Marketing Your Business in 2022: The Ultimate Guide

Hello everyone. Today we have with us Brittany Murphy, marketing director at one thing marketing. Hi Brittany, so happy to have you with us today.

Thank you. I’m happy to be on as well.

Brittany before we dive deep into questions it would be great if you could introduce yourself. And, what do you do at One Thing Marketing?

Yes, definitely. So I’m the Marketing Director at one day marketing. So I am the person that will be building the strategy for any client that comes to us. We specialize mainly in website design, search engine optimization for local home trade service businesses. So that’s your roofers, plumbers, electricians with one or multiple shops, we help them get their digital marketing correct. And I’m the first person they’ll do that with

From retail sales to a marketing director, how has the journey been so far?

That’s a good transition, I’ll put it that way. So I’ve been with our company for seven and a half years, and I’ve gone from just meeting with the clients to doing some of the work to now being on the outside, where I’m creating the entire strategy, talking with them of what’s worked, what hasn’t worked, and what they really kind of need to do with it. And to be honest, the more Eagle-eyed view you can have of a company is kind of more rewarding part for me, in a sense, because you can really see the transition for them as well, from going with their new marketing into kind of transitioning with what you’ve done, and really kind of seeing the results of it. So it is fun being as a partner in the business the outside perspective of seeing that transition of time happened a little bit quicker. And from point A to point B.

I mean, you have done great so far. And I wish you best of luck for the future as well.

Brittany, I want to talk about the idea of brand marketing versus direct marketing. What is the actual difference between the two?

So I know people have probably different definitions, a little bit of it. What I like to think direct marketing is is mainly straight ads. So it is outbound marketing, where you’re putting your name and your face in front of potential clients as much as possible. So that could be ads on Google ads on social media, kind of that nature with it, what I look at more of the brand marketing is really kind of more I call it authority, marketing is kind of what I like to look at more in that sense. And, and I say it that way, because, in my opinion, people don’t really care as much about your logo, your brand or colors, they’re going to care about what you’re going to do for them and the actual process that they’re going to go through when they’re doing that. So when you’re doing brand marketing that’s a little more of SEO, potentially, you’re helping give them answers, you are being a resource for them. So they are really seeing as much that you can bring to the table as much as humanly possible, you’re answering everything they’re asking for, you’re making it very clear, and you’re building a high trust with them. So therefore, they’re more apt to want to make that purchase with you. So I do like both of them. But I guess you would say that our arena really does go more tap More down the brand marketing in the sense of we’re trying to build that authority. So therefore, if anyone’s looking for that service, that product, they can find you because you actually have the content and the marketing to show up when they’re looking for those things. Direct marketing does that as well. But it can just definitely be expensive as you are aware that a cost per click could be up to 50 bucks here locally for anyone in the trade services, it could be a lot lower as well. But with that in mind, if you want to kind of have that longevity with your marketing, that’s where I really do focus more on the brand and the SEO to make sure your website can really be found as that resource online.

And I also think a lot of people confuse brand marketing with just to kind of get your brand name out there. Like you said, if you know exactly where your audiences are, and if you create the right content in that particular area where your audiences are, it might actually give you more value than direct marketing work.

Yes, because at that point, you’re winning them over. And that relationship can be a lot stronger than someone seeing an ad and very quickly clicking on it, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to go straight to cart or straight to purchase because you haven’t physically won them over 100% yet

Tell us your favorite client story.

Oh, it’s a hard one, I would say just from not having too crazy of a story but just in generalities of it. We did have a client that came to us, I think at the end of 2018 they are a metal roofing company so it’s right up our alley as far as we help with doing phenomenal job by the way. I want to let everyone know beginning this company was doing great things but they had no website, no marketing, what they were doing to be in successful was they had a lot of sales guys going on a lot of door knocking when they’re working in a neighborhood to kind of reach out and do some referral business that way, which is great. But the fun part about it is because we built our website, we started marketing for them. We all know what happened in 2020. We lost the ability to do door knocking, any door to door sales is taken away from everyone. And so the fun part about this is because they’re in that situation. But luckily, we started early enough, their business did not roll backwards at all, they actually doubled down and really did great work because people were home, people are seeing all of the honey to do list items they wanted to check off on their list. And because they had the marketing, they were there, even though their door knockers were not there visibility was so that brands was showing out and really kind of getting their business to grow with it. So what I love is they’re into manufacturing now as well. So now they’re gonna bring it down their costing further, because they’re bringing a lot of those things in house. And to me the power of if you can increase your revenue without increasing all the expenditures, they’re saving money, their cost is no longer $500 per lead, it is way below that. And that’s fun with it. If you think if they can save 300 bucks off every new person you get that adds up over time.

