Julee Klein Marketing LLC - Blog

Scam Alert: Is Your Business Facebook Page Really in Violation?

Sun, 30 Mar 2025 19:20:14 GMT

By Julee Klein, Marketing Consultant and President, JKM

How to Tell if That Facebook Message About Your Business Page is Real or Not

Your small business just received a direct message in Messenger claiming that your Facebook Business Page is in violation of terms of service or copyright complaints. But is it real?

No. If you receive a message via Facebook Messenger that your business page is in violation of anything - e.g., terms of service, copyright, or other complaint, it is a scam.

Why? Because Facebook aka Meta does not notify page admins of business page violations via Messenger. And certainly not via a personal profile like "Andrea Rassmussen" or any other individual's name. (No offense to any real Andrea Rassmussens out there!)

So how can you tell is a violation notification is real or fake?

Easy. Page owners and admins will receive a Notification NOT a message. Rememeber, anyone can send a message via Facebook, but only Facebook and Meta itself can send a notification about your business page.

Notifications appear under the bell icon on Facebook. Messages from anyone else on Facebook appear under the talk bubble icon aka the Messenger App icon.

Message icon (talk bubble) vs. Notification icon (bell symbol.) Only Facebook can send notifications.

Another "tell" is that the scammer will include a link to a shady subdomain, non-Meta website or non-Facebook sub-page. And example would be https://pageviolations.noticeme.net or https://linktr.ee/pageviolation1234. Never click on these links! Here's an example of a fake violation message:

Scam message sent via Facebook Messenger from another user.

What does a legitimate Facebook violation notification look like?

Here is a look at what a real, legitimate Facebook Copyright Notification looks like:

Screenshot of a legitimate Facebook page notification.

Notice here that the page's profile image will appear in the notification. This is so that users who manage multiple Facebook Business Pages can identify which page is experiencing the issue. For agencies like JKM that manage over 30 Facebook pages for small businesses, this is extremely helpful and allows our social media managers to easily identify which client's Facebook page needs attention.

What should you do if you receive a scam violation message?

The bottom line is that bad actors are creating pages that spoof and mimic Facebook, but they can only use Messenger and the links will always take you off the platform - something Meta would never do! So what is the best way to handle these?
🛑DO NOT RESPOND.
🛑DO NOT click the link.
🟢But you can report the page to Meta. Here's the link to Meta's Help page on how to do that: https://www.facebook.com/help/355811251195044
Notice the URL? Yeah, facebook.com.

By Julee Klein, Marketing Consultant & President

Julee Klein is the President of Julee Klein Marketing LLC, a full-service digital marketing agency based in Morgan Hill, California. JKM is focused on serving small business owners in the greater Silicon Valley area. You can get in touch with Julee on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram @JKMktg

How to Measure Digital Marketing Success Without Manual Effort

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 07:00:00 GMT

Guest Post by Sarah Mitchell, Digital Marketer

Measuring the success of your marketing efforts is crucial. However, manually tracking metrics can be time-consuming, prone to errors, and overwhelming. That's where automation can help businesses assess their digital marketing performance. By leveraging automated tools and analytics platforms, you can effortlessly monitor key metrics, gain real-time insights, and make informed decisions without the burden of manual effort. Here, we'll guide you through automating your marketing analytics, helping you measure digital marketing success while saving time and resources. Discover how automation can revolutionize your marketing strategy and lead you to greater success with less effort!

The Importance of Automating Digital Marketing Analytics

Real-time data can make or break your strategy, making automating digital marketing analytics essential today. Relying on manual tracking is time-consuming and increases the risk of human error, leading to inaccurate insights and missed opportunities. On the other hand, automation allows you to streamline the process, ensuring that you stay in charge of your marketing efforts without being bogged down by tedious tasks.

With automated tools, you can continuously monitor key metrics like ROI, conversion rates, and engagement levels, giving you a clear, up-to-date picture of your performance. This approach saves time and resources and empowers you to make quicker, more informed decisions that can significantly boost your marketing success.

Key Metrics to Track in Automated Marketing

You must focus on the key metrics driving success when automating your marketing efforts. Tracking ROI, conversion rates, and engagement levels is fundamental to understanding the effectiveness of your campaigns. Automated tools allow you to monitor these metrics in real time, giving you immediate feedback on what’s working and what isn’t.

Additionally, by analyzing consumer behavior through these metrics, you gain insights into how consumers shop, enabling you to tailor your strategies more effectively. Automation simplifies the process and ensures accuracy, eliminating the guesswork and providing you with a comprehensive view of your marketing performance.

