Latest / Be Locally Loved / 020-Kaylee Harcrow : What Customers Do Before They Buy: Building Trust in a Digital-First World

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020-Kaylee Harcrow : What Customers Do Before They Buy: Building Trust in a Digital-First World · Be Locally Loved

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Be Locally Loved, where we spotlight the people, places, and ideas that help communities thrive.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Moving to a new town can feel overwhelming.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: You don't know where to go, you don't know what to do, you don't know who to trust.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's where BeLocal comes in.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like a best friend, BeLocal personally welcomes newcomers and connects them to the best local businesses, restaurants, community events, so they can feel at home faster.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: And for local business owners, BeLocal is like a matchmaker, introducing them to new families who are ready to form long-lasting and local relationships.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: To grow your business by reaching newcomers, visit reachnewcomers.com.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever wondered what potential customers are thinking before they ever contact your business?
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the truth is people are deciding whether or not they trust you long before they pick up the phone, walk through your door, or click buy on your website.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Today I'd like to welcome Kaylee Harcrow, a marketing strategist who helps local businesses grow intentionally without feeling pressured to chase every new trend.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Who wants to do that?
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: With a degree in marketing from Baylor University and an MBA from Texas AM in Corpus Christi, Kaylee brings experience in social media, content creation, analytics, and local business marketing, along with a practical understanding of how customers make buying decisions.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Today she'll help us understand what customers are looking for before they decide who to trust and share practical ways local businesses can build credibility, attract more customers, and grow.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, Kaylee.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, thank you so much for having me.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so happy to have you on the show today.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to dive into your start in marketing at Baylor.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: How did you end up at Baylor and in the profession of marketing?
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I actually grew up in Waco, so spent a long time there, probably more time than I should have, but just stuck around stuck around.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: My mom and dad really liked that, that I was still living 10 minutes down the road.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: So went into the business school at Baylor.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: And then after that, I moved to Austin to actually work in software sales.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: My degree was in marketing, and I really wanted to do something a little more creative, something along the lines of what I'm doing now, but kind of got my start in sales and that kind of kickstarted my career.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: But then I moved right into a job after that, working directly with small business owners through an HVAC company.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of when I got my start in home services, construction, that type of thing.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I've just been working kind of in those industries and with small businesses for the last seven or so years before I started doing my own thing and helping businesses here in Georgetown.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: What inspired you to kind of hang out your own shingle and start your own marketing business?
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: I had kind of done it for fun on the side for the last eight or so years since I graduated college, running social media for my family, my friends that didn't really have the time to do it.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I was doing it for free or just for a little bit of money for fun on the side.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then earlier this year, made a career change.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I just thought, you know, I really like doing this and I see a need for it, especially here in Georgetown.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many small businesses that are just getting started that have been around for a while and they just don't know what to do yet.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: So I saw the market for it and I thought, I'm gonna take a chance on this and, you know, try to use what I know how to do to help businesses here.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: I share that passion with you.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that you started on the sales side as well, because a lot of times people, at least those of us working in marketing, we've felt that friction between marketing and sales.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: So to have a marketer that actually understands sales and that they're not the same thing and that they have to work together, I think helps you probably earn a lot of respect from the salespeople you're working with and the business owners that you're helping.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I hope so.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I it's two very different things, but they have to work together.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: You can't have sales and marketing doing their own things, two completely different things.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: They're they are very unique, but work have to work together.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I know what we're gonna dive in today.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we're gonna talk about what customers do before they buy from you, that process, that customer journey, that process of building trust.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: I know you like to say, think about like the last time that you went to hire a contractor or choose a restaurant or uh, you know, hire a trusted local resource.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: What did you do first?
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like what do you see people doing?
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: And like how would you describe that customer journey?
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: So kind of no matter where the journey starts, whether it's someone randomly found you, your brand, or it was word of mouth, a recommendation, almost always the consumer is going to look you up online.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's just kind of the age we live in.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: Whether I was driving down the road and I saw a billboard, if I asked you what your recommendation was, even though I know you're local to Georgetown and you know so many things about this town, and I would really take your recommendation, I'm probably still going to Google what you told me to look into.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: And that's, and there's so many different things that they're going to look at on that journey from your Google reviews to what you're actually doing on Google, your website, so many different forms of social media.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: And then there's all the other random touch points that a consumer could possibly be seeing.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like if it's someone recommending you on social media or you're in a local print magazine or at a chamber event, something like that.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know how in the weeds you want me to get right now, but something we were talking about the other day was touch points.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: Was recently doing some research on that.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: Takes three to five touch points for someone to start recognizing your brand and kind of being familiar with it.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: And then up to seven for them to say, But yeah, I know that brand.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm really familiar with them.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: But then it could take up to 20 different touch points for the consumer to make their decision.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: So being in all these different places and strategically being in all of these different channels is really important because you never know where that customer journey will take them.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: I call it the messy middle.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think a business owner, they want to connect a dot between an interaction and a transaction.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like I did this and I got that.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's marketing on their timeline.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like what we're trying to do is be there on our customer's timeline.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: And there is that messy middle.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like you said, it could be five, seven, up to even 20 times before someone is ready to take action.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: That could be hours, days, weeks, months, or years.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: But you as a business owner, you still need to keep marketing, you still need to keep your name out there, you still need to keep doing it because again, it's their timeline, not ours, right?
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: I know that's probably gonna break the hearts of lots of business owners out there because I get all the time, because as you know, I own a be local here in Georgetown, and people will say to me, Well, what am I gonna get out of this?
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, well, what you're gonna get out of this is a trusted local connection to people that don't know you exist.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like what they do after that, I cannot control.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: And to your point, like they hear about you, so they'll hear about you through be local, which is a trusted local recommendation, just like a word of mouth recommendation, but they're gonna do their due diligence, just like you said.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, like, even when if I told you where to go get your hair done, you would still go to their website, you would still read their reviews, you would still look at their stuff on Instagram, right?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: I just just due diligence.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like we have to do that.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that's part of building the trust, right?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, I totally agree.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what I one of the biggest struggles with having a small business is wanting to connect every dollar to every lead that comes in.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: And usually the solution is, oh, well, we'll just ask every customer, you know, where they came from and kind of pivoting on your example.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: If I go to that hairdresser, I I might tell them, my friend Laura sent me here, but I may not mention.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: I also looked you up on Google.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: I looked at all of your pictures on Instagram.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to see how up to date your website was, you know.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: I might not say any of that, but all of it mattered when I was deciding to go there.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Amen, sister.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: I just literally had this conversation this morning with my personal trainer.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: They have the back page ad in Be Local.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: And they were like, Well, how do we know if it's working?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Well, if they see you, the ad is working.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I can't make them come in here and sign up for personal training.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Well, I'm just gonna ask people how they heard of us.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Well, that's great, but just understand that it could take up to 20 touches for them to come to you and they're gonna probably give you the last point of attribution, which is almost always a Google search or a visit to your website or maybe a drive-by, but they won't even notice you on a drive-by until they're aware that you exist.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: So that whole it's called the zero moment of truth.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Google gets all the credit.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like we do all the work, like networking and like local advertising and stuff, but Google gets all the credit.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I Googled you, right?
