A common mistake from beginner marketers is confusing their businesses brand image with their brand identity. I get it. They sound similar and are connected concepts.
But they are not… Our brand identity is what we think our brand is and the brand image is what customers think our brand is. However, our brand identity does influence how our brand image is perceived.
This article explores what a brand identity, its importance and strategies a business can use to create their own brand identity.
Business owner at BYB Marketing.
I like to add value to businesses with their marketing. To help them be better.
Every since my introduction to marketing class during my degree, I had a keen interest in marketing. The psychology behind it.
I ended up doing master's degree in marketing.
I am now an experienced marketer, and I have become well-known locally as a Linkedin content creator, and as the organiser of the Linkedin Local Hamilton networking events.
https://brandyourselfbetter.com/
The better we understand the theory, the better our decision-making becomes, without even having to think about it.
Marketing is the psychology behind selling more products or services.
By understanding more about consumption and the thought processes behind it for customers, the better we can please them. The more we understand about how businesses work, the more we can improve the processes. The more chances of success!
This article explores five theories and models that all business owners and marketers should understand.
The 80/20 rule, The Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory, The Product Life Cycle, Porter's Five Forces, and The Ansoff Matrix.
The 80/20 rule suggests that 80% of sales come from 20% of customers.
This theory dates to 1896, conceived by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, to explain wealth distribution when he noticed that 80% of Italy’s land was owned by approximately 20% of the country’s total population. It is thought that his initial observation was that 20% of the pea pods in his garden produced 80% of the peas!
“The Pareto Principle, which is sometimes called the 80/20 rule, states that a small proportion (e.g., 20 percent) of products in a market often generate a large proportion (e.g., 80 percent) of sales.” (Brynjolfsson, Hu & Simester, 2011).
In the 1940s, Joseph M. Juran developed Pareto’s principle for use in strategic business management, naming it after Pareto — the Pareto Principle.
The underlying belief that the relationship between inputs and outputs is imbalanced and unequal, and for many phenomena, 80% of the output, consequences or effects are produced by 20% of the input or causes.
Representation of the Lorenz curve and the Concept of the 80–20 Rule (Dunford, 2014)
The rule transcends disciplines. It has since been applied for numerous purposes across the business, including in sales, marketing, economics, management and even computer sciences. 20% of athletes win 80% of the time, 20% of patients consume 80% of healthcare resources, and 20% of society holds 80% of the world’s wealth.
When applied to business, the underlying assumption is that 80% of the outcomes or results come from 20% of the effort. Other variations of this rule in a business context are:
However, this ‘rule’ is an observation, rather than a law or science. The two numbers don’t have to add to 100% — it is only used as a rule of thumb. It could be 80–20, 90–10, or even 90–20.
What we learn from this principle is to focus your efforts by working harder on the things that matter. That 20% of activities that provide 80% of results. The small stuff does not need to be sweated if it does change the overall result.
“It helps to realize that often the majority of results comes from a minority of inputs.” (Dunford, Su, and Tamang, 2014)
Individuals and businesses should focus most of their time and energy on accomplishing the tasks with the largest return on investment. They can do this through recognising how and where results are achieved. Similarly, the focus with sales should be on developing strong relationships with the best and most profitable clients.
Expectation confirmation theory is a popular model used in services marketing for measuring customer satisfaction, introduced by Richard L. Oliver in 1977.
“An individual’s expectations are (1) confirmed when a product performs as expected, (2) negatively disconfirmed when the product performs more poorly than expected, and (3) positively disconfirmed when the product performs better than expected.” (Churchill & Surprenant, 1982)
The performance of a product or service is compared or measured against the customer’s expectations. Those expectations (or desire) of performance (or experience) are subjective to everyone, based on their prior knowledge of that product.
Performance becomes the mediator for satisfaction. The evaluated performance or experience influenced by previous experiences with that brand and consumers without prior expectations base their satisfaction judgements solely on the performance of the product.
The resultant difference between expectations and performance the basis for the disconfirmation of expectation (or desire) and can be positive or negative. Negative disconfirmation meaning the customer is left dissatisfied.
The theory has been applied across multiple fields to gain a better understanding of customer’s expectations and requirements, such as marketing and consumer behaviour, tourism, psychology, information technology, and the airline industry.
The expectancy disconfirmation theory involves four primary variables: expectations, perceived performance, disconfirmation of beliefs, and satisfaction.