Leverage Analytics Platforms for Automated Success

Leveraging analytics platforms is a game-changer in achieving automated marketing success. Tools like Google Analytics and HubSpot offer powerful features that automatically tracking and report essential metrics. As a result, they allow you to stay on top of your digital marketing efforts with minimal manual intervention. By setting up automated reports and alerts, you can receive real-time updates on your campaign performance, helping you quickly identify trends and areas for improvement.

These platforms also allow you to customize your dashboards, focusing on the metrics that matter most to your business. With automation, you can efficiently measure digital marketing success and ensure your strategies are always data-driven and aligned with your goals.

Digitize Business Processes to Complement Your Automated Marketing Efforts

Digitizing your business processes is a powerful way to support and enhance your automated marketing efforts. Integrating digital tools across various functions creates a more cohesive and efficient operation that drives better marketing outcomes.

Here are the key benefits of digitizing your business processes:

Streamlining Operations: Automate tasks like inventory management, billing, and CRM to improve efficiency and support marketing automation.
Enhanced Customer Experience: Use digital tools to provide instant support, improving customer satisfaction and retention.
Data Integration: Seamlessly integrate digital business tools with your marketing platform for better decision-making.
Real-Time Feedback: Utilize real-time data from digitized processes to adjust marketing strategies quickly.
Scalability: Easily scale your operations and marketing efforts as your business grows.

By embracing automation, businesses can streamline their marketing efforts and gain more accurate insights into campaign performance. For example, implementing chatbots in customer service allows for instant responses to inquiries, improving customer satisfaction. This way, customer service digitization enhances customer interactions and satisfaction, which in turn supports the effectiveness of your digital marketing strategy.

How to Use AI and Machine Learning for Better Insights

AI and machine learning are revolutionizing how businesses gain insights from digital marketing efforts. These advanced technologies analyze vast amounts of data faster and more accurately than any manual process. They enable you to uncover patterns and trends that might otherwise go unnoticed. By implementing AI-driven tools, you can predict customer behavior, optimize ad targeting, and personalize customer experience with a previously unattainable precision.

For example, AI can segment your audience based on their preferences and buying habits, enabling you to tailor your messaging to resonate more effectively. Machine learning algorithms continuously learn from new data, refining their predictions and recommendations over time, which helps you stay ahead of market changes.

The Role of CRM Systems in Measuring Marketing Success

CRM systems are invaluable tools for measuring marketing success, providing a centralized platform to track and analyze customer interactions. These systems capture data across all touchpoints, from initial contact to post-purchase follow-ups, offering a comprehensive view of the customer journey.

By automating data collection and analysis, CRM systems eliminate the need for manual tracking. As a result, they ensure that you always have accurate, up-to-date information at your fingertips. This data helps you assess the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns, as it allows you to see how your efforts translate into actual customer behavior and sales. Additionally, CRM systems can segment your audience based on various criteria, helping you tailor your marketing strategies to different customer groups.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid in Automated Marketing

While automation offers numerous benefits, some common pitfalls can undermine your marketing efforts if not carefully managed:

Over-reliance on Automation: Depending too much on automated tools can lead to a lack of human oversight. It can result in missed nuances or errors that require manual intervention.
Neglecting Personalization: Automation can sometimes make your marketing feel impersonal. It’s important to balance efficiency with personalized touches that resonate with your audience.
Outdated Systems: Failing to update your automated tools and systems regularly can lead to inefficiencies or inaccurate data, affecting your marketing decisions.
Ignoring Data Quality: Automation is only as good as the data it uses. Poor data quality can lead to misguided strategies and wasted resources.

Maximize Your Marketing Success with Automation!

By leveraging automation, you can efficiently measure digital marketing success, making your strategies more effective and data-driven. Embrace the tools and practices discussed to save time, reduce errors, and enhance your overall marketing performance. With the right approach, automated marketing can lead to greater success with minimal effort.

By Sarah Mitchell

Sarah Mitchell is a digital marketing expert specializing in automation and data-driven strategies. With over a decade of experience in the industry, she is passionate about helping businesses streamline their marketing efforts for maximum efficiency and success. Sarah's focus on innovative tools and techniques empowers companies to measure and optimize their digital marketing performance.

Editor's note: JKM ran this article through various artificial intelligence (AI) detector tools, which indicate that this article may have been written with the assistance of AI technology.

Editor's note: JKM has not received compensation for publishing this guest post and we do not sell links. We will only publish submitted guest posts that we believe are of value to our small business clients.