No, absolutely. And stories like these feel great because you have been a part of it. So I totally understand. Well, thank you so much for sharing it with us. Thank you

It’s more fun, you can find someone before the problem happens. I don’t have a saw COVID happening with it. So the stories now are a lot different from what we have there. But it is really fun to kind of see if anyone did do those things beforehand, and learning what to do now moving forward, you can still change your business and do what you want to with it.

Absolutely. When you’re planning a marketing strategy, how do you plan the budget across various platforms? SEO versus PPC?

So I’m a big advocate of organic search. So I’m going to push people a bit more towards SEO. And the reason I’m doing this is because it can kind of have that more of a long term effect with it. The reason we’re going to pair PPC with this strategy is honestly the timeframe in which the client is going to need quicker results. I think we’re all kind of aware that SEO is not that overnight magic diet pill, it’s it is diet and exercise into the long term future with it, whereas ads can be that diet pill. So if I talk to someone, and they are telling me that, hey, Brittany, I have got to change my business within the next two weeks, or we could go under or I can’t do this, I’m going to lose this possibility, then we’re going to segment a little bit more towards as in the meantime, to help supplement this business. But we’re still putting the necessary portion of the budget towards SEO, marketing, making sure their website converts, making sure they have the right actual content on their page to convert the client, get the client and the whole process with it. Because when you think about it, all the ads you’re going to be spending money on are most likely going to take you to a website. So if that website is not what it needs to be to convert the highest percentage of people, then you’re really still putting way too much emphasis on ads versus looking internally to what you can manage and what you can create today with it. So again, if someone says two weeks or a certain timeframe, I need to hit change these things by the end of the month, then we’re putting a big portion of what we came with the ad budget again, and still work on that SEO, because how I like to look at things long term is SEO is going to slowly slowly go up. If we can get it where once your SEO hits a nice spot, well, you can turn ads down to wherever this Crosspoint is, is how I like to describe it. So therefore you’re not spending all of your money, but we’re spending more of that PPC money in the beginning. And then we need it off over time, because we’re getting that same amount of leads via our website with a much cheaper cost per acquisition. And that will change based on the industry as well. A roofer, for example, can pay 50 bucks elite because they’re going to get a higher revenue off of it. So that will determine as well, what type of clientele you have how big your price point is. Because if we’re working with anybody that has a lot lower price point that ads are still very expensive, because of the bidding system, I will put 75 If not 100% of their time with SEO because it’s not today they need it, but they need it long term and they want to grow. And that is joy with a lot of clients I work with, especially being the trades hiring. I’m sure you’ve heard from all your interviews, hiring is the worst right now, no one can get anybody and to get great talent to keep great talent. So when it kind of comes down to that, SEO can help slowly grow that business. So therefore they can start to hire and we know it’s going to take a couple months to get the right fit and to get them trained. And so you’re kind of in a sense, going at the same parallel height straight up as far as doing better with it. So it’s gonna be based on the business as much as humanly possible. So I do like to give you advice if it’s not a dire emergency need and I think it shouldn’t be because hopefully people are reaching out before they read that sad, sad point of it’s here nothing. You can plan and strategize a lot better to keep a lot of that marketing dollars in your website versus always having to put them with the ads in the meantime

I think that is beautifully explained exactly. That’s exactly what I talked to people as well. You have to understand that SEO is an investment. And, it still makes sense to build your own authority, and your own rankings, rather than just burning money on ads. I mean, I just call it burning money. Because like you said, right, I mean, it’s cost per click, but then you’re not building anything for yourself, right. I mean, you’re not building your own presence online. So, like, absolutely correct.

Yeah, and let me ask you, do you own Facebook? Do you own Google? Yeah, these are all places that, like you said, we’re putting money into other platforms that will go away versus if you’re reinvesting. That’s the word reinvesting into your website into your marketing. As long as you’re not building this on Squarespace or Wix. For the meantime, you do own these entities. So that is kind of why we want to push them that method as well. It’s the kind of the one thing I like to talk to a lot of business owners about, as well as unfortunately, people who call themselves experts that are just trying to sell to make their commission. And it kind of comes down to that there are certain things they might make more money off of than others. And they might be pushing you to do these things. But in the end, you don’t own any of the assets you’ve spent all of this money with. So that’s something I just like to tell everybody to be very weary and ask what the ownership is. Because if all the money you’re spending is going to Ads, then the actual website might not be paid for under their contract. And so when you’re ready to split ways and own things yourself, you might actually lose all the ownership and anything you gained from that website, because it was technically under them. And they technically say you’re just paying for the ad side versus the website portion of it. So that’s the other two cents, I really like to talk about it, because ads are helpful. This makes sure where your money is going it is called an investment for a reason when you think about it.