The original expectancy disconfirmation model (Oliver, 1980)
Consumers associate certain attributes or characteristics with a brand which is anticipated by that person. These expectations form the basis of comparison judgement — directly influence both perceptions of performance and disconfirmation of beliefs, and indirectly influence their post-purchase evaluations and feelings.
Expectations of a brand, product or service can be based on aspects such as feedback from friends and family, online reviews, marketing material, salespeople, and previous consumption experiences.
“First, customers have an initial expectation according to their previous experience with using a specific product or service. Second, new customers that don’t have a first-hand experience about performance of product or services.” (Elkhani, & Bakri, 2012)
After consumption, the consumer forms perceptions of the performance of a product, service or experience. These perceptions are influenced by their pre-purchase expectations, then influencing the disconfirmation judgement.
Aspects that performance is based on will be subjective depending on the product, service or experience — for example, for a mobile phone, one performance factor is how long the battery lasts.
Perceived performance can also indirectly influence customer satisfaction.
The judgments or evaluations that a person makes regarding a product, service or experience is called the disconfirmation of beliefs. These are made in comparison to the consumer’s original expectations.
If it outperforms expectations, the disconfirmation is positive. If it underperforms, the disconfirmation is negative. Thus, increasing or decreasing post-purchase satisfaction.
Disconfirmation mediates the relationship between performance and satisfaction.
Post-purchase satisfaction is the extent of how pleased, contented or unhappy a person is after consumption.
The consumer’s disconfirmation of the perceived performance directly influences their satisfaction, satisfaction also indirectly influenced by both expectations and perceived performance through the mediating effects of disconfirmation.
How satisfied or dissatisfied a consumer has influenced their post-purchase behaviour. This includes their attitude towards the brand, their loyalty and whether they repeat purchase, and their word of mouth intent. If people are happy, they are more likely to purchase again and tell friends about their positive experience.
The lifecycle of a product is the length of time it is on the market. Beginning when it is introduced into the market and lasting until it is taken off the shelves.
When a product is introduced to the market if successful, demand increases. Then, as new products enter the market and become successful, they push more dated ones from the market, replacing them.
This concept is commonly used in marketing management, helping inform the decision-making of business, such as pricing, when to increase spending on advertising, expand to new markets, redesign packaging and cost-cutting.
This life cycle has four or five stages, depending on the source. The original model used four — market development, growth, maturity, and decline.
Other versions have added a fifth, introduction, which is the second phase.
Where a product is in its life cycle impacts how it is marketed. New products have more informational marketing, whilst mature products have marketing which differentiates it from the alternatives.
Large manufacturers often have products each in various stages of the product life cycle at any given time.
Each stage has unique costs, opportunities and risks and individual products have different lengths of time when they remain at any of the life cycle stages.
The Product Lifecycle (Levitt, 1965)
When a new product is brought to market, typically there will be some research and development behind it, to make sure it is fit for market and proven demand for it.
Before launched into the market, costs accumulate with no sales. It could take years and a large investment of capital to develop and test some products.
Next comes the introduction to the market, where the goal is to build awareness of the product.
Marketing costs here are high. To reach out to potential customers, substantial investment in advertising is made. Marketing focuses on making consumers aware of the product and its benefits.
Pricing can sometimes be higher to recover costs associated with product development.
“Unit sales are low in introduction, because few consumers are aware of the new good (or service). With consumer recognition and acceptance, unit sales begin to increase… the start of the growth stage. …As more competitors enter the industry and the market becomes smaller… Unit sales reach a plateau, and the product is in the maturity stage.” (Rink, & Swan 1979)
If a product launch is successful and customers accept the product, it enters the market growth phase as demand increases. The size of the total market inflates, sometimes called the ‘Take-off Stage’, as the company aims to increase market share. Production, distribution and availability are expanded.
If innovation on a product is high and there’s little competition, pricing can remain high. Marketing is aimed at a broad audience as demand and profits are both increasing.
As demand and sales levels off, a product enters the market maturity stage. Sales are the highest at this phase and the costs of production decline as manufacturing becomes more efficient. Marketing costs are also reduced.
As more options become available to customers, as competition increases.
Firms may look at updated product features to stay ahead of competitors and maintain market share. Prices also tend to decline to stay competitive.
When products start to lose their appeal with consumers and sales reduce, they enter the market decline phase. Market share is lost, often because of increased competition as new products enter the market, with other firms trying to emulate their success. These can be more suited towards customer needs with the advancement in technology for example or lower prices.
Firms can choose to discontinue the product and remove it from the market, find new product uses to position it differently in the market, or perhaps by exporting the product into new markets.
