners have to settle for a practical, streamlined website without the bells and whistles.
It’s not unreasonable for you to want a jaw-dropping website for your company. However, you must maintain realistic expectations. If you’re seriously considering upgrading your website and, subsequently, your SEO campaign, then you need to make sure you can afford to pay thousands of dollars per month for top-level web design and SEO.
We aren’t exaggerating. That kind of work costs a pretty penny. Make sure you know what you’re committing to before you make the jump.
In the end, you may be better off asking your current SEO provider if they can add some razzle-dazzle to your site for a smaller price. They just might have a cost-effective solution you aren’t aware of!

If You Want to Shift the Focus of Your Campaign…

Sometimes, it feels like organic advertising moves too slowly. You wish you could strap a jet pack to your campaign. Sadly, until Google launches its new jet pack feature, paid advertising is the closest you’ll get.
Paid advertising, usually in the form of PPC (pay-per-click), generates leads much faster than SEO alone. That’s why it’s fairly common for small business owners to want to ditch SEO and go for PPC, instead.
However, did you know that you can’t just switch from SEO to plain PPC? You can add PPC to your campaign, but you can’t use it on its own. It won’t work. You need SEO along with PPC to boost your AdWords Quality Score; otherwise, you’ll be bidding too much on ads that won’t even display prominently.
If you want to shift to paid advertising, then the first thing you should do is see if your current provider offers a PPC package. This way, you won’t have to completely switch providers. Your current provider already knows all the ins and outs of your business’s online presence and history, so it’s wiser to stay with them if you can.
If your current provider does not offer PPC, then you’ll have to make an even bigger switch…

If You Want to Switch to a New Provider…

Do you feel like your current provider’s limitations are holding you back? Do you feel like you aren’t getting enough out of your campaign? It may be true that your provider can’t deliver the results your small business needs. However, it’s more likely that your feelings are due to a lack of communication, instead.
Before you make any decisions, have a candid conversation with your provider. Whether you aren’t satisfied with your service or you have new goals for your advertising, tell them. Talk about it. They might have the perfect solution for you in their tool kit.
So often, we see clients who are dissatisfied with the direction of their campaigns, only to discover they simply weren’t using the right packages for their needs.
But what happens when your current provider doesn’t have a solution for you?
Transitioning to a new advertiser can be a complicated process; however, it’s well worth it if you find the right advertiser to switch to. So, first things first: Vet your next advertiser thoroughly.
Once you’re ready to make the jump, notify your current advertiser and work with them to transition all of your backlinks. You should also have your web presence cleaned and tidied from top to bottom. Most advertisers offer cleanup services specifically for this purpose.
When you’re organized and forthcoming with your old and new advertisers, the transition process will be relatively pain free.

Brace Yourself for Change

Change is hard. Regardless of your new direction, make sure you’re mentally prepared to navigate unfamiliar terrain. Whether you’re working with a brand-new web designer or setting a click budget for the first time, be open to collaboration and discovery.
And if you do end up switching over to a whole new website and corresponding campaign, be aware that you’re going to see a slight dip in leads as a result. This is because it will take time for your new URL to gain traction with the search engines. Don’t worry, though: It’ll pick up again before you know it.
When you follow our advice, you’ll make a smart decision for the next phase of your small business’s advertising!

Phone Package Upgrade: Scam or Necessity?

Last Updated: February 15, 2024

Has your phone package recently been upgraded? Are you confused about why the phone package upgrade raised your bill by a few extra dollars per month?
telephone
Some clients have been vocal about their confusion—which we always welcome—and have even shared their concerns about it with us. Now, we’d like to explain why we have to handle the phone package the way we do.

First, Here’s What You Need to Know

Before we dive into our explanation, let’s make a few points clear:

  • The level 1 upgrade results in a 2.9% increase (about $9) in your monthly bill.
  • Your package is only upgraded after you exceed 100 minutes of phone time on your CallTrax™ line.
  • This is a pass-through cost. We’re not charging this fee to earn more profit, but rather to cover the increased cost we incur by buying more minutes for your campaign.
  • We don’t automatically build these extra minutes into your plan because we don’t want clients to have to pay for them unless they’re actually using them.