And also you don’t mean look at the changes lately that have happened with Google ads, right? I mean, they want you to spend more money with them. Right? I mean, all the changes that are happening. So absolutely, I mean, if you are doing SEO, and if you have that time to invest I mean, it absolutely makes sense to invest in your own website.

Yeah, and those people I know that do spend the money on the ad side of it. I mean, if they turn it off, I mean, when everyone had to turn off their ads with COVID, when it kind of came down to just a cut of marketing dollars. I do believe, unfortunately, that Google does kind of reprimand you a little bit for taking back what you were doing. People go from a couple 1000 Or a couple 100 bucks a month to zero. Google’s not happy with them. They wanted to keep you on it as much as possible. And I think that says something as well as when you have to restart that process. And it makes it difficult. Where should you spend that time and money a little bit better, where it’s not going to reprimand you for slowing or pausing. And a lot of times websites you’re building upon yourself versus having to knock it down and start from scratch all over again every time.

Brittany, you don’t like talking about SEO? What does your local SEO process look like?

So when it kind of comes down to that, really, we’re going to talk about just mainly the, the fundamental things I talked to every client about is really when it comes down to the local just portion of it. We have a great website that converts, we have good resourceful content that is relevant to the keywords people are searching within your area, or making sure Google is aware of this and linking back with our Google My Business Well, Google business profile, they’ve just renamed it I was reading article right before we got on here that they’re completely changing how they do things, as well. And they’re even going to be going on the road of hopefully helping people with multiple locations even further down in the future is what I was reading about with it. So we kind of want to make sure all those things are there together. Because how I describe this in the simplest of layman terms, is what Google can see wants to rank off your website, it will reflect a little bit in that Google My Business listing. Outside of just proximity those things do kind of affect it. So you want to make sure you’re not just focused on one funnel, just focused on your Google My Business listing is not where you need to. Don’t you need to see all the avenues in which Google is reading this information to kind of pull that in with it. So a lot of times what we’re doing is I said if there’s maybe a client that is or I know I go back to roofing, but let’s just say there’s a plumbing client who owns a few different cities. So there may be three different states, a few different shops and locations with it; their website has to rank overall and be understood by Google about plumbing. First and foremost. After that, we have to explain to Google the different areas in which we are doing the service within and so anytime anyone creates that new, new shop new location, you’re almost in essence recreate over that fundamental optimization, we’re recruiting those services within that geo area as much as possible as well, because Google does use that correlation between it. But that’s why the Google business profile is very advantageous to make sure you are doing that as well. The one of the biggest things I tell my clients is you have got to start yesterday, getting reviews slowly and consistently on your Google My Business Profile as much as possible. Because although that’s only 23 to 25%, some on some reports, as far as the factor for ranking is only grown. So every year, I’ve looked at it, that they’ve put this on there. It has grown a percentage or two points each year, which is going from seven to 19. Doesn’t seem huge. But now being a fifth to a fourth of the portion is what ranks you, you have got to emphasize it. And I think that the fun part about us, all going through COVID and 2020, is that you really had to depend on these internet properties to get these answers off. A lot of businesses, when you think about the food industry there, were so busy that they didn’t have time to answer the phones. So all you want and you hope is that they can open, they can update their business hours, they can update that information on there. So therefore, they’re also given a really good client experience. Because that is the other thing to think about when it comes back to SEO is Google’s changes algorithm, but it’s always gonna be changing to make it better for the end user. So they’re doing those things to make sure that we’re getting the best search results possible. If the phone numbers are inconsistent everywhere on the internet, well, they might not rank that business profile, because they’re not sure that who you call will be the right company. And they want to be seen as that good resource with it. So we really do add up all those things together as much as possible with it, because it is fully functioning as a holistic plan. And even if you’re a local business you can run ads, that’s fine, but make sure you’re looking at where they’re coming back to on those entities. Because if you do not have the information on your website, to say what you do, and what area you provide that in, there’s no way Google will ever understand it, if you’re not telling them very clearly and consistently online.

