Social Media

Is Your Business A Secret? Is Your Website Heading For The Google Grave Yard?

Can Google find you?

Is Your Business A Secret? As business owners’ we are often very busy trying to do many different roles within our businesses; marketing, social media and our website don’t always get the priority they need. Not because we don’t want to just that we lack the time.

Websites are wonderful marketing tools and they can be anything from a lovely visual brochure to a fully functional online shop; however all websites depend on 2 things:

Being found by Google
Being found by your customers

If no-one can find you it doesn’t matter how great your products are, how beautiful your website is or how fabulous your customer services is; your business will not flourish. You wouldn’t dream of having a shop front and keeping the doors locked and not turning on the lights each morning.

Lots of small businesses don’t understand the importance that their website and social media platforms play in building their business.

3 mistakes that small business owners make

Using a Gmail address not their domain name
Not having clear keywords on the website
Not having a social media plan

Using a Gmail address not their domain name

In business the impression you make is everything. You only get 1 chance to make a first impression. When you get an email from your phone provider, utility providers, car dealers or any other business these emails always come from the company’s domain name, not Gmail or Yahoo.

By sending your email from Gmail, Yahoo or your service provider you give the impression of being small, part-time or untrustworthy. Serious businesses always use their domain name for their emails.

When choosing your email address, stay away from the generic of sales@ admin@ office@ info@ because these type of email address are what spammers use and your email will get lumped in the same basket often getting caught in spam filters meaning that your emails will not be delivered.

Generic email addresses are fine just be a bit more creative and use your location, job description, description of service etc.

Not having clear keywords on the website

Google land is very busy with thousands of websites competing for your keyword all the time. You need to give Google a very clear message of what your website is all about and who you would like your website shown too.

1 keyword per page. Write the content of your page around 1 main theme or idea.

If Google can’t clearly determine what your page is about they are unlikely to return it as a result to someone’s search and no matter how lovely your website is you will be doomed to the back corner of the Google grave yard.

Not having a social media plan

Social media, in particular, Facebook is a must have business tool; unfortunately, a huge percentage of small businesses don’t use their Facebook presence to their best advantage.

Posting what you had for dinner, your gorgeous cat or your wonderful children’s sporting activity is not going to make your business page a success. Even if you are posting wonderful business content here and there but you don’t have a strategic constant plan you are unlikely to see a meaningful result. Like any form of marketing, you need to have a SMART Goal to achieve a consistent outcome.

SMART S – specific, M – measurable, A – achievable R – realistic T – time-based

Is Your Website Heading for The Google Grave Yard?

Is Your Business A Secret? With a little bit of planning, forethought and structure your website can be a wonderful digital marketing tool for your business and not another money drain. Work out your end goal and then plan backwards and remember to follow Googles’ best practices.

Not sure where to start?

CATCO Enterprises offers a range of social media and web design services from 1/2 day strategy sessions to teach you how and what to implement in this busy digital space;
to full done for you marketing services. Give Cathy and the team a call on 0409 489 464 for more information.

Are you listening to your customers?

When I was a kid we moved into a new, old home. New to us, however 50+ years old, at the end of the front verandah was a black rose. Yes black, not dark red, deep purple or any other colour but BLACK.

My Mum took a photo of it and after 12 photos were taken, off she went to the local chemist to have it sent away to the photo lad to be processed for $24. That might not sound as if it was much but it was a huge deal; in late 1970’s a price of a loaf of bread was 54c and that was from the bakery not a big subsidised supermarket.

The photos came back red. My Mum was devastated, she had spent all this time getting the right light, the composure, the angle on these photos of this precious BLACK rose. She repeated this process again and this time took it directly to the local photo and told the salesperson that the photos were of a BLACK rose and not a red rose and please don’t correct the colours. As you can imagine the cost was even higher this time unfortunately, the result was the same and the photos came back red again.

Are you listening to your customers?

The reason I tell you this story is because these 2 service providers didn’t listen to their customer, my Mum and assumed they know what she wanted? As a business owner have you ever made that assumption?

This product would be better for the client because they can’t afford the other one.

We have all hear stories of rich business people going into expensive car sales rooms in their garden clothes to see if they will get real service or not?