Now that we’ve established the facts, let’s get into why the upgrade is truly necessary.

It Keeps Our Interests Aligned With Yours

Why can’t Prospect Genius just cover these extra costs on your behalf?
The answer has to do with keeping our interests aligned with yours. You see, as your LeadTrax™ campaign performs better and better, it will generate more calls from customers. That’s why you hired us, after all. But if we were to pay out of pocket for all of our clients who exceeded their allotted phone minutes because their campaigns were too effective, then we would be incentivized to do a worse job so that you receive fewer calls (thus minimizing our payments).
Obviously, that would be against your best interests. You want us incentivized to send you as many quality leads as your business can handle. That’s why we pass the phone costs on to you. The way we see it, asking you to pay a nominal fee of $9 to the phone company is worth it if it enables us to continue working hard for your business.
If we didn’t do this, then we would wind up footing the phone bill for some ultra-successful clients, which could actually do some serious damage to our own finances. Take, for example, a taxi company in NYC that we work with. This particular business was fielding so many calls that it once racked up $900 in phone charges in one month! We wouldn’t be able to continue to do good work for all of our clients if we had to pay out of pocket every time that happened.

It Keeps Us Motivated to Do Good Work

The good news is that, as long as you pay the nominal fee for extra minutes, we have only the incentive to provide you with quality advertising services and to send you the valuable leads you want.
That’s what sets us apart from pay-per-lead advertisers. Unlike them, Prospect Genius’s bottom line is not dependent on the number of calls we send you. Pay-per-lead advertisers, on the other hand, earn their profit by charging you for each lead they send to you. This means they have the incentive to send as many leads as possible, even when they aren’t legitimate or relevant to your business. As a result, low-quality leads are common with these advertisers because they’re trying to maximize profits.
Thankfully, our flat-fee model means we’re free to only do good work for you, no matter what. That’s probably why you chose to hire Prospect Genius in the first place. But if our finances were suddenly tied to the number of leads we sent you, this would inevitably change. Again, that’s why we pass the phone costs on to you.

It’s a Small Price to Pay for a Successful Campaign

If you’re still unsure about paying an extra $9 per month, try viewing phone minutes as just another minor business expense. In this context, the phone package upgrade should be a no-brainer.
For instance, let’s say you’re a traveling repairman and you have a set budget for gas every month. In May, you unexpectedly start booking more jobs and, because you’re traveling so much, you end up surpassing your gas budget by the end of week three. Would you increase your gas budget to cover the fourth week, expecting that your increase in jobs will more than make up for it? Or would you pass on any incoming jobs for the rest of the month because you refuse to pay a little more for gas?
Or, let’s say you own a car audio and accessories shop. You have a set budget for the electricity bill each month, but in December, you suddenly get a lot of new customers looking for holiday gifts. Would you take the extra jobs and run up a slightly higher utility bill as a result? Or would you stop accepting new customers as soon as you reached your limit?
In either of these scenarios, we’re guessing you would probably accept the slight increase in costs in exchange for more jobs. Paying a little extra for phone minutes shouldn’t be any different.

Ultimately, It’s About Transparency

Some other advertising companies avoid the issue of a phone package upgrade by building extra phone costs into their monthly prices. As we explained in an earlier blog post,

Every company in this business must pay phone line charges. No matter who you deal with, those minutes must be paid for. If an SEO company never raises their phone package price or never adjusts your bill to allow for more minutes, that means they’ve been unnecessarily charging you for the biggest package from the get-go.

But we don’t think that’s honest or fair to the client. Wouldn’t you rather start with a lower baseline price and then only pay extra for minutes that you’re actually using?
We think our approach to clients’ phone packages is the only way to remain open and transparent. It also keeps us doing honest, good work for your local business. While you may not be ecstatic to see your bill go up, remember that the upgrade is just a side effect of a strong, vital campaign.