In any case, the firm by now should be into the research and development phase for their next product.
To help better understand and assess the competitiveness of an industry, Porter’s Five Forces model is commonly used.
“According to Porter (1980), the collective strength of the forces determines the ultimate profit potential in the industry.” (Dobbs, 2014)
Michael E. Porter from the Harvard Business School created the model in 1979. He believed that by understanding the level of competitive intensity of an industry, it will identify the attractiveness of entering that market.
Porter’s 5 Forces (1979)
Attractive markets have few competitors or there might be a gap in the market that a business can target with strategic positioning.
Emphasising the importance of identifying imperfect markets offering more opportunities that are profitable, the model provides useful information to direct a businesses’ strategic approach and marketing.
If they are an existing firm and want to a better understanding of the current market, they can analyse their current position and plan their future direction by aligning it with their strengths and addressing their weaknesses. If a new business or entering a new industry, they can highlight how they are most likely to succeed.
“…Account for long-term variances in the economic returns of one industry versus another… distilling the complex micro-economic literature into five explanatory or causal variables to explain superior and inferior performance.” (Grundy, 2006)
Applying ‘systems thinking’, the model simplifies several complicated microeconomic theories into just five components that impact a market’s long-term profitability:
Competitive rivalry is the central box of the model, a function of the other four forces. The importance of negotiating power and bargaining arrangements is identified — this focus on external factors more prominent than in other market analysis theories such as a SWOT analysis.
In certain marketplaces, buyers have more power and can apply pressure on companies to lower prices. If competition is high and the customer has many choices, they have a higher power. Buyers can also join to have a stronger influence on changing the behaviour of a firm. For example, for ethical reasons consumers might boycott a brand.
What is the likelihood of new entries in the market? If an industry is perceived as attractive, increased competition is highly likely.
If too many new entrants enter that market, its potential profitability will decline. If a marketplace has few but immensely powerful players in it, they will try and make it as difficult as possible for new companies to enter that market. Other barriers to entering that market also need to be considered to do exit barriers. Entry barriers include government policies, patents and technology.
The current competition within the marketplace is obviously an important consideration. Understanding competitive rivalry uncovers how many competitors there are and how much they spend on marketing, what competitive advantages they have (if any), the level of continuous innovation and any differences in quality between players.
Customers might be able to choose to substitute a product or service with another. Not to a competitor’s product from the same market — but instead, switching product categories altogether. For example, a person might stop purchasing fast food and instead purchase pre-made frozen healthy meals. The more substitute items there are, the more likely customers are to be drawn to an alternative product.
Firms must research and consider different alternatives for supply in the market. Raw materials for example can vary a great deal in terms of price, quality and whether. Have the right supplier is critical. How much power does that supplier have? How many competitors do they have? Will their price be consistent or are they likely to increase it? The fewer suppliers there are, the more power they have. The cost of switching suppliers and the ease of distribution is also a consideration.
A popular framework for decision-making about growth and expansion strategies is the Ansoff Matrix. Developed by H. Igor Ansoff, it was first published in the Harvard Business Review in 1957.
His perspective was that firm must continuously grow and change to create a competitive advantage.
“Growth is essential to run a business for profit and, to study the growth, Ansoff Matrix is a planning technique used for deliberate judgment about firm growth through product and market extension networks.” (Hussain, Khattak, Rizwan, & Latif, 2013)
By analysing their market through the four components of the matrix: market penetration, market development, product development and diversification; firms identify strategic alternatives to accomplish their growth objectives.
The Ansoff Matrix (1957)
Also referred to as the Product/Market Expansion Grid, the Ansoff Matrix also helps businesses to better understand the risks of different growth strategies.
Of the four strategies, market penetration hosts less risk and diversification the most risk.
Increasing the sales of existing products to an existing market is a market penetration strategy. Firms aim to increase their market share, which can be achieved in the following ways:
Often brands new to a marketplace engage a market penetration strategy through offering lower introductory prices.
The focus of the next strategy is on developing and introducing new products to existing markets. This involves extensive research and development by a firm to expand on its product range. The strategy is usually used if a firm has a strong understanding of their current market, giving them the ability to meet the needs of the existing market by providing innovative solutions.
Characteristics of product development include:
An example of this BMW and other premium automobile manufacturers adding an electric sports car model to their fleet of vehicles, to compete in the electric sports car market with Tesla and increasing consumer demand for electric vehicles.
Entering a new market with existing products is called a market development strategy. This could be by expanding into new geographic areas, either domestically or internationally, or focusing on new customer segments (groups of buyers with similar needs).