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: We see this all the time.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: I would say 99% of the time when I've been in roles where I'm asking people, you know, how did you hear about us?
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: How'd you end up here?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: They're saying Google.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, and that could honestly mean 50 different things.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: So let's lean into that.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like, tell me what does a business need to be doing on Google and how is Google changing given the fact that people are now searching on AI?
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I'll start with kind of how you need to treat your Google presence and that, and by that I mean your Google business profile.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: So that area where customers can come leave reviews, you can add your information, pictures, that kind of thing.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's not typically thought of as a form of social media, but we really do need to think about that profile as one of our social media channels.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: The same thing that we're doing on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, we need to do on Google as well.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: We need to be regularly adding updates and photos, making sure that the information is correct.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: Because if I Google a business and I go to call them and it's not a working number or the link to their website is not working, me personally, and maybe it's my marketing brain, I don't know, but I'm almost always just gonna go to the next business that I can look up.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm they've broken your trust.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Because I'm like, well, something's not right here.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: Either they're not open or you know, they're just I don't I don't know what the problem could be, but it it turns me off a little bit.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: So we want to make sure that all of that is constantly being updated and refreshed so that people searching you, but also Google's algorithm knows that you're active and you want business and you want Google to show you in searches.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: So that and then social media along with that, because usually Google will automatically pull in links to your social media, so Facebook, Instagram, and whatnot, and it'll be right there for consumers to click on.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: And you want to make sure those are updated too.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: Cause kind of going back to that whole thing, it kind of puts a bad taste in people's mouth whenever things just are not updated and you don't look like you're in business.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: And then the whole AI of it, I know that it's taking over everything, and almost everything we do has some form of AI in it.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of business owners are taking that route with, well, I can just really quickly, you know, chat GPT or Claude a handful of posts and throw them out there, and that'll be great.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes it is.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: It it usually is correct information, always fat and check it.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: But Google and Link, uh LinkedIn just rolled out a new process with their algorithm.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: Everything is reading AI even more now, and it's spotting kind of what they're calling AI slop.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's started to give like repetitive information to like if I were to search a question and you were to go and search the same thing and try to get an answer, or we say, you know, give me a caption for this social post and we type the same thing, we're probably going to get the exact same response.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of people are posting the exact same content.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: So platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, Google, they're starting to flag that and they're just kind of they're calling it like authority.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: So if they're flagging your content for a lot of AI, um, they're like, well, they don't have very good authority in this industry or this topic.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe we don't want to serve their ads or their content to the searcher.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's a really good little tip.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: So lean into for the business owner listening, like, how can they use AI in a way that helps them maybe save time or be more creative, but they're not using AI to write everything and design everything.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I say, and I say all that.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: I use AI every day in some form or fashion.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and the same way I use it is how I would recommend small business owners to use it as well.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: I use it more of just like a tool to help get my creative juices flowing.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: Just kind of, you know, give me ideas for this.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: This is what I'm thinking about, this is what I want to post about, but I don't really know where to start.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it always gives a really good starting point.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: And then you really want to have a conversation with whatever AI tool you're having and really make it understand your voice and how you speak.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not just spitting out just random, you know, random captions or random information that you maybe wouldn't ever say or doesn't fit the rest of your tone on your social media.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say just use it as a form of like kind of just like a brainstorming tool to kind of get you to that point to for it to click, because it will click in your head.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, oh, I know exactly what to write now that I have maybe some talking points, and then I can go and elaborate on that with my own expertise.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm the expert at what I'm doing, no matter whatever industry it is, like you own that business for a reason.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: So you know what you're talking about.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I would just say, like, really utilizing it as a brainstorming tool and just to kind of get your creative juices flowing is how I found it to be most helpful.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: I love all of that.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I've also used it to help with copywriting, but not to copyright.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: An example would be hitting the little transcription button and speaking to it.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll ask it to just literally transcribe what I say so that I have the written word, and then I can like polish it up or whatever.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like at least it's my words and my thoughts and not some AI pattern.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: Or if you type something and it's it's going somewhere where you maybe need to be a little bit more professional or like you said, polished.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: Say, write it, write it yourself and then say, you know, how can this can I how can I change a couple words for it to sound, you know, a little more a little bit more buttoned up, if you will.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like suggest things.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Don't just like, yeah, write it.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: I am seeing AI slop everywhere.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's so patterned, it's so recognizable, especially in copywriting on captions on like Facebook and Instagram, but also in the design space.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm seeing that brush stroke kind of design, and everything's like overdesigned, every square inch has a word in it.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like it is going to become embarrassing as more and more people start to figure out what that is.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: People are going to start to be shamed for that.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: So heads up, business owner, don't just let design, you know, AI design everything.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's fast, I know it's easy, I know it's kind of fun, but you know, be careful.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: We don't want you to look like AI Slop.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: I would not be surprised if AI slop does not end up as like the word of the year, you know, like Webster's dictionary.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: We're only a little bit over halfway, and I already feel like it's on its way.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, yes.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm glad we I'm glad we talked about AI because that is really changing the profession of marketing.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, honestly, I couldn't do this podcast without the help of AI.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: The way that I use AI in this particular instance is that you and I get on, we have a conversation, I send that to my VA who takes the transcript and gets uses a really sophisticated prompt that I wrote in my voice to get show notes and all the stuff that we push out on social.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: So AI is a great, great, great tool if you can use it to just be more of yourself.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I totally agree.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: If it's being used that way and the correct way, it is so invaluable.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's such a good tool.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let's lean it now into the importance of a business's website.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: I've always said that your website is your 24-7 salesperson.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: It is the it is the person that you've got out there that doesn't sleep, doesn't eat, doesn't ask for vacation time, doesn't ask for a raise.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like you need to take care of that person.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like if you if if you were hiring a 24-7 salesperson, that would cost you a lot of money to field inquiries from clients and answer their questions.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so, how do you see the website's role in a business's digital marketing success?
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: And what tips do you have to help a business owner have a great website?
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, like you were saying, a website is kind of the backbone of any business's digital marketing.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: That's ultimately, I think, where the consumer is going to end up for a lot of industries, especially now, a lot of people are wanting to schedule online, not call and make that appointment.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: So they're usually doing that on a website.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: And kind of to a point I made earlier, if I'm searching for whatever it may be, and I go to the website and just looks old, outdated, or there's links with errors on there, I'm probably not choosing that person or that business for whatever service I'm looking for.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: You want it to be easy to read.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: I've learned a lot about websites actually through you and some of the kind of marketing meetings that I've been in with you.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: And having a website that is really doesn't have too much on it, but it has the correct information.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like if you're gonna have anything, you want the call to action to be there.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: You want people to know, I want you to call me or I want you to book online.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: And it's right there.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: You want people to know what you do immediately when you when they open that home page.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: And you want it to be clean.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: You want it, you don't want it to be too messy, too many things.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: I see that a lot.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because there's a lot of cool like widgets and tools that you can put on a website.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: There and with AI, there's so many more that are being created.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: And you don't always have to have that.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to have a pop-up every time someone scrolls down, or like a chat feature is really cool and it looks really cool because going back to people don't like to talk on the phone or anything anymore.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: But if you're not someone that's monitoring that website chat, is it really useful for you?