Customers like to buy not be sold too!

When offering your products and services are you giving enough information so that your customer can make a choice:

To buy
What to buy
Have options

Customers of today are very savvy and can obtain reams of information in a heartbeat, are you being part of there sale journey, do you have the information they need on your website, promotional material?

Tell your customer what they want to know.

Customers often just need a little more information to help them with their choice. If you are being asked the same questions over and over the easiest way to address this have a Frequency Asked Questions (FAQ) section on your website.

Generally, the people that ask are just the tip of the iceberg and many more potential and current customers want to know but don’t want the hassle of asking, so just move on.

What do my customers want to know?

Ask. It is a good practice to ask your customers if they are happy with your service, your products and if there are other things you could be doing to help them. It is far cheaper to keep loyal customers and get them to buy from you again than try to convince new customers to buy from you.

A lot of business’ spend far to much time and money trying to attract new customers with – this discount or that offer and quite often this approach can drive your existing customers to your competition because they are offering their “New” customers a better deal.

People are creatures of habit and we like easy.

The number 1 reason customers leave is indifference!

Customer will go through all the effort of finding a new supplier and leave your business when they think you don’t care. Caring, this is why a lot of big brand have loyalty programs where they are emailing, messaging and sending you things by snail mail to make you feel special and make sure you remember them.

Are you listening to your customers?

Today’s tip of the day is to listen to your customers, really listen and ask them questions about what they want and like. Go through your database and contact some old customers who you haven’t seen for a while and find out how you can help them now.

People like to deal with businesses they KNOW – LIKE – TRUST. To build trust is not as hard as you might think, start with the little things, start by listening to your current customers, make them feel special.

Need help? Contact Cathy and the team at CATCO Enterprises.

Things To Never Do On Social Media

As much as some people do not like it, social media definitely has its place in the business world. Businesses are popping up everyday, run exclusively online and taking advantage of the huge audience available on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, allowing people to make an income from home and connect to networks and groups within the same industry.

Social media can be a great way to bring customers to existing bricks and mortar businesses. No matter what your business is if you don’t have customers then you don’t have a business. Like it or not social media is here to stay and a fabulous way to reach your customers. If managed and worked correctly, social media can really benefit your business a lot more than it can harm it.

However, there are ways social media can cause problems for you, your clients and your reputation, and it usually all comes down to some simple rules about interaction with your online audience.

Don’t Respond to Trolls
Be Selective with Who You Reply To
Don’t Be THAT person

Don’t Respond to Trolls

Have you heard the phrase “don’t feed the trolls”? This is valuable advice that will not only save you hours of personal turmoil and distress but also reinforce your credibility and professionalism on your social media platform. As tempting as it is to reply back to these keyboard warriors to justify yourself or defend your business, these exchanges can quickly turn hostile and aggressive, leaving a trail of abuse for everyone to see.

If however, a customer has a genuine complaint take it offline and handle it in the same way you would with a customer complaint. Remember to publically acknowledge this is what you have done – PMed you, so other people know who have seen and addressed the complaint.

Be Selective With Who You Reply To

You don’t have to reply to every single comment on your social media platform. By all means, thank people or customers for their service and reviews, but don’t encourage the negative or the time wasters, you will be attached to your device for hours. Find constructive comments, questions or enquiries you can answer directly that will inform more than one commenter with one answer.

If you have a lot of the same comments or complaints this may be a sign that you need to address this area of your business. It may be that you are not explaining something correctly or the product/service is not matching the customer’s expectation. A small tweak maybe all it is needed to turn an unhappy customer into a raving fan.

Don’t be THAT Person

If you can’t say something nice about someone, or their business, don’t say anything at all. Remeber you are on social media to add value to your customers and to a solve a problem with your product or service, not to push your political or other personal agenda ( keep that for your private social media if you really feel the need).

More and more businesses are learning the value of integrity and comradery in business over bad-mouthing, sledging and simply slandering other businesses in their industry. Nobody wants to work with someone who has no respect for others trying to do the exact same as they are in a competitive online world. Support your fellow business owners, refer on if you cannot help and recommend for the good of the customer.