If a company holds a competitive advantage with a certain technology, for example, it can be easily transferred into another marketplace where similar consumer behaviour characteristics with their own market, should mean it is a profitable strategy.
For example, often companies in New Zealand will expand into neighbouring Australia if they are highly successful. Australia and New Zealand share similar consumer behaviour across many segments, meaning the product or service can remain virtually unchanged.
Using the introduction of new products as a strategy to enter a new market is called diversification. This is the riskiest strategy in the Ansoff Matrix, as both market and product development are required. But it also offers the most potential for profitability, by accessing consumer spending in a market they previously had no access to.
There are two types of diversification: related diversification and unrelated diversification.
Related diversification means there is an overlap between a business and the new product or market. For example, a company that produces plastic lunchboxes might start producing plastic bumpers for automobiles.
Unrelated diversification is where there is no overlap between the core business and the new product or market. For example, if that same company producing plastic lunchboxes was to start manufacturing steel framing for construction.
That is the conclusion of the five theories & models that all marketers and business owners should understand.
That was a fair bit of information, I hope you can digest it all and learnt something that will benefit you and/or your business.
Marketers and business owners, in general, should always be looking for opportunities to increase their understanding of how customers think and how business works.
I hope you enjoyed the article and learnt something new.
This content was originally posted on the BYB Marketing Blog: https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/164457/5-theories-or-models-that-every-serious-marketer-should-know
Business owner at BYB Marketing.
I like to add value to businesses with their marketing. To help them be better.
Every since my introduction to marketing class during my degree, I had a keen interest in marketing. The psychology behind it.
I ended up doing master's degree in marketing.
I am now an experienced marketer, and I have become well-known locally as a Linkedin content creator, and as the organiser of the Linkedin Local Hamilton networking events.
https://brandyourselfbetter.com/
Each business should have a pretty good understanding of our target consumers, how they think, and the reasons for how they behave.
If not, it is very difficult to give them exactly they want.
The study of consumer behaviour improves decision-making a some of the guesswork is removed.
This article explores the foundations of understanding consumer behaviour so the business can make better choices with their marketing and attract more of their target customers.
Consumer behaviour is the study of consumption. It aims to have a better understanding of consumer actions and processes used in their purchase decisions, as well as the usage of products and services and how they are disposed of.
Exploring how the consumer’s emotions, attitudes and preferences affect buying behaviour, consumer behaviour draws upon ideas from several fields including psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology, marketing and economics.
“[Consumer behaviour is] all activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of goods and services, including the consumer’s emotional, mental and behavioural responses that precede or follow these activities.” (Kardes, Cronley, & Cline, 2010)
A consumer could be an individual, groups or organisations. The study of their consumption investigating characteristics such as demographics, personality, lifestyle, and behavioural variables such as usage rates or occasion. Businesses aim to understand the process and underlying motives when satisfying their needs and wants.
Through a better understanding of what causes the consumers to buy certain goods and services, marketers can better determine the needs in the marketplace and accordingly alter marketing to suit. Consumer behaviour is the who, where, when and how of consumption.
The consumer is not necessarily the purchaser. From the information provider to the decision-maker, the user, the payer or the disposer; consumers play numerous roles. Roles also vary depending on the circumstances — for example, within a family, the Mother could be the purchaser, the children consume the items and the mother also disposes of them.
An early model of understanding consumer behaviour was introduced by Belk (1975), based on a stimulus, organism and response. The stimulus an object and a situation, a person (consumer) is the organism and the response to their behaviour (consumption).
Consumer behaviour is not static. It changes over a period and depending on the nature of products. Societal trends change, but also does an individual over their lifetime. Equally, all consumers do not behave in the same manner. Some people spend outside their means, others are quite frugal even if they do not need to be.
For many individuals, knowledge of consumer behaviour enhances their ability to consume more wisely. Given the time and energy we devote to consuming, we should aim to be better at it and have at least a basic understanding of how marketers try and influence our behaviour.
“Most of us spend more time buying and consuming than we do working or sleeping. We consume products such as cars and fuel, services such as haircuts and home repairs, and entertainment such as television and concerts.” (Hawkins & Mothersbaugh, 2010)
Some of the factors influencing consumer behaviour are:
In a household, the whole family have influence and may become involved at various stages of the decision process, performing distinct roles.
For example, the mother is often the decision-maker, Dad the purchaser, but the children important influencers.