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of like one tip that I always say is like if you can't monitor this, you can't monitor the form fills or you know, the chat feature or any of these other cool things that you're putting on there, don't do it because you're probably paying for it on the back end somewhere.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: But you don't need all of these widgets and things on your website.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: You just need it to be clean, professional, really to tell people what you do.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: And if it is something where you want them to book online, make that easy for them to do.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: Don't make it a super confusing process and make it known that I want you to book online.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's how I run my business.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I always like the the the Z example that you give.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's some that's one thing that I I remember a lot of things from college, but in marketing classes.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: They read in a Z.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: Is people read in a Z.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a natural like rise to the corner, other corner down and over.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's just what we do naturally.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: And so I I love that tip.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: Just very simple.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like you only need a few things in that order and it'll make sense to your consumer.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: I say clarity over cleverness.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like you might be trying to do something cute and clever that completely confuses your buyer.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: And when they come to your website, they need to understand who you are, what problem you solve, and how they can engage with you.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's like three very simple little things.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: I do think a website is of critical importance, being mobile friendly, like all of that stuff.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like we could probably have a whole hour-long conversation about websites, right?
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: But just no business owner, like the website is absolutely the backbone of your brand online.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: It is your digital storefront, it is your 24-7 salesperson.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: And another kind of just one tip for a business owner that I've I've encountered this a few times recently is a website can probably be the most like daunting thing, I would say, whenever a business owner is starting up, because not just everyone knows how to build a website or even how to start that.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of times it is an outsourced task.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: They're paying someone else to build the website, which is totally okay.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: There are people that are meant to build websites and that are so much better at it than people like me.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: But one thing that I always say is really understand who is building your website.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: Do you own that website after they build it?
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: Or do they own it forever because they built it?
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have access to the back end of that site?
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: Can you access that at any time?
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_01: Can you update it at any time?
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have control over the information that's going to the site?
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: Because you want to be aware of what's being shared on the internet about your business.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: And you want to be able to edit that information or change it if you need to.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: So, and then if you ever decide, oh, I actually want to manage this website myself or I want to hire someone in-house to do this, you want to have access to it and not have to start completely over because that's a whole conversation in itself as well, is starting Absolutely.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, that's just a tip that I I've encountered that a lot recently.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: So I always say that, you know, make sure you have access and control of your website.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I I think we've both seen businesses come to us for help and they say, Yeah, I I I had this other person build it, and they won't give me the login credentials, even though they've paid on this site for years.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: So let's let's talk about that for a second.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: I saw a trend happen during COVID.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Where various marketing training agencies around town started allowing people to get certified in marketing with like a weekend class online.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: And they all of a sudden flooded our profession with people that have not gotten an undergraduate degree in marketing, which you have and so do I, and a master's degree in business administration that you have, and so do I.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's a very big difference, in my opinion, between a strategic marketer who can understand the buyer's journey and how to move someone through awareness, interest, desire into action, and what we might call a website builder that popped up during COVID when they were unemployed and they took a class or they taught themselves Wix or Squarespace or some sort of DIY website builder.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: And now they say they're a website builder and they're at the chamber promoting themselves as a website company, but they know nothing about strategic marketing.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: They just know how to upload pictures and put words.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: So that's like my first soapbox.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: My second soapbox is AI website builders, where you just give it a prompt and it builds you a website.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like we've seen that from lots of people.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: We can spot, you and I can spot that kind of stuff a mile away.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that over time more and more people will.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: So, business owner, please, please don't.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: I know it seems fast, I know it seems easy, I know it makes a daunting task seem a little simpler, but I promise you that you're gonna end up unhappy.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how long it'll take, days, weeks, months, years.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: But work with someone who knows actually how to build a website and how to usher your client through the buyer's journey.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, this is a soapbox for me because I've seen this for years.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: I agree with that.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: I can build a Wix website, I built my own, but I do not advertise that to people.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not trying to build a website.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: I will connect them with someone that can do it well.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: And like I agree with what you're saying.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like some people can build a website and then there's other people that know what it needs to say and what that website needs to do.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you don't have kind of a marketing consultant or a strategist on your team or that you're working with that can kind of work with your website builder, make sure you're working with them.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: Cause even though maybe you as a business owner aren't maybe a marketer, don't have that much experience, you know, doing the marketing, at least you know your business and you know hopefully what looks good to your consumers.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: So well, and here's the risk of that.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like they know their business, but they're also seeing it from what I call the inside of a jar.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: They can only see what's inside of that label.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas you and I can come in from the outside of the jar, see the label, see where things are breaking down.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: The big mistake that I see business owners making in doing their own marketing is that they're making it all about them, their expertise, their awards, their services, their staff, they're not making it about the client, the client's pain, the client's problem, um, and the and the way that they ease that pain or get them out of that problem.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: So even business owner, if you want to do it yourself, at least get like educated about pivoting your messaging.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: Donald Miller is a great resource for this.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: Go read building a story brand, like and get educated about the importance of speaking to your customers' pain and not just promoting yourself, right?
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: You're getting me on lots of soapboxes today, really.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's good.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's fun.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about social media.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: All right, what trends are you seeing in social media right now?
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because I know all of us think that that's like the magic formula to growing a business, but you and I know it's one piece of a puzzle.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: Trends.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: I well, the one trend that I think I see, and this is very specific, very every other post is it's really chic to XYZ.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's a big one.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I've I've restrained from using that on all of my clients' social media.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: I really want to.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: But I and I love stuff like that.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I think I'm I'm gonna get on a soapbox now.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if it might not answer.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: Be my guest, be my guest.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: With trends in general, I think they're good to follow.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like obviously, if you do a trend and it gets picked up, if it's on a trending sound on TikTok or Instagram, or people see that you followed this formula for this trend, they might stop and look at it.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: And you might go viral, you know, whatever viral means to you or to your community.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: But that doesn't always translate into building a relationship with your customers because they might you might have a hundred thousand people that see this Instagram post, you know, just as a number.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: And that's great.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's a hundred thousand eyes on your brand.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: But just because you did that trend and that many people saw it, does that mean they're going to come back and really investigate you as a brand and as a company and be like, oh, like maybe I am interested in their services.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: I want to know who they are.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna go look at their other, you know, social sites or their website.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I think trends are fun to do, and I think you do need to do them to kind of stay somewhat relevant.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: And again, they're just fun to do, but I don't think the goal of social media should be to trend and to go viral.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I agree.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: Those are what we call vanity metrics, right?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like, oh, that was fun.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: We got a million views on our reel.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: But were they local?
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: Were they people that could actually walk in your store?
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: Were they people that actually could do business with you?
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: Probably not, right?
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: So, what really is your goal?
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to me about what you would consider best practices in social media.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how can a business owner do social media in a way that is consistent but not overwhelming?
