Video, including webinars, will become an even more powerful way of attracting new business particularly for small businesses in 2017, I believe.
Videos can be a great way of reinforcing what you do when you meet prospects. Industry consensus is that videos do not necesarily need to be polished.
I’ve deliberately produced this webinar-style video as a way of showing what is possible even if you only have a PC, a webcam and not much time or budget.
The video is made using Movie Maker. You do not necessarily need to be that technically-minded!
Best wishes
Tim
Transcript below:
At least two or three times a week, like many of us small businesses, I’m approached by companies offering to get my website to the top of Google’s organic search results. You probably get these emails too.
Their emails are simply put straight into the bin. But it concerns me that there are still so called SEO companies that are misleading businesses particularly smaller ones with false promises. Techniques if followed through which could prove extremely costly.
Let’s get this right. Nobody can guarantee page 1 of Google or on the other search engines, apart from the search engines themselves.
And every user sees different search results based on their:
- Device
- Location
- Search history
There are no quick fixes these days for SEO – it might not even be the right strategy for your small business. Take Google for instance -it’s reduced the space generally for non-paid listings. So there’s less room to show the non-paid listings.
But SEO, done in the right way, can still be very powerful and cost effective for small businesses/
My prediction next year and beyond is that small businesses that using a combination of other digital marketing activities – rather than just focussing on SEO – will be the winners. It comes also down to offering a good user experience with fresh, original and relevant quality content.
Those that don’t do this will be left behind if they are not already.
Increasingly, I believe small businesses that willl do well in marketing will be those sharing their expertise more in videos. YouTube, of course, is the second largest search engine after Google itself.
These videos can then be reposted on own websites, on social and on email and so on. So from one piece of free expertise, small business owners could gain more customers.
If you sell cakes, how about showing how you make a cake? If you are a wholesaler, could you demonstrate a new product? Base your videos on what your customers’ needs are.
Do videos have to be really polished? I don’t think so. in fact industry thoughts are that it’s more authentic to do a ‘natural’ video – warts on all.
My prediction for the year ahead is that smart small businesses will be doing more videos and showing their expertise as a way of encouraging more customers to their website and business. People buy from people at the end of the day. It’s all about trust.
I am very happy to advise and help as necessary on digital marketing for small businesses.
Here’s to a prosperous 2017 for your Surrey small business.
Transcript ends
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Tim Mitchell is an award-winning digital marketer. He has worked on many websites since 2000, generating a large number of sales and leads for Surrey-based clients mainly through content marketing and website design. He has also marketed Government websites.
He is based in Epsom, Surrey.
Tim can be reached at tim.mitchell@upperhanddigital.co.uk | 07799 701526
Upper Hand Digital – your trusted digital marketing agency in Surrey.
