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By Mark Smiciklas

As consumers continue to use search engines as the primary tool for researching products/services and for finding solutions to their problems, are small business owners keeping pace with a commitment to search engine marketing (SEM)?

Research posted on Search Engine Land suggests a search gap between consumers and small business advertisers. If this holds true, what are some of the reasons causing reluctance to SEM?

Lack of SEM Appeal

Tim Cascio, owner of Chicago based GS Marketing Group Inc., sees most of his clients benefiting from search marketing – but some still feel that SEM doesn’t apply to their business. Tim feels there are four classifications that help define why search engine marketing may not appeal to some small businesses:

1. Status Quo

• Members of this group have built successful businesses spanning generations.
• They are often risk averse and have a high degree of confidence in last year’s print media schedule, regardless of how the media landscape has changed around them.
• And, because of their profitability and past success, they don’t get excited about being responsible for a new initiative that they have to manage.

2. Lack of Expertise

• Members of this group’s first and last attempt at search marketing was years ago and they love to describe how search marketing simply doesn’t work for their business.
• This group is not likely to be familiar with the ever-increasing capability and sophistication of Google AdWords, including  Geography targeting, conversion tracking, ad scheduling, A/B pages and ad rotation. They likely ran 100 search terms or less with only one ad, pointing to their home page.

3. Half Way There

• Members of this group underestimate the benefits of professional copywriting, compelling design and strong calls-to-action on their website.
• Without these components, even the best search marketing implementation will fall short.

4. Conversions Too Costly

• Members of this group feel that the paid search cost per sale is too high.

Regarding cost, Cascio goes on to say that “online consumer product stores should consider it a success to break-even on the first sale to new customers. When effective in-touch programs reach out to new customers and good products are offered at a fair price, it seems reasonable that many will become repeat customers, some for life. A low percentage of repeat customers would use paid search to order again so long as branding is reinforced throughout all packaging and communications. The original PPC investment pays off as soon-to-be loyal customers return year after year.”

Education

In many cases, it seems that ignorance prevents small business owners from adopting SEM and other online marketing strategies. Kelly Seiler, an engineer with Northrop Grumman in San Diego, has a personal story that helps illustrate this point.

Kelly’s father owns a transmission shop and always felt that a website and online marketing was not necessary – and not really worth his time and effort. “It took him attending a session at a conference to see the advantages of having an online presence,” says Seiler. “As a result of amazing returns in terms advertising dollar to sales generated he has scaled his yellow pages ad down to just a one-line listing and moved that money to search engine marketing.”

Corinne Montgomery, an internet marketing specialist at NetBiz in Portland, OR, agrees that lack of knowledge is holding some small businesses back from the benefits of SEM. She feels that many owners don’t really understand online marketing fundamentals and how the internet could be of value to their business.

Trust

Another component of education that may prevent small business owners from delving into SEM is trust – How many online marketing practioners lack the proper experience or qualifications, offer poor value or distribute bad advice?

Flyn Penoyer, a San Fransisco based website marketing expert, feels trust can be a major issue. “I think the main reason (small business) is reluctant to embrace SEM is that owners have seen too many people get ripped off by folks that claim expertise and fail to deliver,” says Penoyer. “It is obvious that many of these individuals are not working in the best interest of their clients.”

Alignment

David Gray, principal and strategist at DIG360, a retail consulting firm based in Vancouver, offers a different perspective. Gray feels that not all businesses may gain their initial or primary exposure as result of SEM. In these cases, online marketing tends to round out (rather than dominate) a consumer’s experience with a brand.

“I don’t question the premise that many consumers use search and that many small businesses don’t optimize websites for search,” say Gray. “But the two facts may not align as nicely as we would like.”

He goes on to say that consumers do not necessarily use search to facilitate every single interaction with a small business. For example, many people still prefer to go to brick and mortar establishments i.e. the mall, downtown retail stores, etc. to engage in the shopping experience first hand.

He adds another example: “Neighborhood dining is often triggered by passing by a restaurant – the physical media and the website are simply there to confirm a cross-street, menu or hours of operation.”

When it comes to business-to-business transactions, Gray feels that “the first exposure may through a more trusted route than search i.e referral, and a website visit acts to provide further information and credential checks.”