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think a lot of business owners see social media as, oh my gosh, it's a whole nother job.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it can be.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: But how do we how do we make it easy for them to do at least some of it themselves?
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: Well, first I would say like you don't have to post every day.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: I think a lot of people think that they're they think, oh, if I'm not posting every day, you know, it won't matter.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, posting too much can turn into an issue because then two things can happen.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like custom potential customers can say, them again, I'm just gonna keep scrolling.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they have a lot to say and I don't have time to read that again today.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: And when they start doing that, the algorithm of say Facebook, if they're on Facebook, that will kind of tell their algorithm they don't want to see that brand anymore.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: So then their posts will stop showing up on their feed.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: And you don't want that.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: You want to be there just enough that you're piquing their interest every single time.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say three to four times a week put like actual posts is what I found is the sweet spot for most industries and most platforms.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think things differ, like Facebook is different than LinkedIn.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's very different audiences and very different information you're probably sharing on both of those.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: But I would say no more than five times a week posting, at least three.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's a good consistent number and it's doable.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I think planning out kind of like not even a whole content calendar, but maybe at the end of each week sitting there and thinking, I have this event next week.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm working on, say, it you're a contractor.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm going to this event, I'm working on this job site on this day, and I have a team meeting on this day.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's three right there.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: You can take a picture at each of those events or places that you're at and post it really quickly and just say, you know, hey, I was at the Chamber of Commerce lunch today.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: It was great to see XYZ.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: Today we had a team meeting to talk about this quarter's numbers, like love meeting with my team and getting us all in the office.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: And then on the job, you're showing your job site, you're showing that the work that you're actually doing, um, especially if you're a contractor or something like that, that's what people like to see.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: They like to see that you're the expert.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a good mix of kind of like educational content, but then also showing like I'm a real person.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: This is my team, I'm in the community, that kind of thing.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_01: And it's as easy as that, just kind of sitting down and looking at your calendar, saying, I have these three things next week.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_01: Put a reminder in your phone after each of those meetings or events and say, post a picture on Facebook and then do it, and it takes 30 seconds and you're done.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: So, what's your opinion of pictures versus videos or reels versus carousels or stories?
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like what mix should they be trying to achieve?
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would say I think videos are really important because people now we kind of like to watch and listen a little bit more now than we like to read.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: But I think too many videos, and again, I don't know if it's my marketing hat, but when I'm on a page and it's just video after video, that kind of throws me off too, because you can video anything and you can you may not be saying anything valuable in that video.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: You could just be taking a video of where you're at, you know.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like what is that telling me about what exactly you're doing, you know?
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I think a good mix of so if you're doing three posts a week, three or four posts a week, I would say have at least one reel in there.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: So one reel a week, one video, and you know, make sure it, and it doesn't have to be edited in like a fancy platform or anything.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like iPhone pictures and videos are just one with the quality of iPhones now, like the quality's pretty good, but that's a people do want to see that too.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: They don't necessarily always want to see something super produced.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say a couple of just image posts a week and then one reel.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's a good mix.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then stories a couple of times, maybe well, more than posts.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_01: I would say probably three or four stories a week.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I would say videos on stories, probably more than just like images or graphics, because that's where you can kind of share those like shorter videos where you're like, oh, this is, you know, I'm at this event, I can showcase that on my story.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't necessarily have to be a whole post.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_01: If it's like just a 10-second video or something like that, it makes more sense for it to be a story.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I'll layer on what you're saying is to make sure that, again, it's not all about you.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: So this isn't just your promotion billboard.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: This is about educating.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: This is about entertaining, this is about motivating, this is about informing, like about serving, like do something that helps people.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: Don't just promote yourself and don't just push out Canva graphics.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how many accounts have we been on where it's just Canva graphics?
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: Save$200, save 50%, buy now.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like that no one's gonna come back to a feed like that.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: Which are good, like throw in there every now and then a caller posts.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: But we want real life content, you know, pictures of you doing the work, uh, providing the service, things like that.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I think really resonate with people.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: And kind of on the trends thing, like with videos.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_01: I think when videos started picking up more and that was people realize, oh, like videos probably do a little bit better sometimes, depending on the platform, than just a graphic will.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of just like selfie videos, which are great, like if you want to talk to the camera and upload it.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: But I've been on some Facebook pages where literally every post was just that business owner or that salesperson just taking a selfie video and talking.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that goes to your point that it's not just about you, which those are great sometimes.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: And like, you know, you're the expert, so you need to talk and like do that, but throw some other stuff in there.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um I was on the Instagram channel watching a video.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: I always watch like what Adam was or whatever his name is, the owner of Instagram always has to say.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: And just recently he said, I know we had you guys doing videos and leaning into videos, but now we also want you to be more balanced in your feed.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, We're gonna start rewarding static photos.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I put like a week ago, just a photo of my staff, and I said, meet the faces behind be local Georgetown.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: We had 15,000 views in like 24 hours.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was insane.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: So static photos are still good, they're still relevant.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: You don't, Mr.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: Business Owner, have to go film a reel of everything.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: And it's as simple as that, just sharing a team photo like that and saying, this is who we are.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it can be that simple.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, good.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for those social media tips.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: What I'd like to lean into now is just word of mouth.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: I I have been in this profession for I'm a lot older than you, for my whole life.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a long time.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I've just heard from business owners over the years, over the decades, I don't have to do marketing.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have to do advertising.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: I just do word of mouth.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, you don't do word of mouth.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_00: Also, word of mouth is not a marketing strategy.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: Marketing, I mean, word of mouth is a benefit of running a great business, right?
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_00: No business owner can sit back and have say to the sales team, what are you guys gonna do next quarter?
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: What are you gonna do next year?
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and they're gonna be like, I don't know, we're waiting for the word of mouth to kick in.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're totally abdigating your responsibility if you say the only thing that I do is word of mouth.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: And we know it is important.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: So, what are your thoughts on word of mouth?
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: How does it fit into a marketing strategy?
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: What should business owners expect?
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I hear the same thing a lot of times too.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: My dad owns some businesses where in Waco, where I'm from, and he will tell you that like word of mouth is one of his best.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: And he it is, it gets him a lot of business, but you've got to do other things on top of that.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_01: Kind of going back to what we talked about earlier with the customer journey, even if it's word of mouth and I get a recommendation from one of my friends or, you know, a fellow business owner, I trust that and I trust their opinion, but I'm still going to look them up.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to look that business up on Google or their website or, you know, keep asking other people, like, oh, have I was recommended this.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_01: Have you heard about this?
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't stop with that one recommendation.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: There, you have to be doing other things.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of like I said earlier, if you recommended a hair salon to me, I'm going and looking them up.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm seeing what kind of reviews they have on Google and what people are saying about them, you know, how they treat their clients and, you know, what their Instagram looks like.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_01: I mentioned this in a meeting we had recently.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: When I'm looking up a hair salon, I go on Instagram and I look at every picture that they post because I want a lookbook, even if it's something that's recommended to me by someone I trust.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I think word of mouth, it helps build that trust.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's a really good starting point versus someone that is not being recommended, like you haven't been given as a recommendation at all.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's a great starting point, but it's not the ending point a lot of times, most of the time.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: They're going to hit a handful of those other touch points that we've talked about.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: And as a business owner, it's your job to make sure that those touch points are ready for those people that are searching you even after they've they find out about you through word of mouth.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_00: So word of mouth is just one of those 20 touch points.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: Better not be your only one.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like you said, it's not a strategy.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's just one of the many pieces that bring a customer to you.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, yes.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: I often say word of mouth is not a marketing strategy.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I often say hope is not a marketing strategy because a lot of business owners, I mean, I literally, I won't say who it is, just talked to someone, a business owner, very successful business owner, and I said, What is your marketing strategy?
