We recently met with a new client who shared with us their previous experience with SEO, Google Adwords and Facebook marketing. What stood out immediately during this conversation was that our client was without a doubt overwhelmed.
The client and her partner have an air conditioning business based in Sydney and naturally they find themselves surrounded by many other companies offering the same. As a small business, this very common situation means that it can be quite competitive to get work, hence why they embraced online marketing as a support to get their business out there.
Unfortunately the pressure a lot of small and medium size businesses are under is often preyed upon by the marketing industry and in particular SEO 'experts' who will convince business owners that they know exactly what they need to get them on the first page of google....and they just happen to charge thousands of dollars to do so.
This is not a criticism of SEO practices, however more an observation that many small businesses such as my clients are being preyed upon by SEO companies and marketing 'gurus' through either their desire to be more successful or through their fear of not making ends meet. Basically, many businesses are being had.
There is certainly a way we can use some of these marketing services that doesn't dishonour our businesses nor the people that run them. Afterall, a healthy website is important, however the first thing we need to consider is if the type of marketing is true or supportive for that business and this should take into consideration several factors including the type of service that is offered along with the businesses marketing budget and goals.
From our experience it is great to keep things very simple, honest and true in our marketing practices, and in this particular case, we discussed what the client could do to add value to their business and for their clients and how they could communicate this.
We put together a simple plan for email and facebook posting (their top two methods of communication with their clients), and discussed the type of things that would be important to inform their clients about. The whole process was enjoyable and rewarding.
It never ceases to amaze how simple it is when we market from integrity.
Published with permission of our client Absolute Integrity Air Conditioning Services (pictured above - Simon Crowe from AI Air Conditioning Services).