“I think each case needs to be vetted on its own merits… what are the high impact cases for SEM/SEO and where can other approaches yield as good or better result,” concludes Gray.

What to do think? Is there a SEM gap?

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By Mark Smiciklas

This most recent visual was inspired by the BBB Standards of Trust.

Every small business, product, service or brand goes through the process of building and maintaining trust with customers, a target audience or wider stakeholder group.

Essentially, an organization’s behavior in a number of different areas acts as a “trust filter” – positive actions let trust flow through while negative actions block trust.

Key Trust Behaviors

• Truth – Honesty is the best policy. Nothing erodes trust faster than lies about your product, service or policies.
• History – There is no shortcut when it comes to time. Gaining trust involves creating and repeating positive interactions over time.
• Privacy – Be diligent when it comes to data security and never use personal information in any way other than stated.
• Integrity – Approach every interaction with integrity.
• Promises – Keep them…Simple.
• Response – Address product, service or company related issues in a prompt and professional manner. We operate in an on-demand service culture that equates “slow” with not caring.
• Marketing – How you advertise goes a long way towards building trust. For example, spamming vs. permission based marketing.
• Transparency – Be open about all the things that are important to people when they deal with you i.e. terms, conditions, guarantees, etc. Don’t hide behind your policies.

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By Mark Smiciklas

New Marketing should prompt small business to re-think the way they reach their target markets.

Old marketing is based on mass targeting – spend ad dollars and use mass media to push your message out to as many people as possible.

The idea: If you spend enough, spread your marketing messages far and wide and target the masses, people will eventually buy your product or service.

Old marketing asks questions like:

• “Can you really afford not to target as many people as possible?”
• “How much business are you passing up by not maximizing you advertising reach?”

New marketing is based on niche targeting – create content and use search engines/social media to engage interested people in your product or service.

New marketing poses questions like:

• “How many passionate customers do you need to run a profitable business?”
• “Are 100 truly interested prospects more valuable than 10,000 people who don’t really care?”

New marketing can be scary because it may not work the way you expect it to. It’s also harder than than old marketing because it forces you to:

• Focus – “Who are my customers?”
• Come up with content that adds value to your relationships and helps solve your target audiences problems

What do you think works better….Mass or Niche? Why?

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Image Note: The document portion used in the image above is attributed to Tim Morgan

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By Mark Smiciklas

This small business marketing cycle graphic was inspired by Seth Godin’s Top 10 Secrets of the Marketing Process.

1. Learn – Knowledge is a competitive advantage.

Allocate a set amount of time each day to learn about marketing your small business:

• Online: Read a blog, e-book, whitepaper, newsletter, case study or listen to a podcast
• Offline: Read a business book, magazine article or newspaper article

Here are some links to get you inspired:

• Marketing Sherpa – Practical marketing cases studies and know how
• eMarketer – Analysis of internet marketing trends
• Duct Tape Marketing – Small business marketing
• Neuromarketing – Where brain science and marketing meet
• Web Ink Now – Viral marketing strategies using news releases, blogs and social media
• Seth Godin – Marketing thought leadership
• Chris Brogan – Community and social media
• Brand Autopsy – Marketing and branding ideas from John Moore

2. Plan – A road map will help you stay focused.

A marketing plan doesn’t have to be rooted in theory and 100 pages long to be effective. The most important thing is to take the time to pull yourself away from the day-to-day management of your small business and think strategically – what are your marketing objectives and what tactics can you use to help reach your goals?

Resource: Simple Marketing Plan Template

3. Fear – Embrace it.

Q: How do you know an idea is innovative?
A: When it scares the hell out of everybody (Marty Neumeier – The Brand Gap)

4. Implement – Execute the plan.

Implementation is often referred to as the hardest part of any plan – a great idea is wasted if it isn’t executed. “Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.” (Yoda – Star Wars)

5. Test – Analytics are important.

Test each marketing tactic, idea or campaign to gauge effectiveness. Adjust what’s not working and keep using and improving on the things that show results.

6. Whoops – Learn from your mistakes and those of others.

Accept the fact that you will miscalculate, misjudge and simply make the wrong decision occasionally – learn something from every error and apply that knowledge to your next project, idea or plan.

Continue learning (see step 1) – read about what other small business owners have done and learn from their successes and mistakes.

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