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: And he said, just provide a really great service.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_00: I don't really have one.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: So that's great.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_00: But that's gonna take a long time to like get that engine going and to scale something that is just 100%.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I have a client who said to me, we need to get our name out and be local because we've been doing networking and word of mouth for a long time and we're now out of time.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I always like kind of compare, you're gonna have time or you're gonna have money.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't have any money, then you better find some time to go network at the chamber, to go out, shake hands, kiss babies, do all of that.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're in your clinic with your patients, your clients, whoever you're serving, you now don't have time.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: So you better find some money and leverage that money to get the word out in the community in a credible way because it's really hard.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: It says to me, if you've only got time and no money that you're bearing the infancy of your business, right?
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: You've got a like a long way to go.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: But you could be up that life cycle of the business and have some a piece of your, that's where marketing budget, let's lean into marketing budget, like a piece of your revenue should be set aside for the marketing budget so that you can be getting your name out there, the word out there, like building demand for what you're doing.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you're quiet, your competitors will come in.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to me about a marketing budget.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_00: How much should a business spend on their marketing?
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_01: I would say it depends on the industry.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_01: I don't, and that sounds like a cop out, but I would say roughly 3% of your revenue should be your marketing spend.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, again, that depends on the industry and also how much money you're bringing in.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a$20 million company, 3% is going to be a lot of money.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_01: And you don't want to just be spending money to spend money.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: You want it to be strategic.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_01: But I would say, for example, I used to work really closely with HVAC owners, franchise owners all over the country.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_01: And the recommendation was three to five percent of their revenue.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_01: And that would give a good, that's a good base for kind of being able to put a little bit in various different channels.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_01: So like Google ads, local networking events, Facebook ads, that kind of thing.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_01: Kind of just putting some in honestly like every touch point that those can their consumers would find them.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard, I think, for business owners, especially smaller business owners, to understand that.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: And especially when I say 3%, I get bug eyes a lot when I say that.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_01: Cause if you're not a huge company, like that, it's a good chunk of your money.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_01: But no money out, it's gonna be hard to get money in.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I always say.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_01: Money out is money in.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I know it's very hard for that to kind of click in a lot of people's heads, especially if you're not like marketing minded.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_01: And especially if you're one of those people that needs a return on every dollar that goes out.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_01: And with marketing, you know that's like you're not always going to see that.
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_01: You're not going to be able to put those together, especially with branding campaigns.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_01: Because a lot of it is just putting your logo and your brand and your, you know, your message in front of people, and then they'll see you 15 times and then they'll Google you and they'll call you and they say, Well, I found you on Google.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_01: The billboard's not working or the magazine's not working because no one's saying it.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_01: That's not necessarily true.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like they probably could have seen every single one of those things that you're putting money into.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_01: Now I'm also going off on a soapbox tangent.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_01: My marketing budget, yes, like for a number, I would say three to five percent for most businesses.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_01: But even if you can't do that, like it's so important just to set aside something and to have a plan for that.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, sit down either quarterly or annually and say, this is how much money I have.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_01: This is what I'm going to do.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to do this event in the community.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to run these Facebook ads every month.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we're not budging on that.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's what we're doing with this money.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I would say to kind of piggyback on budget, when you're putting money into a campaign, don't stop putting money into it after a month if you think it's not worth it.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_01: It usually is going to take three months, six months, maybe a year, depending on the campaign, for it to really start for you to start visualizing that return on those campaigns.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_01: I always say pretty much everything in marketing is a marathon, not a spread.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_01: There's very few things that we can turn on now and spend money on that is immediately going to bring in leads.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's not like it used to be where there wasn't very many channels to get your name out there.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_01: When you could turn on Google Pay-PerClick and you knew that you were going to start getting leads, now that's just one of many ways to spend your money.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_01: And almost every business ever is utilizing it.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a piece of advice I would give is just whatever the dollar amount is, you know, start with something and sit down and have a plan and track that.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, every month, sit down and say, all right, this is how much I spent on these campaigns.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're able to track what's coming in from them, um, if it is more of a lead generation tool, track that and try to, you know, put the ROI on it, but at least track what you're spending.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, year over year, like you can go back and look at it and say, you know, in March I spent for roofing specifically, you know, in March I spent X amount of dollars on Google local service ads and we got this many calls from it because it's a rainy season in March versus July.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_01: We don't need to spend that much money because we aren't, it's not raining.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_01: So we're not going to get very much from that.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I think having a tracking system in place with your budget and kind of what you're spending is really helpful to kind of dial in your strategy and really figure out what works for your business.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it has so many thoughts as you were talking.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start by helping people understand that it's a funnel, going back to there's no direct link between an interaction and a transaction.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_00: So think of a funnel.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_00: So when you say Google LSA ads, local service ads, that's at the bottom of the funnel.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's someone who's like, I just had a roof damaged by a hail storm.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_00: I need somebody out here today.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's a bottom of the funnel activity.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_00: They're probably going to be price conscious, maybe not brand loyal.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_00: They've decided they're looking for the best price and you're going to be up against probably a lot of people.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we call bottom of the funnel.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_00: You will be able to track that.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_00: You'll be able to put an ROI on that.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_00: It will be very expensive because it's going to be highly competitive and everyone's going to be doing it.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_00: Different from what we'll call brand awareness.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_00: Let's lean into branding now and brand awareness and the importance of a first impression.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're a roofer, let's lean into a roofer.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_00: If you're a roofer and you are going to wait until a hail storm to market your business, you are late to party.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_00: You have got to be building your brand, being known, liked, and trusted in that community, having people know who you are.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_00: So when that hail storm happens, When the door knockers and the storm chasers come in and start knocking on the homes of these homeowners, they're going to say, I've already got my roofer.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm friends with him.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like I see him at the chamber.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like he he invites me to charity galas.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like he supports our community in all these different ways.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm not going to do business with someone that's not even local.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_00: So let's lean into branding, like part of your marketing budget.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you said three to five percent.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_00: And you said some people are even like freaked out about the 3%.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: I say to people, a minimum of 5% up to 15, depending on where you are in your life cycle.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you are an infancy, toddler, early teen, you better be spending 10 or 15% because you don't have that high critical mass of revenue.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like you have to have, it's not build it, they will come.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's like you build it and now you better market it so that they will come and you can tailor it down closer to 5% or even three when you're you have a big critical mass.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like you said, the$2 billion company, 3% is a ton of money, right?
