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Education

Brick-and-mortar of marketing budget on 'digital," by Myles Anderson,
published by Search Engine Land on Nov. 19, 2013.
merchants must own The truth is the most effective marketing plan for any
merchant today is to simply take control of their online
their 'digital storefront' presence. Millions of people use review sites like Google
and Yelp every minute to search for businesses precisely
when they're looking to make a purchase. In a sense, these
sites have created a tractor beam that pulls shoppers into
local businesses when there's an urgency to buy.

In short, merchants can attract more customers by "pulling"
them in with a strong online presence than "pushing" a
message via traditional advertising. Here are three tips for
helping brick-and-mortar merchants take control of their
online presence and attract more customers:
Claim listings on top sites

Online review sites have created a vast footprint of
business listings for brick-and-mortar businesses. Many
merchants don't even know their business is listed on Yelp
and Google, which means they're ignoring their "digital
storefront"—the place consumers visit first when looking
By Barry Davis for local businesses to patronize.
Womply
Claiming a business listing enables the owner to edit
ot long ago, consumers found local businesses critical information, including hours of operation, photos
through word of mouth from friends and of the store, and links to the business's website and menu
neighbors, window shopping, or printed busi- (if applicable). It also allows the business owner to respond
N ness listings like the Yellow Pages. When is the to customers who post reviews about their business and
last time you used the Yellow Pages? I recently threw out ensure that nobody else claims the page.
ten copies that were taking up space in my kitchen.
If your merchants just take this one step, they'll be doing
Today, the Internet has fundamentally changed how better than most small businesses. According to the 2017
consumers find places to spend money nearby, but most State of Local Marketing Report, a national study conducted
small businesses still market their businesses like it's 1985. by Brandmuscle Inc., only 33 percent of all Yelp listings and
It's time for our industry to help them move into the 21st only 44 percent of Google My Business listings have been
century. claimed. Worse yet, only 23 percent of businesses update
their listings, which makes them appear outdated—or not
Think about it. When you want to find a restaurant, appear at all—in local Internet searches.
boutique, auto mechanic, or flower shop nearby, what do
you do? Chances are, you pull out your smartphone and Advise your merchants to claim their business listings,
search Google, Yelp, Facebook, Angie's List, or other similar especially for the most popular sites: Google, Yelp,
sites. From there, you probably look at the businesses' star Facebook, and TripAdvisor.
ratings and recent reviews. Then, once you zero in on a
choice, you visit the physical store. Respond to all reviews
Seize the opportunity Word of mouth is still the way consumers decide where
to spend money, but the conversation has moved online.
This shift is a significant opportunity for merchant According to BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey
level salespeople (MLSs) to add value in their merchant 2017, nearly nine in 10 consumers trust online reviews
relationships. As I wrote in "What keeps merchants up as much as personal recommendations from friends and
at night?" The Green Sheet, Feb. 12, 2018, issue 18:02:01, family.
attracting customers is a major concern for merchants, and
most of them are spending too much money on ineffective Often, merchants bristle at negative reviews posted about
and outdated marketing methods. them and can't get past the emotional reaction they expe-
rience. Help them put negative reviews into context and
If you can save your clients from wasting up to $400 per focus on the result they want rather than picking a fight.
month on bad advertising, you'll be a hero, according Every business is going to receive a negative review from
to researched cited in "SMBs spend an average of 46% time to time, so it's typically not worth the energy trying
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