Who Can Help Me With Social Media Strategy and Tips?

CATCO Enterprises have evolved through the online marketing industry for over 16 years and can effectively assist you in planning a social media plan to develop your following whilst keeping your sanity and integrity intact.

Call Cathy today on 9797 0889 to discuss all your social media requirements today.

Understanding Hashtags for Instagram

Hashtags are king in the Instagram world.

Hashtags are one of the best ways to grow your Instagram following and build relationships with other businesses. Using the right combinations of hashtags can not only expose your business to a much larger and targeted audience, they attract more followers, increase your double taps and get your engagement shooting through the roof. With more and more clients and potential contracts depending on your social media footprint (ie. your number of followers and activity on social media platforms), it’s becoming increasingly important to choose the right hashtags to get your product, service or personal brand out in the market you are targeting.

So how do you build your Instagram hashtag strategy?
And how do you know you’re doing it right?

Follow these guidelines for the most effective hashtag game plan to boost the reach of your social media campaigns.

Know Your Market Hashtags
Understanding Community and Branded Hashtags
Have A Hashtag System
Don’t Go Generic
Research Everybody

Know Your Markets Hashtags

Hashtags help people who do or like the same things you do to find your posts. The hashtags help organise photos and video content, putting them into categories that help followers looking for things that interest them to discover your feed. You need to make them relevant.

There’s no point in including a bunch of vegan hashtags on a post about a recipe featuring beef mince and scrambled eggs, or a #fitspo series on a photo that laments the lazy life. Look at your photo or video content and think of every single word you could relate to it and to your target market. Ask yourself “what are they looking for?” and hashtag it! Post things that are relevant to your business and what your customers like.

Understanding Community and Branded Hashtags

Community hashtags bring together like-minded followers around a specific subject. They are a great way of joining a ‘group’ online and building followers. To find the best community-oriented hashtags for your account, see what your audience and favourite accounts are using, or enter your interest in the search function. Community hashtags are designed to increase the reach of your message.

Branded hashtags are usually inspired from your own personal branding and can be your business name, tagline, a name of a product or even just something that is highly recognisable as affiliated with your brand. They are designed to connect themes between you and your audience and can be beneficial in promoting a campaign.

Have A Hashtag System

Do you have your hashtags organised relevant to your posts? Or are they simply a big clump of copy and paste words you attach to every post? The higher your reach and the more engagement you get, the less Instagram will ‘allow’ you to just post the same 30 hashtags every time. And yes, a post all 30 hashtags, EVERY TIME, so think about your hashtags ahead of time. The best strategy is to have several collections of hashtags to attach to different posts. For example, your post about kids cooking should not contain #grownupfood or #dogsofig, but there are hundreds of hashtags you can come up with to describe kids cooking. Save these collections on your phone in Notes or Memos (as you can only use Instagram from a mobile device) and mix up your hashtags for each post. Save multiple groups of hashtags.

Don’t Go Generic

Whilst easy words like #love or #yum are undeniably the most popular on Instagram, you don’t want to use more than 5 in your hashtag collection. They may get you a few likes but they aren’t great for growth. It’s best to use audience specific tags with strong engagement and community following behind them. Find out what your audience, competitors and industry leaders are using and include them as well as being creative and a little fun with new, niche hashtags of your own.

Research Everybody

Do your research, stalk everybody’s account and make notes. Have a look at your target audience and find the ones that fit your content. Check out your competitors and see which hashtags are getting them the results you want. Whilst it’s not professional to simply copy a competitor’s hashtag collection, it also shows you have no imagination or creativity yourself, so just pick up a few and spice them up to fit your own brand. And don’t forget the social influencers! These people do exceptionally well on Instagram for whatever reason in their own industry. Learn from the best in your industry and have a good look around their well-established following.

Who Can Help Me With My Instagram Hashtags?

With all the confusion surrounding Instagram ever-changing algorithms and strategies to get ‘trending posts’ and ‘niche hashtags’, you can be forgiven for thinking it’s all too hard. Cathy Smith can not only assist you with your socials media platforms and followings, she is a qualified web and graphic designer with over 16 years’ experience in the industry. Call the team at CATCO Enterprises today on 08 9797 0889