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_00: Part of that money is going to be invested higher up on the funnel.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_00: Higher up on the funnel, not at the bottom of the funnel.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_00: So let's lean into the importance of branding, the importance of making a good first impression.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, what are your thoughts on what a business can do or why branding and making a first impression is so important?
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_01: I think first impressions are so important just because now we are just so inundated with information from every angle, whether it's online, like I'm on my phone or my computer all day long.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_01: I always say I'm chronically online.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_01: If you email me or text me, I'm probably going to immediately respond because I'm online all the time.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_01: And almost every page you're on, there's ads on that page everywhere.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_01: Every social platform now has ads.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_01: Streaming platforms all have ads now.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_01: I have to pay for those myself now because I'm not on my family's.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I have the ads, so I see them there.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_01: And then it just information everywhere.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: I live in not an apartment, but like a townhouse, kind of in its own little community.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm in the back.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_01: I open my door frequently and there's flyers on my door handle.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like people are really getting in there.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like it is a little bit of a trek to get up to my front door.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_01: And people are doing literally anything they can to get their name out there.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_01: So you're not the only business and brand that people are seeing, especially depending on what your industry is.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_01: Unless you're just doing something that's incredibly niche, that's totally different ball game.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_01: But if you are in a business, you know, like landscaping or roofing, or I'm kind of going off home services, but there is a lot of those, like all the time.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_01: So they are so, so competitive.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_01: And like you said, to go off the roofing, when a hail storm happens, those door knockers do come in.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_01: I have worked for a roofing company previously, and I remember when we would have hailstorms come through and we would get to the office really early.
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_01: It would be like six in the morning, and I'd be driving through Georgetown.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_01: And one time I counted four or five trucks, roofing company trucks, that I have never seen before.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_01: Never seen the logo, they're the phone numbers weren't local, and they were already there.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_01: So even the brands that you're not seeing on a daily basis, they are, they're gonna be here to take your customers or try to at least.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_01: So, first impressions, you want to, I mean, you really want to compel those potential customers to remember you and give them a reason to remember you, whether that's just sim as simple as like they have a really clean logo, or, you know, that social post I saw of them, they were really knowledgeable and they were just teaching me something.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_01: They weren't trying to sell me on anything.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_01: Or it was, you know, a video of their team being fun together.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, that's a salesperson that I that I would want to come to my house and sell me something because I know they're a real person and not just someone showing up because they know I need help.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I think those first impressions, when the time comes when someone needs your business, that's what they're gonna remember is how you made them feel whenever they saw that magazine ad or that video on social media because they are seeing things like that all the time.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah, I think I heard 3,000 that we get bombarded with 3,000 advertising messages a day.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_00: And because our brain can't handle that, we don't even register most of it, right?
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_00: So going back to your roofing example, you know, those four trucks you saw that morning to the hailstorm, those are what we call solicitors.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's very different than a trusted local resource.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_00: A trusted local resource has been there 365, has been showing up, has been serving, has been building their brand, building relationships.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_00: A solicitor shows up at the bottom of the funnel when people are in the most pain.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_00: And there probably are some customers that go with those storm chasers because they're in their face.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_00: They're given some sort of a price discount.
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_00: But are they gonna be there like next year if the work was done shoddy and it needs a warranty repair?
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_00: Probably not.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_00: They're off to the next storm.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_00: So it right, like consumers need to understand that we we want to support also, you know, we both live in Georgetown.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_00: We love Georgetown.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_00: We want to support local businesses that live and work and raise their families in Georgetown.
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_00: So just be careful when you see those what I call solicitors and be looking more for those trusted local resources, right?
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 49:29
  SPEAKER_00: So that's one of the reasons why I love Be Local and what we do at Be Local is our job is to give a trusted first impression.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I say it's a lot like seeing someone in a coffee shop that you, you know, you walk in, you didn't expect it, but you're like, he's kind of cute, you know?
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'd like to get to know him.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like that doesn't mean I'm gonna like expect him to get on a knee and ask me to marry him, right?
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's a whole process of building a relationship.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that goes back to what we were saying earlier in the in the customer journey, the messy middle.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's a everyone's gonna have their own journey, their own process of building trust, their own process of building a relationship.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_00: But that awareness has to start somewhere.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I think what we're saying is make sure you're seen as a trusted local resource and not a solicitor.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, 100%.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_00: And make sure that your branding is consistent.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_00: If they see you on the website, they see you on your social, they see you at a uh networking event, like whatever messaging and branding, colors, fonts, pictures, like all of that is consistent so that they get, oh yeah, this is the same company.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_01: And you don't confuse them.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_01: Show up with different logos each time, or you know, your Instagram name is different than what your website is.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like that seems a little sketchy, you know?
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, totally be consistent.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that you talk about the importance of first impressions because I think a lot of times a business owner forgets about it.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_00: They're just looking for an ROI.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm gonna do this thing, whatever the marketing plan is.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna do this thing.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_00: What am I gonna get out of it?
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_00: My marketing person told me to track it.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the only thing you can track is something that's called direct response.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_00: You can't track brand awareness because they're gonna see you and have an emotion about you, a feeling about you, all these different places.
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_00: And they're not gonna call you up and say, I saw your truck drive by, I saw your billboard, I saw your magazine ad, I heard your radio commercial.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_00: They're not.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_00: They're just gonna influence the way they feel about your brand.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then at the last minute.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, as marketers, we wish we could track to that level, but it's called the last point attribution, right?
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's the only thing that you can track.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that's almost always a Google search or an AI search, right?
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about why customers leave.
• 51:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like, let's lean into like a lot of business owners don't understand that we can actually accidentally put friction into the buying process, which can make a customer leave.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_00: So, what points of friction can you see in the customer journey that a business owner might accidentally put in?
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_01: Kind of something I mentioned earlier, just like ease of communication.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like I earlier I said we're in an age where people don't really like to call on the phone to make appointments.
• 52:15
  SPEAKER_01: They like, we like to do everything online.
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_01: However, there's going to be people that want to call on the phone.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_01: We talked about this the other day.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_01: If you call and you say, Hey, I want to make an appointment, and they say, you have to do it online, like that's how we book.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_01: Well, no, I'm already on the phone with you.
• 52:30
  SPEAKER_01: Let me just book on the phone.
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_01: No, you can't do that.
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_01: If that were to happen to me, I would probably say, Okay, I'm just gonna call the next person on my list and hope that they'll they will give me an appointment.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_01: That that's that creates friction because you're you're making it hard for them to come in and give you money for your services.
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like don't make it hard for them to give you money.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_01: They're wanting to, if they're saying I want to be like, they want to give you money.
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_01: So make it easy for them.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think just like ease of communication, you can create good friction communication in that way.
• 53:03
  SPEAKER_01: Friction with just kind of going back to the first impressions, like how you look online, because again, that's where most people are researching you.
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_01: If your website doesn't look good, if there's broken links, or if it looks outdated, if it looks like the pictures were taken 20 years ago.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_01: It just does something in our minds where like like depending on the service that you're looking for, like they can't do this, you know.
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_01: Are they going, are they gonna be able to successfully give me what I need?