Why You Should Give Your Company E-Mail Address a Makeover

Last Updated: December 17, 2015

Is an unprofessional e-mail address holding you back?
It’s a common refrain for job seekers, as unprofessional e-mail addresses on resumes can make prospective employers think twice about hiring them. But did you know that it can have the same effect on prospective customers seeking local service providers? An unprofessional e-mail address might convince them not to do business with you.
At the same time, Google has rolled out new procedures for claiming business listings that require business owners to have e-mail addresses with corporate domains. Without one, the process is much more time-consuming and complicated.
That means a professional e-mail address won’t just help you attract new customers—it will also streamline your online advertising efforts with Google. You might not have given your e-mail address much thought up until now, but it could make a world of difference for your business.

Have an Easier Time Dealing With Google

First, let’s discuss the new Google policies that make this upgrade a little more urgent.
Google has changed how they let you claim a listing. It used to be that when you had an advertiser trying to claim a listing on your behalf, Google would automatically call you for verification. Now, however, Google requests verification from you (the business owner) via e-mail (unless otherwise prompted by a phone call from your advertiser). But it can’t just be any e-mail: Google needs to receive an e-mail stating that you authorize “X” company to manage your listing, and this e-mail must come from an address on a corporate domain. 

What’s a Corporate Domain Anyway?

What do we mean by “corporate domain”? Well, a domain is what a user types into their browser in order to visit a specific website. It usually ends with “.com,” “.gov,” “.org,” “.net,” etc. So, a corporate domain is a domain that contains a given business’s name. For example, Bob’s Appliance’s corporate domain would be “bobsappliance.com” or something similar.
Thus, Google would want to see an e-mail from “bob@bobsappliance.com” when authorizing a third party to claim and/or manage that company’s listing. This is a way for Google to safeguard against spam: An e-mail from a corporate domain proves that an actual owner or employee of the business is the one e-mailing them.
It’s not impossible to claim a listing or transition management without a corporate domain, but it’s a longer and more convoluted process involving a lot of back-and-forth phone calls. You’ll have a much faster resolution with Google if you can simply e-mail them from a business domain. This is an especially important point if you’re switching or planning on switching SEO providers.

What to Do:

  • Set up at least one e-mail address on your domain that you can send e-mails from to prove that it’s you when you’re claiming or verifying your listing. Google wants to talk to you and wants to know that it’s you.
  • Always maintain ownership of your listing and just make your advertiser the manager. This way, Google will always know that you’re the verified owner.

Don’t have your own corporate domain? Not sure how to get one? Talk to your advertiser. Most advertisers will be able to provide you with one; if not, they’ll be able to point you toward the correct resources. Either way, you’ll need to coordinate with your advertiser before creating a new domain. And if your advertiser has already built and optimized a website for you (like Prospect Genius’s LeadTrax™ sites), you can still register your own domain and have your advertiser connect the two.
If you’re doing it all yourself, here’s a good place to start. 

Make Yourself More Attractive to Customers

Now let’s look at this from a marketing standpoint.
Pretend you’re a local homeowner looking to hire an appliance repairman to fix your fridge. When presented with these two e-mail addresses, which one would you choose to contact for the job?

  • BobbyB5287@aol.com
  • bob@bobsappliance.com

Most homeowners would choose the second one, as it appears much more legitimate. Even if it’s only a one-man operation, an e-mail address from “bobsappliance.com” makes the business look much bigger. That’s what prospective customers want to see.

Legitimize Your Business

Whether it’s Google or prospective customers, people like seeing a professional e-mail address. It makes your business look more legitimate, which is helpful for resolving issues with your Google listing and marketing yourself online. Your business’s success will only increase when you upgrade your e-mail address with a corporate domain, so take action now.
In the mood for a laugh? Check out The Oatmeal’s comic, “What your email address says about your computer skills.”

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