6 Steps to Transform Into a Do-It-Yourself Small Business Marketer

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 01:00:13 GMT

Guest Post by Marissa Perez, Co-Creator, Business Pop

Navigating the complexities of marketing can be overwhelming, especially for small business owners and entrepreneurs. However, the advent of the digital era has provided individuals with the tools to take charge of their own promotional initiatives. The rewards are twofold: substantial cost savings and a deeper understanding of how to present your brand to the world. Follow this six-step blueprint to help you become your own marketing powerhouse.

1. Assess Your Present Promotional Approaches

Before you take the reins of handling your own business marketing, it's essential to conduct a thorough examination of your current strategies. This means diving deep into your existing promotional efforts to identify their effectiveness. Perhaps you're focusing too much on social media and neglecting other avenues like search engine optimization (SEO), or maybe your email campaigns are strong, but your online advertising is missing the mark. The purpose of this step is to scrutinize every facet of your current marketing approach and to be prepared to make necessary changes.

2. Identify and Understand Your Ideal Customer

To make the most out of your promotional campaigns, you’ll need to zero in on who you're trying to reach – your target audience. Customer personas, market research, and data analysis can be beneficial here. Pinpoint the demographics, geographic locations, and preferences of your potential customers. Armed with this knowledge, you'll be better equipped to formulate strategies that speak directly to the audience that matters most to you - your ideal customers.

3. Elevate Your Content Game

Quality content across both your website and social media channels is pivotal in driving customer engagement and promoting brand loyalty. Invest in learning how to create content that doesn't just attract eyeballs but also solves problems and adds value to the lives of your consumers. Review your existing content and look for ways to repurpose and improve your old content. A balanced mix of articles, videos, and infographics can go a long way in establishing your brand as a thought leader in your industry.

4. Re-Evaluate Your Marketing Outreach Platforms

If you're committed to handling your own business marketing, taking a close look at the platforms you're currently using is vital for long-term success. The digital landscape changes rapidly. The platforms that worked for you last year might not be the most effective way to reach customers today. River B2B Telemarketing Services points out that this means you need to periodically re-evaluate your marketing channels to ensure they're still the best tools for reaching your target audience. Whether it's social media platforms, email newsletters, or pay-per-click campaigns, take the time to assess the performance metrics for each channel.

5. Hone Your Core Message

Your marketing efforts must hinge on a strong, consistent narrative that perfectly encapsulates what your brand stands for. The story you tell your customers – through advertising, content, and design – should align with your core values and effectively communicate your unique selling points. Invest time in crafting this message; it's the foundation upon which your brand is built. This definitive storytelling guide by SEMrush is a great resource to help you get started.

6. Measure, Optimize, Repeat

When you're handling your own business marketing, measuring the effectiveness of your campaigns is non-negotiable. Using analytics tools can provide critical insights into whether you're drawing in new customers and how engaged your audience is with your content. Taking a data-driven approach to marketing allows you to pinpoint areas that need fine-tuning for better results. In essence, consistent monitoring of key metrics empowers you to make informed decisions and optimize your self-managed marketing strategies for maximum impact.

The Benefits of Self-Managed Marketing

Becoming a DIY marketing powerhouse offers a myriad of benefits, such as direct control over your campaigns, reduced operational costs, and a nuanced understanding of your brand. By assessing your present strategies, identifying your target audience, elevating your content game, re-evaluating your outreach platforms, honing your core message, and measuring your effectiveness, you can harness the full capabilities of self-managed marketing to take your brand to unparalleled success.

Not ready to DIY your marketing? Julee Klein Marketing is here to help small businesses get started and get noticed. Reach out today for as little or as much marketing support as you need.

Guest Post by Marissa Perez

Marissa Perez has spent the last 10 years honing her marketing skills. She co-created Business Pop to provide insight and advice to those entering business ownership.

A Look at All of Google's SEO UPdates in 2022

Mon, 19 Dec 2022 20:38:38 GMT

By Julee Klein, Marketing Consultant and President, JKM

SEO Matters to Small Businesses and There Has Been a Lot to Keep Up With in 2022

A lot of small businesses we know have a website that typically gets updated once a quarter if at all. That's been a big problem for a lot of businesses this year as Google has increased the frequency and severity of their algorythic updates that affect search engine optimization (SEO.) Put more simply, Google has been constantly changing key factors and signals that affect how your website ranks in search results.

Google's 2022 Updates Focus on Rewarding Quality Content and Good User Experiences

Page Experience

What we've learned from those updates that Google did announce is that it's become mission critical to focus on "page experience" otherwise know as User experience. How your website's visitors interact with content on each page of your website matters more than ever. But regarding it's Page Experience Update in February 2022, Google has said, "A good page experience doesn't override having great, relevant content."