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_01: So if and if you go online, like their Facebook, it says hasn't posted since, you know, June of 2024.
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna think, are they even still in business?
• 53:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like their Facebook is still up.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe they just don't know how to close a Facebook, but their business isn't open because there's no trace of life online.
• 53:49
  SPEAKER_00: And same thing with advertising.
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like if they've been out there promoting themselves and and creating brand awareness and then they stop and they disappear, the consumer can be like, I haven't seen them in a long time.
• 54:02
  SPEAKER_01: Are they still around?
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that creates a lot of friction because then it could be someone that is ready to book with you or, you know, whatever service you offer, they're ready to go.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_01: But for any of those reasons, that's gonna trigger something in their mind that's like, uh, maybe that's not the best place for me to go or the best company for me to book with.
• 54:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna keep looking.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_01: Because, like you said, I was hit with 3,000 advertisements today.
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_00: I can find something.
• 54:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 54:28
  SPEAKER_00: And you've just done something that maybe has either broken their trust or at least questioned.
• 54:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_00: They've questioned their trust in your brand.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 54:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 54:38
  SPEAKER_01: So even if they've used you before, but it's maybe one of those services that you don't use often.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's every few years, or hopefully for a roof, you never have to do it.
• 54:47
  SPEAKER_01: But if you are, maybe it's every 20 years or so.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_01: And you're like, oh, well, that company did it, you know, 15, 20 years ago, lasted 20 years, I'll call them again.
• 54:56
  SPEAKER_01: But you go look them up and hopefully they're still in business.
• 54:59
  SPEAKER_01: And if they are, but if you haven't seen anything updated, um, if there's no like recent images on their website or any recent Google reviews, that's a big one.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_01: Because I for me, that's one of the first places I look is reviews on Google for most things that I'm researching.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_01: And there's no recent reviews, that kind of gives me a red flag too.
• 55:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like have they not serviced anyone in the last eight months, you know?
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and Google is so important, for better or worse, yeah, that we have to keep it updated.
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_00: So if you change your phone number, if you change your website URL, if you change your store address, like you better make sure that all of the online directories are updated with that information because if anything is incongruent, again, you're breaking trust.
• 55:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_01: That's a that's a really good point.
• 55:47
  SPEAKER_01: Just having inconsistent information for people that really pay attention to that, that looks sketchy for lack of a better.
• 55:54
  SPEAKER_01: It sure does.
• 55:54
  SPEAKER_01: It sure does.
• 55:55
  SPEAKER_01: And then to Google's algorithm as well, it's going to see that your Google has one number, then your Facebook has a different number, website has a different number.
• 56:04
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes, you know, there's like phone number tracking.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's a whole different conversation.
• 56:08
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 56:09
  SPEAKER_01: But if it's just because you haven't been updating it, if they're wrong numbers on some things, like Google's gonna flag that too.
• 56:15
  SPEAKER_01: And Google's gonna lose trust in your business and then stop serving your pages to consumer center searching.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_00: For sure.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we probably need to do almost like a PSA warning out there.
• 56:26
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you are doing your research that this is a real business, because unfortunately, we live in an age where we have to be skeptical of what we see online, what's real, what's not real, especially now with AI.
• 56:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now we even more have to be like, what's real, not real.
• 56:42
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I've seen businesses, especially in home services, plumbing, electricians, HVAC, routine, flooring, like sometimes they don't even have a storefront, but they try to have a Google business page and then you go to plot it for directions and it takes you to an abandoned parking lot.
• 57:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like we have to understand that not everything we see online is real.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_00: Even reviews.
• 57:09
  SPEAKER_00: Even reviews can be manipulated and yeah, right.
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about retaining a customer because we have put a lot of energy into like how to get a customer and how to understand.
• 57:20
  SPEAKER_00: But I believe that it's much easier and cheaper to keep the customer you have than it is to go get a new one.
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about retaining customers.
• 57:27
  SPEAKER_00: You were saying earlier about, well, you haven't used they haven't used you in years and they're gonna go look you up and maybe something's different and not congruent.
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_00: But what's not our it's not our job as a consumer.
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's not our job to remember you.
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's your job as a business owner and a marketer to make sure we don't forget you.
• 57:45
  SPEAKER_00: So we haven't really talked about email marketing or text messaging or just advertising to stay in front of people so they don't forget you.
• 57:53
  SPEAKER_00: But talk to me about client retention and what a business should be doing to make sure their clients don't forget them.
• 57:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think email marketing is a really good one.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I do want to preface that with saying we don't want to be sending out an email once a week to customers because that can get a little yes, especially on the iPhone now, just puts that little unsubscribe button at the top.
• 58:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's really easy to stop getting emails.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I think just sending an email maybe like once a quarter.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, and it will depend on the service that you offer, you know, depending on if it's a hairdresser and you're wanting to see that hairdresser every three months or so versus a roofer, where hopefully you don't see them once, but every 10 to 20 years.
• 58:36
  SPEAKER_01: So the cadence will be different depending on your industry.
• 58:39
  SPEAKER_01: But I think just sending emails, text messages, not inundating them with these communications, but every now and then just saying, hey, we're still here.
• 58:49
  SPEAKER_01: They don't always have to have like a sales pitch in them or a discount or coupon or anything.
• 58:55
  SPEAKER_01: It can literally just be like, hey, like this is what we've got going on at our business.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_01: This is what we've been doing in our community as a team.
• 59:03
  SPEAKER_00: Or here's a tip, here's a trend.
• 59:06
  SPEAKER_00: Something helpful that you know will make your life better.
• 59:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, here's a new product in this space that we thought you might like.
• 59:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if you want more information, let us know.
• 59:16
  SPEAKER_01: You don't always have to be selling.
• 59:17
  SPEAKER_01: Those communications can be educational or just trust building, saying, Hey, we're thinking about you, you know, haven't forgotten about you, let us know if you need anything.
• 59:26
  SPEAKER_01: I like thinking out of the box with stuff like that.
• 59:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I know this is not always possible, depending on the kind of business you have.
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_01: But if it's possible, I think handwritten notes to customers are so important.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_01: I do that with my clients and people that have helped me, given me recommendations, things like that.
• 59:43
  SPEAKER_01: I always send a handwritten note because I I love getting handwritten notes, even if there's nothing in it.
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_01: There's no gift card, no coupon, whatever.
• 59:51
  SPEAKER_01: I just like that they sat down and took the time to write something to me.
• 59:56
  SPEAKER_01: And even if that's just like, again, like I was saying, like, hey, thinking of you, you know, hope your roof is doing great, or, you know, hope you're still loving your haircut, you know, whatever it may be.
• 1:00:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a really personal touch that I think is different than all of these digital things that are hitting us all the time that people really appreciate.
• 1:00:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:00:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I think doing kind of things out of the norm.
• 1:00:17
  SPEAKER_01: So like a lot of business sits in Christmas cards.
• 1:00:20
  SPEAKER_01: And that's great.
• 1:00:20
  SPEAKER_01: I love a Christmas card, especially if it's handwritten.