Some purchase decisions involve long, detailed processes that include extensive information search to select between competing alternatives. Other purchase decisions, such as impulse buys or habitual purchases, are made instantaneously with little or no investment of time or effort in information search.
All of this illustrates the many complexities of understanding consumer behaviour.
One of their biggest challenges for businesses is to stay relevant to their target market. We must ask questions of our customers such as:
Why do people buy and use certain products?
What do they buy, when do they buy it and how often?
What are their likes, dislikes and expectations?
Why do they decide to buy one product and not another?
Do consumers behave differently individually and in groups?
Consumer behaviour gives us a better understanding of what motivates consumers to make purchases, and the benefits most valued by them. Knowing what consumers value most will improve the decision-making of businesses when creating more effective marketing campaigns. Ideally to sell more! Marketing needs to be strategic to be at its most effective.
“Marketers spend billions of dollars attempting to influence what, when, and how you and I consume. Marketers not only spend billions attempting to influence our behaviour but also spend hundreds of millions of dollars studying our behaviour.” (Hawkins & Mothersbaugh, 2010)
For example, Procter & Gamble adding the word “repeat” to the instructions of their shampoo in the 1980s is a part of marketing folk law — not because it was required, but because it sold more shampoo.
Not only is consumer behaviour relevant to marketing strategy, but it is also important to research and development, management, sales and advertising.
Remember, marketing is not just advertising. It starts with marketing research — which helps us understand consumer behaviour in our market better, which then influences the product or service itself. We want to make it fit the needs of our target market as closely as possible, as it becomes easier to sell.
However, it is not an exact science. Consumer behaviour is difficult to predict. Applying the principals learnt from consumer behaviour knowledge requires human judgment, therefore is not an objective fixed set of rules.
Marketers must have a good understanding of consumer behaviour. The best way to do this is by using market research to study a range of factors that influence their target customers. Customer relationship management (CRM) statistics are an asset for the analysis of customer behaviour.
Consumption is the ultimate goal for marketers, referred to as a behavioural response. But marketing also aims to elicit an emotional (affective) responses, as well as a mental (or cognitive) responses, influencing a consumer’s thought processes. These are often antecedents for consumption.
“Consumer behaviour is of most importance to marketers in business studies as the main aim is to create and retain customers” (Kumar, 2004).
Understanding consumer behaviour habits of the target market enables marketers to take appropriate marketing decisions concerning the following factors:
The buyer decision process (or customer buying process) helps marketers to better understand consumer decision-making and how the journey from knowing about a product to making the purchase decision is completed.
The process consists of 5 distinct stages: problem or need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase, and post-purchase behaviour/evaluation.
The buyer decision process begins with the problem recognition stage, occurring when the consumer identifies a need or want. The strength of the need drives the decision process and the consumer decides they need a product or service to satisfy this desire. Triggers of problem recognition include:
• Out-of-Stock/Natural Depletion — e.g. when you run out of toilet paper
• Regular purchase — e.g. purchasing a bottle of wine each week with the groceries
• Dissatisfaction — e.g. not happy with their current internet service provider and change to a new one.
• New needs/wants — as a family gets bigger, they purchase a bigger vehicle
• Related product — purchasing on product triggers need for accessories, spare parts or complementary products such as purchasing the latest X-Box gaming console and upgrading the TV, buying games to go with it, and extra controllers.
• Marketing induced — advertising triggers the recognition of a problem or needs that consumers did not realise they had. E.g., my internet IS slow. Yes, I do need faster internet!
The information search phase aims to identify a list of options representing realistic buying options. Consumers search their internal memory and use external sources for information about options that will potentially satisfy their need. In an internal search, the consumer scans their memory for suitable brands.
The evoked set are preferred brands, typically to around 3- 5 alternatives.
Businesses use marketing to increase brand awareness and the likelihood that their brand becomes a part of their target market’s evoked set. An understanding of their target market’s behaviours means they are can be more objective with putting marketing in places where they are more likely to see it and hopefully remember it.
External sources of search include the internet such as social media or product comparison websites, shopping around and talking to friends/family.
Information search and the next phase of evaluation can occur throughout the entire decision process.
Consumers engage in a series of rational evaluations of the alternative options available to them. During this evaluation phase, consumers consider a small number of options that could be viable choices.
Being aware a brand exists does not necessarily mean it will be considered as a potential purchase. Realistic purchase options are known as the consideration set, each consumer will have distinctive characteristics they are looking for, searching for the best value and the best fit for their needs.