Product Reviews

Likewise, according to Google, their Product Reviews Update "aims to better reward high quality product reviews, content that provides insightful analysis and original research, and is written by experts or enthusiasts who know the topic well."

Helpful Content

Google has also prioritized weeding out unhelpful content in 2022. It's now using machine learning to help identify unhelpful or "thin" content and demote it in search results. Their Help Content Update released in August and updated in December is intended to improve the quality of search results by promoting the most helpful content. For more informtion, check out Google's developer article on What Creators should know about Google's August 2022 helpful content update.

Combatting Spam Content and Links

Google released a Spam Update in October of 2022 that affects al websites in all languages. And agin in December it followed this up with another Link Spam update to address those sites paying for links and otherwise violating Google's terms on link farming and creating spammy experiences for web users.

According to Search Engine Roundtable, with this new Link Spam update, Google "will "neutralize" links that it detects as being spam and thus links that are detected won't be counted and may show a decline in rankings." This is the case accross search results in al languages.

Here's a Visual Breakdown of All of Google's Critcal Updates in 2022

Thank you, Maggie Rousseaux with Oncrawl for putting together this helpful visual that outlines all of the important Google updates in 2022 affecting small businesses. View the original article with a transcription of the infographic here.

Infographic courtesy of Oncrawl.com

Don't Ignore SEO in 2023

With all of these changes to Google's algorythm and the importance they are placing on good, helpful, quality content, please revisit your website. Is it helpful to you customers and web visitors? Does it provide authoritative content? Does it help the visitor learn what they want to know about your bsuiness? Does it answer the most common questins you receive about your business. Is it easy to navigate? Does it render well on a mobile device? Is your website truly accessible to all users - even those with a visual impairment?

If you've answered these questions with anything other than a resounding "YES!", then it is time for an SEO Audit and a website redesign. Have questions? We're here to help.

By Julee Klein, Marketing Consultant & President

Email Marketing Spring Cleaning for Small Businesses

Thu, 03 Feb 2022 19:31:04 GMT

By Julee Klein, Marketing Consultant & President

Dust Off Your Email Marketing and Start Generating Revenue

Maybe your marketing plans are off to a great start this year. Or maybe you're bogged down with too many other small business issues to focus on marketing. But the reality is that most of your sales revenue this year is going to be generated by your existing and returning customers and those referrals they send your way! How many of those returning customers and referrals you receive is going to depend on your email marketing efforts and staying top-of-mind.

But Do You Really Need a Weekly Email Newsletter?

Most of the small business owners we talk to about email marketing have aspirations of doing a regular newsletter-style email series. Most want to try this on a quarterly basis and some fantasize about a monthly or even a weekly newsletter.

There is nothing wrong with this approach if you have your content creation process in place and you are regularly churning out great conent on socials, on your blog, or elsewhere on your website. The problem is that most small business owners don't have the marketing resources to create great content on a regular basis - at least not enough for a weekly or monthly newsletter. For most local business owners that would be like publishing a magazine while keeping all other business operations going. If you do want to go this route, you'll definitely want to outsource to an agency like JKM to generate content and handle the newsletter.

If you dont have the buget to bring in a marketing agency, our advice on email newsletters is to adopt a quarterly schedule to start and supplement that effort with weekly or monthly single-subject offer emails that are timely and drive sales. But be sure that every email - newsletter or single subject - has a clear call to action for the recipient to take the next step to engage with your brand and complete a purchase.

Email Marketing Content Ideas for March

Although JKM is a Certified Constant Contact Solutions Provider and Partner, you dont need to be a Constant Contact user to pick up a tip or two from their marketing team. They've shared this great March 2022 Marketing and Holiday Planning guide with us and we think it's worth a read.

Email Marketing is All About Staying Top-of-Mind

If you have a growing list of past and present customers as well as leads coming in from your website, the best way to convert those contacts into additonal sales is by regularly emailing them about what great work you do, your new services and specials, and any offers, coupons, and promotions.

In additon to these email content ideas above, there is probably a lot you are already doing as a local business that you should be sharing in your email campaigns. Are you sponsoring your local Little League team? Share that info and offer a discount for anyone who mentions it when making a purchase. Just one example of making some of your other marketing and advertising efforts go a little further by promoting in your email marketing.

This Spring, recommit your email marketing efforts to stay top-of-mind with your customer base and set a goal to increase sales by a certain percentage through your email marketing efforts. You might be amazed by what you learn and what you achieve. And if you need a hand, we're here for it!

