Securing, Protecting and Promoting the Shop Online Brand Renato - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Securing, Protecting and Promoting the Shop Online Brand Renato Cruz Sogueco renato@floriologyinstitute.com

Introduction & housekeeping • Who speaking? Advice from an old friend — joined BloomNet from Society of American Florists. • Served industry for 20 years — researching, analyzing and evangelizing innovative technology and marketing. • Insights from Google, digital marketing resources and from fellow florists. • Slides and more resources available at: www.floriologyinstitute.com/2017GreatLakesExpo

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.” –Warren Buffet

Why do you need to Protect Digital Brand? • You have an online brand — whether you like it or not. • If you don’t control it, customers and competitors will define your digital brand • Digital presence is the primary driver of sales now and into the future — 81 percent of shoppers turn to search, says RetailingToday. • More people will visit your website than your store — how much do you spend on merchandising displays? Most customers on the phone are on your website !

Four Strategies to secure & build online Brand 1. Secure brand handles (before a competitor) 2. Apply Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ) 3. Invest in Search Engine Marketing ( SEM ) 4. Create unique content consistently • website content, social media posts, directory references, accurate citation and reviews

Strategy 1 of 4: Secure Brand Handles • Capture domains — misspellings, close variations • Capture social media handles . https://www.namecheckr.com/ • Prioritize: Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest • Create single email account to open and manage all accounts: social@yourshopdomain.com

Strategy 2 of 4: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) • Think two groups of keywords — geography and products and services from customer perspective • SEO friendly URLs : www.shop.com/birthdayflowers • Every page (home and subpages) requires unique Title and Description — consider placing content on listing pages!

Strategy 2 of 4: SEO • Business citation is accurate and consistent across search engine references, online directories and social media. Use tool: www.moz.com/local • https://www.google.com/business • https://www.bingplaces.com/ • https://biz.yelp.com/ • Facebook Page, LinkedIn, Twitter • WeddingWire.com, TheKnot.com

Strategy 2 of 4: SEO • User generated references: Reviews! • More reviews the better — build confidence • Negative review response — respond to all, leave contact information, no matter how old the post. • Google and Yelp

Strategy 2 of 4: SEO • SSL certification • Mobile responsive website • April 21, 2015 Google mobile “armageddon” • Website not mobile ready or responsive no longer appear in search results • https://testmysite.thinkwithgoogle.com/

mobile responsive designmodo.com, 2015

Strategy 3 of 4: Search Engine Marketing (SEM) • SEM Ad prominence in Search Engine Result Pages (SERP)

What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)? • Search Engine Optimization (SEO) = earned vs SEM = paid • Ads that appear when you conduct search (more than 80 percent of shoppers use search prior to purchase). • Pay-per-click (PPC) / Cost-per-click (CPC) / CPM • Advertisers place bids on keywords people type in search • So highest bid usually wins other factors in algorithm: ad quality and relevance, good landing page = Quality Score • Ads will show but not charged until you click — hence, you “pay per click.”

Where are the Ads? • Search engines removed color background from ads • Ads only distinguished with small “ad” badge • Look very similar to organic results in formatting • Mobile usage “training” searches to click on top links, according to Mediative

Strategy 3 of 4: Search Engine Marketing (SEM) • If florists do not advertise, it’s inexpensive for competitors to use geographic keywords , and your own business name .

Why SEM is a MUST • Florists do not invest in search marketing, so there is an opportunity — for competitors. • Lack of competition allows national competitors to bid low on geographical keywords such as “florist jacksonville fl” • Research shows shoppers are getting trained to click top links mostly because of increasing mobile usage.

Why SEM is a MUST • National, local competitors exploit florist non- participation in SEM . • Your business name can be used as keyword — inexpensive if you’re not investing. • Practice is LEGAL . • Consumers continue to conduct searches for business, even though they know URL.

Strategy 2 of 3: Search Engine Marketing (SEM) • Start advertising! • Use Google Adwords www.google.com/adwords • Budget $20 a day ($600 a month) • Use business name as pay-per-click keyword, add local delivery zips and towns to Locations targeting, use Radius as well • Google confirms you are true business and decreases your PPC while raising competitors PPC

Strategy 4 of 4: Content • Google confirms content is the most important factor when all SEO practices are equal • Activate or build a blog within the website (not outside) • Content must be topical (nothing general, think business categories or segments) • Content change doesn’t have to be verbose • Photos are great, video is better (ALT tag all this media, place descriptions in video)

Strategy 4 of 4: Content 1. Write up to 100 words, include flower varieties, color, relevant trends, occasion and venue (if applicable): “For Emma and Jim’s wedding reception at the Deerwood Country Club, we adorned the head table with white, pink and purple calla lily flowers in the centerpieces. The brides hand-tied bouquet included the same callas.” (36 words) 2. Extract #hashtags: #callalillies #weddingflowers #pink #handtiedbouquet and take 3-4 photos, and/or 30-second video describing floral design, how you were inspired and/or floral trend 3. Post on blog, then post to appropriate social media. Link back to blog post from social.

Strategy 4 of 4: Content 1. Gather Ratings & Reviews. Require comments! Most powerful since it’s user generated — and Google on accepts reviews with comments. 2. Capture reviews from customers IMMEDIATELY after purchase (senders online — through pop at Thank You of order confirmation, walk-ins). 3. Mitigate negative reviews — respond to everything no matter how old. Leave personal contact, shop info.

Wrap-up • Secure. Even if you don’t have immediate plans to use handles. Secure accounts on new social you encounter. • SEO. Secure domain and social handles. Focus on keywords, every page unique, verify citation. • SEM. Protect the brand. • Content remains King!

Connect with me and Floriology Institute • renato@floriologyinstitute.com • www.facebook.com/floriologyinstitute • www.twitter.com/floriology Slides and resources! • www.floriologyinstitute.com/2017greatlakesexpo