Different evaluation criteria are used depending on each unique buying situation, consumers assessing and then ranking the relative merits of different options available. Consumers with low knowledge about a product category tend to evaluate a brand based on functional characteristics.
Towards the end of the evaluation stage, consumers form a purchase intention.
Once the alternatives have been evaluated, the decision is made by the consumer and they proceed through to the actual purchase. To increase the chances of customers purchasing with them, businesses use techniques to improve conversion rates, such as a strong call-to-action in advertising. “Buy now while stocks last!”. This encourages an immediate sale.
Some customers might know all along who they want to purchase with. Others might spend an extended period researching information about the different options available before they make their decision.
This process is not complete until after the consumption of the product or service and the consumer engages in a post-purchase evaluation. Consumers compare their experience with the product or service and the perceived value with their expectations that were formed during information search and evaluation. This is called expectancy disconfirmation and is a strong driver of satisfaction.
Factors evaluated include price, functionality, and quality.
A consumer’s next purchase decision for that good or service is influenced by this evaluation. If consumers feel some uncertainty or regret towards their choice, they are unlikely to choose that brand again.
An underlying motivation drives a consumer to act and purchase. These motivations fit under the problem recognition phase discussed above.
This motivation can be either positive or negative. A positive motivation could be a pleasure — having dinner a nice restaurant or a night on the town.
A negative motivation could be the avoidance of unpleasantness such as purchasing toothpaste to minimise tooth decay, getting toothaches and having to visit a dentist.
Abraham Maslow’s well-known Hierarchy of needs model is one way to help understand the motivation.
Although not a marketing model, it is commonly applied across the social sciences. This model can help marketers to understand the unique needs and levels of motivations of customers.
It contains five levels of needs, organised accordingly to the level of importance. Lower order needs are most important, consumers typically using most of their time, energy and finances attempting to satisfy these.
Only then can they move onto the higher-order needs and they become meaningful.
Business owner at BYB Marketing.
I like to add value to businesses with their marketing. To help them be better.
Every since my introduction to marketing class during my degree, I had a keen interest in marketing. The psychology behind it.
I ended up doing master's degree in marketing.
I am now an experienced marketer, and I have become well-known locally as a Linkedin content creator, and as the organiser of the Linkedin Local Hamilton networking events.
https://brandyourselfbetter.com/
With over 90% of the search engine market, it is important for businesses that they are easily found through Google searches.
Google has made it easier for businesses to rank on their search engine by introducing Google My Business. Optimising your Google My Business profile will improve your rankings through Google search and maps
This article explores how businesses can optimise their Google My Business profiles to outrank their competitors and be the first business customers find on Google maps or search.
“Google owns 92.18% of the search engine market share.” (Mohsin, 2020).
65 per cent of all Google searches contain a local reference, which means it is especially important businesses can optimise their local search engine optimisation (SEO).
Google My Business a free tool that helps business owners to better manage their online presence by providing information about their business that is shown in Google search results. This includes information such as their location, contact information, photos, customer reviews and products/services they provide.
For a business to create a Google My Business account, they first need a Google account.
Providing as much information as possible to help their Google ranking for relevant search queries. The more Google knows, the easier it is for them to show it to the right people. A businesses’ online identity is therefore significantly improved as part of a location-based marketing strategy. Once a Google My Business listing is created, this generates a Google Maps location which synchronises with Google Search to enhance searchability.
“Google offers several discrete approaches for local SEO strategy such as listing a business through Google My Business.” (Keegan & Taylor, 2019)
Google My Business complements a businesses’ website by giving them an extra marketing presence through a Google listing, which can drive more traffic to the website or convert people into customers without them even needing to visit the website. It provides a snapshot of your business.
Google My Business profiles enable potential customers to find, learn about, and engage with businesses. Users can list all their business attributes to highlight what they do and their unique and desirable benefits, including information useful to consumers such as whether there is Wi-Fi or disability access.
The key benefit of creating a Google My Business profile is to capture more customers who search for a service like they offer on Google search or maps.
Similarly, to social media or a website, it is another marketing and lead generation tool.
“Google Maps empowers business owners to create and maintain listings that appear in Google Maps and Search. First, a business owner uses the Google My Business website to register a new listing.” (Huang, Grundman, Thomas, Kumar, Bursztein, Levchenko, & Snoeren, 2017)
A businesses’ local search ranking is enhanced through posting regular content and having relevant and useful information to the My Business account. Google’s algorithm considers activity and quality of information as well as proximity and relevance to the search query. A higher ranking in search results means higher visibility and more likelihood of customers finding them.