By Julee Klein, Marketing Consultant & President

Blogging Statistics and Trends for Small Business Owners

Wed, 31 Mar 2021 04:10:31 GMT

By Julee Klein, Marketing Consultant & President

The State of Small Business Blogging in 2021 and Beyond

If you’re a small business owner or an entrepreneur looking to start your own blog, you may feel overwhelmed when thinking about creating a blog strategy from scratch. A lot of resources, time, and tactics go into creating a successful blog, but without knowing where to start, it can be easy to feel discouraged.

With over 3.5 billion searches on Google every day, it’s clear the impact and reach that blogging has. But without the know-how to make your blog stand out, readers can easily get lost in a sea of content. That’s where we can step in to show you how your business can benefit from blog article content done right.

For some background, blogging and article content creation have exploded since the early ’90s, and the landscape is constantly changing. With more than 576,000 websites created each day, it’s estimated that 77% of internet users read and interact with blogs.

The Benefits of Small Business Blogging

According to Demand Metric, 60% of people will seek out a product after reading content about it, so business blogging can be a great way to bring traffic and potential customers to your website. Of marketers, 60%say that inbound marketing — such as blog content —is their best source for quality leads. Ensuring that your blog posts are high-performing can build brand awareness and grow your sales.

But success is not limited to eCommerce or B2C industries. According to Content Marketing Institute, in 2020, 13% of B2B marketers said blog posts are the highest performing when nurturing leads and Demand Gen Report found that over 71% of B2B buyers read blog content during their purchase process.

It’s clear that the future is bright for business bloggers, but predicting what trends are worth incorporating into your strategy can be more difficult. Let’s look at what makes a successful blog and how writing an optimized article can increase your website traffic.

The Anatomy of a Successful Blog Article

Articles with longer headlines, usually over 14 words, and contain more than 3,000 words in the body copy are proven to perform better in backlinks, traffic, and social shares. The same goes for content that is organized with subheads and separated with visuals. Blog posts that include an image every 75–100 words get twice as many shares as those without them.

While some small business owners don’t put much thought into headlines or the length of their articles, in reality, you could be missing out on significant opportunities to increase shareability. Headlines in the form of a question get 23.3% more social shares, and blog posts that take 7 minutes to read earn the most engagement.

We recommend aiming for articles that are between 2,000-4,000 words long. We find these are the most successful, especially if you have a specific niche or are selling to a target audience. However, the industry you’re in and the type of blog post you’re creating can also play a factor in the optimal article length. Remember to keep the readers’ best interest in mind and structure your content to help them best.

For more up-to-date blogging ideas and trends, explore the following infographic from WebsiteSetup that outlines the state of blogging in 2021 and beyond! Creating blog content can be inexpensive and provide you with more leads, more sales, and better brand recognition. Incorporate a few of their blogging statistics and strategies to help you make data-informed decisions this year.

But do blog articles actually lead to purchases?

Marketing powerhouse, HubSpot surveyed almost 300 consumers to learn if they had ever made a purchase from a brand after reading that brand's blog post. A slight majority, 56%, said yes. And while a small sampling of consumers, this does confirm that blogging and producing blog article content can be an effective way to market your small business brand and sell your products and services.

If you're convinced and committed but struggling to get your small business blog off the ground, review our helpful content marketing ideas cheatsheet or consider outsourcing your marketing and bringing in experienced reinforcements.

By Julee Klein, Marketing Consultant & President

How Startups Can Benefit from Outsourcing Their Marketing

Mon, 20 Jul 2020 21:14:14 GMT

Guest Post by Artur Meyster, Chief Technology Officer, Career Karma

Start-up Challenges? Consider Outsourcing Your Marketing

If you have a startup, you understand the challenges of keeping all marketing efforts optimal and your financials in a good state. This is only possible if you allocate your resources toward prioritized activities.

You have two choices when it comes to Digital Marketing: you can use in-house talent or hire outsource companies. While both have merit, when it comes to startups, outsourcing could be the best choice. Let’s explore why.

Minimizing the Risk of Campaign Failure

Since you’re just starting in Digital Marketing, you probably don’t know which strategies work best for your startup. So, you may end up testing different methods to find out which one will provide the best outcome. On the other hand, an outsource company such as a digital marketing agency has more comprehensive experience, so it’ll be able to come up with the best strategies for your company. This minimizes the risk of campaign failure and will increase the possibility of success for your company.

Evident Results

Digital marketing requires Data Science more than any other department because this will be the only way to monitor the performance of current strategies. Agencies that specialize in digital marketing must show you results and metrics to prove the efficiency of their approach. Most outsource companies will plan these strategies based on data provided by customers through web logs or customer service systems. This way, they’ll be able to create outcome-generating strategies.