• 1:00:23
  SPEAKER_01: But one year when I was doing sales, I sent Thanksgiving cards to all of my like repeat clients that I had relationships with.
• 1:00:31
  SPEAKER_01: I was just kind of like, hey, thank you so much for being my, you know, working with me in this company.
• 1:00:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I really appreciate you.
• 1:00:39
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, let me know if you need anything.
• 1:00:41
  SPEAKER_01: Hope you have a great Thanksgiving.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_01: Not something a lot of people get is cards on Thanksgiving.
• 1:00:46
  SPEAKER_01: So that's just an example, kind of thinking outside of the box on things like that and just having those more personal touches with the customers that you know trust you, and they're more likely to stick around if they know that you are thinking about them too.
• 1:00:59
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that you're leaning into what I would call like counterculture kind of stuff, like getting out of the mainstream and doing something unique and different and personal.
• 1:01:10
  SPEAKER_00: That I have we send thank you notes at our company.
• 1:01:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I do think that it is really important to give that personal touch.
• 1:01:18
  SPEAKER_00: I also think that there is a trend, like I've even seen news segments about this, like the younger generation that is coming up.
• 1:01:25
  SPEAKER_00: Some of them are turning in their smartphone for a flip phone for the evening so that all of their friends are not on apps all night long.
• 1:01:34
  SPEAKER_00: They're able to communicate through text messaging and they can take a picture, but they want to get unplugged.
• 1:01:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like they're moving.
• 1:01:41
  SPEAKER_00: I know that books are coming back in vogue, magazines are coming back in vogue, albums are coming back in vogue.
• 1:01:48
  SPEAKER_00: People want to get out of this digital fatigue and overwhelm and connect with a printed page or connect with a friend or family member, right?
• 1:02:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like I think in real life experiences are becoming more important and counterculture, like digital is just so big and so overwhelming and so full of AI slop and so full of stuff we have to be skeptical about that it's refreshing to get a handwritten note from someone, right?
• 1:02:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:02:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I've had that conversation a lot recently.
• 1:02:21
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like the more traditional marketing channels are kind of circling back a little bit because we are so inundated with digital.
• 1:02:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I I think print, depending on the industry, like be local, direct mailers, things like that, I think are so important because people appreciate that.
• 1:02:38
  SPEAKER_01: And especially something like you're doing at Be Local, it it is more of a personal touch to it because it is very hyper-local to where these people are living.
• 1:02:46
  SPEAKER_01: And they want to see that.
• 1:02:48
  SPEAKER_01: They're not, it's not just random, you know, businesses that are hitting them from a hundred miles away or a state away.
• 1:02:54
  SPEAKER_01: Because I get those digital ads.
• 1:02:56
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, well, that doesn't really make sense for me to be looking at.
• 1:02:59
  SPEAKER_01: But so yeah, I I think these more traditional forms of marketing before we had digital are coming back and I'm here for it because I love them.
• 1:03:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:03:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I think if we go back to what we were talking about a little earlier, that it's not about you, it's about your customer, right?
• 1:03:15
  SPEAKER_00: So if you are going to choose a traditional method, radio, TV, billboard, print media, uh sponsoring a local event, it's not about you.
• 1:03:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's about showing up and serving, it's about providing value.
• 1:03:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that's one reason why our uh sponsors love what we do at Be Local.
• 1:03:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a book of ads, it's not a book of coupons, it's not about buy now.
• 1:03:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's about, hey, welcome.
• 1:03:38
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, here's where we love to eat.
• 1:03:40
  SPEAKER_00: Here's where we love to shop.
• 1:03:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, by the way, the city has all these resources for fire, police, walkability, parking, like, I mean, we're we're serving.
• 1:03:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I think so, uh a tip to a business owner is if you, no matter what you're doing, whether it's digital, whether it's traditional, think about how you can serve and make someone's life better and give, not just sell and promote yourself because we're all fatigued from that.
• 1:04:08
  SPEAKER_00: So, Kaylee, if you had like one big takeaway, like what is the first thing a business owner should do right now?
• 1:04:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, low-hanging fruit with like a big impact on their business, what should they do right now after listening to this podcast?
• 1:04:23
  SPEAKER_01: Easiest thing they can do is go Google themselves.
• 1:04:26
  SPEAKER_01: Go look online, look at your Google page, your website, your Facebook, whatever social channels you have, and just kind of step out of your business owner shoes and think, if I was looking at this from one of my customers, what would I think?
• 1:04:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:04:42
  SPEAKER_01: If I tried to call myself, am I able to?
• 1:04:44
  SPEAKER_01: Can I book an appointment, you know, conveniently and correctly?
• 1:04:48
  SPEAKER_01: Is the message I'm sending what I want them to know?
• 1:04:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, how does it read to my customers?
• 1:04:54
  SPEAKER_01: So that's that's what I do.
• 1:04:55
  SPEAKER_01: I would go and Google yourself and look at it from a consumer's point of view or your consumer's point of view and just make sure that your online first impression is accurate and consistent and what you want out there.
• 1:05:09
  SPEAKER_00: That is a great homework assignment for everybody listening right now.
• 1:05:13
  SPEAKER_00: And how can people find you?
• 1:05:14
  SPEAKER_00: How can they connect with you, get a hold of you, learn more about you?
• 1:05:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:05:18
  SPEAKER_01: My website is goldenhourgrowth tx.com.
• 1:05:22
  SPEAKER_01: And then I have Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, all just Golden Hour Growth, as well as my personal LinkedIn.
• 1:05:28
  SPEAKER_01: Do a little bit more on my personal LinkedIn.
• 1:05:30
  SPEAKER_01: I always say I get so busy doing social media for other people that I forget that I also have it.
• 1:05:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I need to go and take my own advice and maybe Google myself today after this call.
• 1:05:42
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, um, I'm on all of those channels, just Golden Hour Growth.
• 1:05:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you can always, if you want to get in touch, you can message me or I have a little box on my website that you can send me a message on as well.
• 1:05:52
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 1:05:53
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and I know being a marketer myself, it is hard sometimes for us to do what we want a client to do or what we do for a client.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's like the whole cobbler's shoes.
• 1:06:02
  SPEAKER_00: Cobbler.
• 1:06:03
  SPEAKER_00: The cobblers' kids don't have shoes thing, right?
• 1:06:05
  SPEAKER_00: But yes, Google yourself.
• 1:06:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'll Google myself.
• 1:06:08
  SPEAKER_00: I love that advice.
• 1:06:09
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for being on the show today.
• 1:06:10
  SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to put a spotlight on people, places, and ideas that help communities thrive.
• 1:06:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I think helping local businesses grow and thrive is one of the most important things that we can do for the cities that we love.
• 1:06:27
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you today.
• 1:06:28
  SPEAKER_00: I hope that our listeners walk away with a lot of really tangible things that they can do to market their business and grow and thrive.
• 1:06:36
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you, Kaylee.
• 1:06:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you so much.
• 1:06:39
  SPEAKER_00: Bye.
• 1:06:40
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us for Be Locally Loved.
• 1:06:43
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with someone who cares about building thriving communities as much as we do.
• 1:06:51
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, love where you live.