Well, I’ll tell you, and also we did a test recently earlier, what people used to do was just create, like, if it’s a local business, they will just focus on the Google listing, right, I mean, create a good profile, and just do citations, and listings with the name, address phone number, just for that location, and just try to increase rankings and Google My Business. But now, like you said, it’s a more of a holistic approach people were not doing for local businesses, people, we’re not doing like normal link building guest posts on the homepage, or that location page right there. We’re just focusing on the Google My Business listing. So we did a test where we actually did not do any citations on that Google My Business page. I mean, again the profile was good. I mean, we did ensure that they had reviews, but we kind of focused more on that location page on the website and did like proper guest posting there had a proper had the proper schemas and everything. And it actually ranked better than what the other properties were ranking by focusing on the traditional local listing strategy. So you’re absolutely right. I mean, focusing on the holistic strategy, and working on your website, definitely, even would help local businesses.

Yeah, it’s crazy to think so I’ve only done this for eight years, next year, online. We’ve had the company for a decade, and even in that timeframe, it has completely flip flopped. When I started, it was all about you having to get every directory, every phone, verification, all these things. It just hits you to the next level. And now, yeah, we’re playing AV testing with it. Because we’re noticing like that factor is going down and down. It’s more about in a sense, what the website is powerfully doing, because you can link it on the website, you can create that content. And I think that’s really we’re kind of seeing as much as possible, is that Google business profile is trying to go hand in hand with your website as much as it can. Because, again, that is the easiest thing as a just a person looking at the internet to see that. Because, yes, the Google business profile, it’s a quick snapshot of almost everything I need to see about a business very quickly. So those are things that yes, it is making even better with Google focusing on how well your content or resources your authority, versus You went and hired a VA to fill out 500 directories does not mean you’re a good business does not mean you’re helping people. It really doesn’t mean anything other than you have the same name, address and phone number. So I love what they have changed over these years, though, I mean, that is really a hats off to the algorithm team for making it where they really are trying to help the end user. It makes it harder for the SEO ORS completely. But in the end, what we want is what’s best for the client as well. And that’s why if that’s what you’re focusing on marketing, you’re going to be doing well with Google, because you’re providing them what futuristically they’re looking for as well.

You just talked about a business with multiple locations. I mean when you’re creating location specific pages, how do you suggest we should go about ensuring that we are not creating too many spammed pages or doorway pages?

I mean, really, this kind of comes back to auditing the content as much as possible. But you really got to kind of take a good snapshot of what the competition’s doing out there as well. And that’s kind of the fun thing, when you have multiple locations, some locations are nowhere near as competitive as they are in other areas. So you can really just give the good, juicy, juicy meat that you need to give on those areas. And yes, unfortunately, there’s more competition, you’re going to have to create more content with it. So the biggest time I kind of look at this, and we’re making sure we’re not cannibalizing ourselves, we’re not making this just the same question. We’re just different answers. Each time is really, just really doing that keyword research, what are people typing in? Because new questions are coming in all the time Google really is going for this long tail and really understanding how we’re searching, it’s evolved so much that you can actually answer, find those questions that are maybe a little more niche, and answer those and really go through with it. Because even as a quick example, let’s just say that there is a franchise of a dog park, and they are in a lot of different states. Well, I mean, a good thing to do would be creating content that’s about the best dog parks in a blank city – wherever they’re at, even though that’s duplicated, because they have that for each city, it’s still a resource. So you have to kind of factor that in as am I still answering what people need to hear out of it and giving them what they need to do? Because I think if you can say yes to all those questions, Google is going to want to be on your side and reward you for what you’re trying to do there. Because you’re bringing good, still unique content, you still look like you’ve done some form of research, kind of when you’re going at that method of it. But it can be difficult. You’re right, there really are.

Role of social media for local business marketing?