According to a recent Profoundry survey, a majority of startup companies seek to attract new customers. Yet, 71 startups developed their campaigns without a documented digital marketing strategy, making it harder to track the performance of their plans and spot errors.

Avoiding Directionless Strategies

Directionless strategies are a big mistake among many startups. You begin with the idea that having multiple channels will increase your traffic and although you surely need to have a multi-channel strategy, you also need to know which channels will work better for your business. This way, you won’t spend money and time creating content for platforms where you won’t have an audience.

Every move you make must be strategically planned. Therefore, you should consider putting all your efforts into platforms that will generate leads for your company. Outsource companies usually have this covered; you’ll enjoy a strategic, multi-channel plan for your business.

Focusing on Relevant Business Activities

Something essential at any company is time management. If you make all the marketing efforts yourself, this takes resources away from other aspects of your business relevant to your success.

Outsourcing digital marketing will give you time to manage core business activities. The outside agency will handle marketing strategies, customer service, community management and other tasks. The only thing you’ll have to worry about is reports and metrics.

Lowering Operating Costs

Hiring in-house talent may end up being more expensive than hiring an outsource team to do your digital marketing. Hiring gig workers for specific jobs can lower costs.

When you use an in-house team, you’ll need to handle expenses that every employee should have, like fixed salaries and employee benefits; you’ll also need to invest in infrastructure for each employee. This is something you won’t need to worry about if using an outsource company.

Outsourcing Marketing Leads to Better Outcomes

Outsource marketing teams will be beneficial for your company, not only in terms of budgeting but also time management. These companies will generate outcomes for your startup that no other team would. However, when choosing the right outsource company, you need to hire one that matches your company's vision and understands your perspective. This way, both parties will enjoy successful collaboration and your startup will receive more traffic and leads.

Guest Post by Artur Meyster

Artur Meyster is the CTO of Career Karma (YC W19), an online marketplace that matches career switchers with coding bootcamps. He is also the host of the Breaking Into Startups podcast, which features people with non-traditional backgrounds who broke into tech. You can get in touch with Artur on Twitter and LinkedIn.

5 Effective Tips On Providing Customers With A Personalized Experience

Mon, 08 Jun 2020 22:48:18 GMT

Guest Post by Ashley Wilson, Freelance Writer

How to Provide the Personal Touch in Five Easy Steps

If there's one thing that suffers under automation, it's how cold and impersonal technology can be. Sure, we can use AI and data mining to provide a tailored shopping or search experience.

But how often do you feel like the companies and websites you visit really care about you and your needs?

Unlike B2B marketing, which focuses on addressing problems and directing solutions based on the needs of a business, digital marketing to consumers requires folding your audience into your story in a way that allows them to create an emotional attachment to your brand.

Customer touchpoints are all of the platforms and methods you use to reach out and interact with customers. One of the main ways to make overall service more personal is to make each interaction feel like it's coming from a capable friend who cares about their problems and wants to offer solutions.

Here's how it's done.

1. Create Custom Packaging and Greetings

What would be more appealing to you: plain packaging with nothing more than a mailing label or personalized packaging that lets you know that what's inside is special?

By offering personalized packing, sending thank-you notes, and remembering occasions like customers’ birthdays or important anniversaries, you're letting them know that they and their business mean something to you.

2. Say Their Names

In an age of bulk emails and generic, one-size business practices, people like to feel that you’re reaching out to them personally rather than fishing for leads in a large pool of possibilities.

When creating emails, conducting sales calls, or engaging in other forms of personal interaction, use the customer's name when greeting them and throughout the interaction.

Just don't go overboard. Use their name once at the beginning of the call or mail, sprinkle it throughout during the discussion as appropriate, and end by thanking them for their time and attention by name.

This is a practice that needs a little forethought. Some older people and those engaged in certain types of business where formality is appreciated might be offended by what they consider "too familiar".

Make sure to find out the person's name and ask them how they prefer to be addressed. You want to be engaging, not offensive.

3. Tailor the Shopping Experience

One way that automation enables greater personalization is through data mining and analysis. Using digital tracking, customer surveys, and feedback, you can provide your customers with relevant products and services based on their interests, purchasing habits, and purchase history.

Other ways that you can tailor the shopping experience is through technology like online chat and automated email services. Chats allow you to triage customer complaints to determine problems that need immediate action.

The rest can be handled through a chatbot that can answer basic questions or walk customers through the checkout process. They can also catch people who abandon shopping carts before they leave your website and try to address any issue(s) that prevent closing the sale.

Through automated messaging, you can send special offers or discounts based on purchases or interests, thank customers for their business, and reconnect with those who've dropped out of sight.