More customers are also converted, as all the pieces of information useful to potential customers is provided. Theoretically! But only if their Google My Business profile is optimised. This can lead to customers calling, direct messaging, visiting the website, asking questions, requesting a quote or booking an appointment/reservation — all through the My Business profile!
“The strategy represents the ultimate in genuine pay for performance marketing and, as a result, represents one of the most promising long-term marketing strategies for e-commerce.” (Duffy, 2005).
The first step is having a Google My Business profile. But the challenging work is not all done! The profile must be optimised and there must be a strategy, just like with any other marketing tool.
There is actually one step before the first step (I know, makes no sense) — do a Google search to make sure a listing does not already exist. If one does, from a previous owner or third-party data source, Google Maps allows the new operator to claim ownership.
Next, verify the My Business listing. Find out how to do that here. This is critical for the listing’s visibility and performance — Google will not display the business or its edits until ownership is verified.
Having as much useful information about your business as possible through having a completed profile will help boost the ranking of your business page in local search results and increase the chance of potential customers engaging and acting.
The sections of a Google My Business profile to complete are:
The business name should be identical to what is used on store signage and other marketing. Make sense, right? The location obviously needs to match your physical location and any other listings of the business online.
Since many businesses operate as service-area businesses and do not have a physical brick-and-mortar location, the location of the business can be switched off if it is a home office for example that does not take appointments. Adding a service area means the business will still show up in relevant local searches.
With such a high number of people making search queries on Google Maps via mobile phones, it is important to list the business phone number so customers can contact the business to make bookings or ask questions. Make sure there is someone who answers that phone number promptly and returns calls if they are missed.
Make sure the website (if there is one, which there should be) is included. One of the key benefits of a My Business profile is the ability to send more traffic to the website to convert more customers. It is not often people are going to decide to purchase from a My Business profile unless they are looking for something on the go such as a café or gas station nearby.
Add the hours that the business is physically open or taking appointments and update them if they change. Such as with Covid-19, if the business is forced to close, a My Business profile should reflect this. The profile can also be customised for holidays and other special events. If customers know you are open, it will encourage them to visit your physical store.
Choosing the right category for your business to help the most appropriate customers find you is key. Over 80% of My Business views are through discovery searches for a product/service category rather than searching for a business name.
After choosing a primary category for your business, you can choose secondary categories. Make sure they are relevant, so the right people are finding your business who need a product or service you offer.
When you choose your categories, Google will give you a list of attributes you can check off to further describe your business.
Many attribute options are available, you can view them here. Note that currently, this option has been deactivated due to Covid-19 and there are only a small number of available options.
By adding all your products and services to your profile, this will tell potential customers exactly what you do and what your specialities are. It also adds relevant keyword terms to your profile to improve your ranking on Google searches. Include the product or service name, description, and price if applicable. Link these products/services to be purchased at the website’s store if you have one.
The description of your business is included in the ‘From the business’ section. Try and use all the available 750 characters, with key information in the first 250 characters.
Use content you have already created for your social media accounts or from the About Us page on your website (assuming you have one).
You can use this to talk about how you provide value to customers, what makes you unique and how you are different from competitors. This is called positioning.
Just like traditional website SEO, using keywords in the business description will increase the chances of customers finding your profile.
A My Business profile can be used to post about a variety of things such as business announcements, offers, and events. Posting content on your My Business page is like blogging on your website for SEO or posting on social media.
The aim is to provide as much quality and detailed information about your business as possible, to try and connect with searchers.
Posting regularly will increase your Google ranking, and increase the number of actions taken by consumers who find your profile. Some posts will be viewable on Google search or Maps if relevant keywords are triggered, making it valuable marketing direct to customers.
Posts expire every seven days, so it is important to be consistent to keep your presence fresh on Google. Posts can be made on-the-go via the app from a phone or tablet, or via a computer.
Include links and other calls to action, such as getting visitors to visit your website, follow you on social media or sign up to mailing lists for example.
Because of the little situation going on around the world currently forcing many businesses to close their doors, there is now a specific option to add COVID-19 updates.
“Adding links to Google Business profile, as well as relevant photos and images encourage Internet users to take targeted actions on the retailer’s website. Targeted actions of Internet users, including the number of routes and the quantity of calls are directly depend on the number of photos uploaded by retailers.” (Murphy, 2019).
Adding photos regularly will help a My Business page to perform better by positively impacts your ranking.