Professional mailing platforms like Mailchimp can be synced with customer or lead lists and configured to dispatch by date, time, or when certain criteria are met, such as a completed sale.

4. Create Programs and Incentives That Support Customer Loyalty

How often have you continued to conduct business with a company because they treat you right and show appreciation? You'll gain more revenue through existing customers than through new business, so why not reward your customer base for their loyalty?

By creating customer incentives and loyalty or reward programs, you're providing your customers with positive reinforcement that encourages them to keep doing business with your company. Done right, you'll even get customers to do the outreach for you.

You can achieve this through contests, discounts for friend referrals, encouraging customers to tell their friends about your company, and through social proof.

5. Listen to Your Audience

If you want to reach your customers where they live and engage their emotions, listen to what they have to say.

By listening to your customers’ needs, you'll be better able to craft a solution or demonstrate how your product can relieve their pain points. Present them with an offer that's tailor-made for them, and they won't have any reason to find another service provider or purchase from your competition.

That can only be achieved if you know who your customers are and what they want.

If you need some help to start, consider something like the Challenger sales method. This method is effective because it focuses on building trust at every step of the process and educating customers in a meaningful way.

This helps you avoid blatant hard-sell tactics that turn people off and refines your approach to one that's more knowledge-based.

Another very effective method is called SPIN. No, it's not the way they tailor bad news to neutralize its effects. SPIN stands for:

Situation. You have to understand the customers’ situation.
Problem. Show the customer how your product solves their problem or how many issues it can resolve.
Implication. Why do these problems need resolution?
Need. This is the payoff. It works by allowing the customer to reach their own conclusion, led by you.

Final Thoughts

No one wants to feel like a number. By crafting a personalized experience for your customers, you're fostering brand loyalty and providing them with better service.

Use the above tips as a basis for streamlining your outreach, service, and approach. Your customers will thank you and so will your bottom line.

Guest Post by Ashley Wilson

Ashley Wilson is a digital nomad and writer for hire, specialized in business and tech topics. In her self-care time, she practices yoga via Youtube. She has been known to reference movies in casual conversation and enjoys trying out new food. You can get in touch with Ashley via Twitter.

Editor's note: JKM has not received compensation for publishing this guest post.

How to Add Additional Users to Your Google My Business LIsting

Fri, 15 May 2020 07:00:00 GMT

By Julee Klein, Marketing Consultant & President

Set up Additional Owners and Managers for Your Google My Business Listing

When it comes to digital marketing as a small business owner, you can't always do it all online alone. It's important to delegate and get the help you need to manage your website and online business directory listings like your Google My Business account. Here's the right way to add additional users and listing managers to your Google My Business Listing without sharing your sensitive Google password information or surrendering primary ownership.

Step 1. Log into your Google My Business account and select "Users" from the left-hand navigation menu.

We're assuming here that you've already set up your business profile and have a Google My Listing. For more information on setting this up, see our JKM article, How to Set Up Your Google My Business Listing. But once you have your GMB listing set up, the first step to adding an additional user is to log-in and navigate to the left side-bar menu and select "Users."

Step 2. Click on the “Add Users” icon in the upper right and select “Invite New Users” from the drop down.

A little caveat here. It's a good idea to be sure that your new users already have a Gmail account. It'll just make things easier. So have their email addresses handy.

Step 3. Type in the new user's email address and select their role.

If you truly want your new user to make nearly all of the same updates that you are able to do as the primary owner than add them as an additional "owner." You will remain the primary owner.

Here's a breakdown of the different roles and permissions:

Owners

Each GMB listing can have multiple owners, but only one primary owner. According to Google, "Owners and primary owners have the same capabilities, but a primary owner cannot remove themselves from a listing until they transfer their primary ownership to another user. However, all owners can add other users to share management of a listing without having to share their password."

Listing Managers

Managers, on the other hand, have most of the capabilities of an owner, but are limited from making more business-sensitive updates and edits such as removing the listing or adding or removing other users.

Site Managers

Site managers have most of the same permissions as a manager, but they can't edit all of the business information. A site manager can request to upgrade to listing manager or owner of a verified listing when logged into GMB but a listing owner must approve (or deny) the request.

For more detailed information on GMB roles and capabilities review Google's Support page on the topic.

Step 4. Hit "Invite" to send the invitation to your new GMB user.

Lastly, be sure to set clear expectations.

Now that you have a helping hand and both of you will be monitoring and updating your GMB listing, take the time to communicate your expectations. How often should your new user post updates? How often should they check for or solicit reviews from current and past customers? How frequently will you be sharing specials or announcements on new products and services? And what is the expected turn-time for this new user to update or add this information to your business profile?