According to Google, businesses with photos on their My Business profile receive 42% more requests for driving directions via Google Maps and 35% more clicks through to their websites than those without any. One of your images may be used by Google to display in local search results if it matches a keyword term searched for.
Each week, I’ll add a post with a link to my latest blog and an image such as this one below.
Try to add a new photo once a week. Use photos to summarise the business and what it can do for its customers. Create an identity.
Encourage customers to leave photos as that will improve your ranking. If you are a restaurant or café, you could offer a free voucher for ‘photo of the week/month’ for example to incentivise people to leave a great photo on your profile. The photos I have added to My Business profiles via Google maps has now surpassed over 1 million views which prove — people are looking!
If you are a restaurant, add photos of food items on your menu, or satisfied customers.
If you are a consultant, add some photos of you in your work element. Other examples of photos you could share are interior and exterior views (e.g. parking), or team photos.
Ensure your photos are of high quality. If your photos are of low quality, that does not leave a great impression with customers. Follow Google’s best practice for images: JPG or PNG formats, sized between 10KB and 5MB, minimum resolution of 720px height and width.
Make sure photos are in focus, well-lit, without editing and excessive use of filters. Professional and keep it as real as possible!
Upload your logo for your profile thumbnail and one that highlights your brand as the cover photo. Edit to fit a 16:9 aspect ratio.
You can also add video, so include a video of you introducing yourself and how you help people or maybe a video snapshot of you or the team on the job.
“Internet users’ reviews/comments in Google affect the retailer’s website position in the local search results.” (Natorina, 2020).
Positive reviews have a positive effect on potential customers who are researching your business. They also increase your businesses’ visibility in search results, so try and encourage customers to make reviews.
Reviews influence consumer decision-making, so reviews are a key ranking factor in the My Business algorithm. On Google searches, often the first results are those with multiple reviews and a high rating, and search results may also a display a review for a My Business Profile if it uses certain keywords people are searching for.
Encourage customers to leave feedback by creating a link they can click to write a review. Around 60% of people will leave a review if requested, so ask! It could be in a follow-up email. Start with your loyal customers.
Reviews help other customers decide about a purchase, so people often do not mind leaving one (like I leave photos of every restaurant I eat at on Google Maps — which has now surpassed).
Make sure you monitor and respond to reviews. This feedback will encourage additional customers to leave one as it illustrates that your business values its customers and their feedback.
Set up alerts to monitor your Q&A, as anybody can ask, and anyone can answer. Monitoring this ensures you maintain accurate information.
Questions and answers that contain keywords can help improve you are My Business profile’s ranking for that keyword. Creating your own Q&A is therefore an important optimisation tool. Make a list of the businesses most frequently asked questions and then ask, answer, and upvote answers on your personal profile.
Over 80 percent of people use their phone or tablet for local search, so being able to conveniently message from their device to your My Business profile is a fantastic opportunity.
Businesses can only reply to customers through Google My Business app. Messaging must be enabled via settings on your Google My Business dashboard and once enabled, a button appears on your profile for direct messaging from customers. To make sure you do not miss an opportunity, set up alerts for messages.
Businesses can set up customised automated responses to messages. This will improve your responsiveness which will help keep message response time under 24 hours and make sure you are not penalised from slow response times.
Google My Business is continuously being updated with more tools for businesses.
Marketing Kits are now available with a recent update, which you can use to share on other forms of social media to bring traffic to your page. One of these is to encourage reviews. On the topic of reviews, make sure you have some! Try to encourage satisfied customers to write you a glowing review. This will increase your credibility with anyone who finds you.
Google reserve is another useful function, allowing people to make reservations or book a meeting time with you via integration of a calendar application. This syncs with your calendar with notifications. This is a very convenient feature to show people what time slots are available to book without having to go backwards and forwards.
You can now add a short name to your Google My Business account, which makes your business easier to find through a map search, and URL’s are not as messy if you share the link.
Thanks for reading this article, I hope you enjoyed the content and learnt something you can apply to your businesses’ Google My Business to improve your search results.
This content was originally posted on the BYB Marketing Blog - https://brandyourselfbetter.com/blog/post/153562/how-to-use-google-my-business-to-attract-more-customers-through-search
Business owner at BYB Marketing.
I like to add value to businesses with their marketing. To help them be better.
Every since my introduction to marketing class during my degree, I had a keen interest in marketing. The psychology behind it.
I ended up doing master's degree in marketing.
I am now an experienced marketer, and I have become well-known locally as a Linkedin content creator, and as the organiser of the Linkedin Local Hamilton networking events.
https://brandyourselfbetter.com/