Regardless of their new role, be sure to set your new users up for success with clearly communicated expectations and this will pay off in dividends for your small business.

By Julee Klein, Marketing Consultant & President

How to Set Up Your Google My Business Listing

Fri, 01 May 2020 18:02:32 GMT

By Julee Klein, Marketing Consultant & President

Yes, You Really Need a Google My Business Listing and Here's Why:

Given the current economic climate amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and extended shelter-in-place orders, there has never been more people online. As a small business owner, it's never been more important to update and manage your digital marketing assets such as your website and online directory listings. It's truly is mission critical that your business can be found online via search engines including Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.

Of these directory listings and search engines, your Google My Business (GMB) listing is the most important one to set up and maintain. Why? As Search Engine Land reports, more than 50% of Google searches end without a click to a website via a click on an organic or paid search result.

Zero-Click Search Results Example 1: Search Query for "marketing services morgan hill"

In this first example, Google Map directory listings are pulled from your Google My Business profile, These local search results appear below paid ads but above organic search results. Users are more likely to engage with the map listing than scroll past to organic results. In this specific instance, a user may take the action to call my businesses instead of clicking through to the website.

The takeaway here for small business owners is: Set up your GMB listing and take the added step to verify your business address. If you have not yet set up your GMB listing and completed the added step of verifying your business address with Google, you will not appear in Google Map results.

Zero-Click Search Results Example 2: Branded Search Query for "julee klein marketing"

In this example the user is just as likely to get all of the info they need about our business via the GMB listing at right than to click through on any of the organic search results at left.

The important takeaway here for small business owners is: users specifically looking for your business online are primed to make a purchase or otherwise engage with your business - NOW. If you do not have a GMB listing here, you may be missing out on a phone call or sale.

Need more convincing that you need a Google My Business Listing for your small business?

Take a look at this collection of stats on Google My Business Listings and zero-click local search results.

A text version of the infographic follows:

7 Reasons Why You Need a Google My Business Listing

According to Statista, more than 50% of all web traffic is on a mobile device.
Professional SEO Shawn Joshi estimates that 60% of all searches on a mobile device end in zero clicks.
In fact, according to the experts at Search Engine Journal, more than 50% of all Google searches end without a click to a website.
46% of all Google searches have a local intent according to HubSpot.
46% of all Google searches is approximately 1.6 billion searches per day!
STAT Analytics reports that of all local searches, 93% now feature a Google My Business Listing.
68% of people contact a business directly from search results according to Search Engine Land.

How to Add a Google My Business Listing

Getting started with adding a free Google My Business account and setting up your free GMB listing is pretty easy. It's worth the effort to add as much detail and information about your business as you can in your GMB profile. Look at it as a way of training Google and other search engines about your business so that your business information will appear in relevant search results.

Look to Google's resource page Google My Business Overview for more information and instructions on how to set up your business profile and GMB listing.

Verify Your Business Address with Google

With a Google My Business account, you'll get more than just a business listing. Your free Business Profile will allow you easily connect with customers across Google Search and Maps BUT only if you take the added step to verify your business address. Verifying your business address will allow you to appear in the results for location-based searches like what is shown in the first example above.

To verify your business address you'll be asked to enter a physical business address for your business. Verification may include waiting to receive a postcard mailer from Google with a code on it to then enter in your account. Keep in mind that the business address cannot be a post office box. Don't try and game the system. Google has spent a lot of time and attention to ensure that location-based search results only contain businesses with legitimate business addresses in the area. Virtual work-share and co-working spaces are also a no-no unless you have your business staff there on-site during normal business hours.

Keep Your GMB Listing Up-To-Date

With your GMB listing, you'll be able to post photos and offers to your GMB business profile to show what makes your small business unique, and give customers reasons to choose you. For example, at the moment Google is also offering a COVID-19 update to help small businesses communicate out important operational and service changes as a result of the pandemic and shelter-in-place orders.

Once you have your GMB listing set-up, verified, and published. Be sure to prioritize updating your GMB listing with your important business information and details such as hours, products, an services.

Important: Do Not Delegate Primary Ownership of Your GMB Listing

We have seen this horror story play out all too often. DO NOT have an employee set up your GMB Business Profile and list themselves as the Primary Owner. Why? You run the risk of struggling to get back control of your most important digital marketing asset once they leave!

Avoid this nightmare by setting up the GMB account yourself thereby becoming the Primary Owner from the get go. You can then invite your employee to also manage the GMB listing as an owner or manager, but you will be able to maintain primary ownership and assign and remove users as needed.

For information and step-by-step instructions on how to add users to Your Google My Business account review our JKM article How to Add Users to Your Google My Business Listing.