So I’ll give my two cents on this. It’s all gonna depend on the industry in which you’re in. I focus mainly on home trades, roofers, plumbers, electricians, when you’re kind of in that home trade arena, a lot of times it’s going to be a lot of emergency service requests, does not mean it’s because my roof has fallen in completely. I’m not talking about that. But it can be that drastic, honey do list that your wife is literally telling you, she will divorce you and kick you out of the house if you don’t get it done. And so when it comes down to that people are going straight to where these businesses are listed. And that directory is Google. So when I work with companies that that’s what their target clientele is coming in at, they have a problem. They’re immediately trying to find who does it, what they can come over for, how long is their process, what their quotes are, they’re really going to be focusing more on the Google SERPs is what I would focus on. But we have to think about it as well, at the same time, even for the trade businesses, let’s just say, okay, my roof is leaking, I need someone very quickly. So this is still somewhat of an emergency, but social media or profiles where people can find information about you and another form and another avenue. And so sometimes Facebook ads won’t work well for a roofer. Because I don’t need you, unless I see that I need you. But what I want to know is because I’m gonna be spending so much with this new roof or spending so much on the insurance down deposit that I want to see what your reviews look like, what are you saying you’ve done, and Facebook, and Instagram are all great places to showcase your work. So I say you don’t have to spend all their time on social media and you really shouldn’t when it comes to the trade services, but you need to make sure you’re putting enough information there at least once a week that shows you’re still the authority in your industry. That could be a testimonial received from a client, that could be a before and after project you’ve done can be any announcement and honestly a lot of times what we like seeing as well as culture on social media. And so that’s not something I would make 100% My buying decision off of, but if I can see you have culture, it makes you more legitimate as a business. And that’s also kind of a hard thing with a lot of local service businesses is there so many of them and we’re all kind of worried we’re it’s a fly by night company, or we’re going to get taken advantage of and those social media profiles you can 100% use as a course to reassure that prospect. We are legit. We have been around for a while. Here’s what people are saying about us and here’s exposure on many different platforms. So it doesn’t seem just like a small business that will take your money run and then you’ll never be able to call contact at all, because it wasn’t actually a real business that was set up here. So you do kind of in the mix of it, but when it comes to the trades, I really do full push more towards going down the route of Google. But that’s trades, if you are in the professional services, that is something like dog care, dental, medical, those are things that are very personal to us, and we’re gonna be doing a lot more research on. So you might need to split more of your time going to social media because that’s where the engagement is, that’s where the conversation is going. And you want to be a part of it. And that’s a really great place to have that, honestly, openly and transparent on the internet.

Brittany, one one special tip that you would give for local business marketing that our audience could use and benefit from?

The biggest tip I say is, let’s create content. So in order to do that, whoever’s answering the phone for your business, have them have a little notepad beside the phone, write down every question that gets asked to the person answering the phone, if they get that question repeated, put a tally mark beside it. By the end of the week, you’ll actually have a list of the type of content your clients want to get from you. And the reason we know this is because they’re asking it directly to you. So if they have enough confidence to ask you, I can one hundred percent tell you, they already typed that question to Google. Because Google does not judge. We can clear our search history, it’s kind of the easiest way to get a little bit of information about it, because no one likes to go in blindly. And so they will educate themselves a little bit beforehand. But if they’re asking you, that means that if you could have had that answer show up when they Googled it, they’re going to call you because now they feel even more comfortable that you answered it for them. They understand what more now, and they can call you. And they have some easy to ask about, Hey, I saw you all do it this way. This is my issue. Can we go about that way? Or what do you think and it’s such an easier close, because you already you’ve helped them out, get further down the buying process as much as possible to so some of these questions can be easy blog posts, and if they’re long questions with long answers, make them a good long resource we’ll post because what I like to think about it as well, as I’m sales, I’m marketing, and we have customer service, very have these blog posts, May that answer the question from A to Z, you can still have that conversation with them. But you can tell them, hey, there’s a lot of details, all that’s written down in here, and it’s so much easier to digest. So take a look at this. And I’ll call you tomorrow. And we’ll answer any remaining questions you have. So if you kind of helped a little bit the process side with that as much as possible. But if they’re easy, yes or no questions, and please, please, please just make a simple FAQ on your website. I know I work in this industry, but I buy a lot of things online, I talk to a lot of services, I’ve renovated anything I could in my home. And so how people make me feel eased into it is who I’ll usually end up choosing to work with. And so even though I know what I know, being on the customer end, it’s still the exact same person who makes me feel comfortable and confident in my decision I’ll end up working with. And usually the way to make me feel comfortable is to ease any questions I have on any uncertainties, any of those things I feel like really do kind of make it can make it or break it as far as a sales close. So a little bit of sales and a little bit of SEO tip there for yourself, but that helps.

That’s an amazing tip. It’s such a simple thing to practice, but I’m sure a lot of us miss doing it.

And I do it myself. Honestly, I’m the one that answers the phone, and I forget to do it. But how I’ve also changed because I think we’ve answered most of them on our website. What I’ve started doing is I’m actually trying to write down words that people use to describe my services. So that’s an additional SEO keyword tip for anyone who’s not really sure what to start with, tell someone what you do, and then just ask them to re-explain what words they are using because we do get caught in our own technical jargon. I know what SEO stands for? Most people do not though. So what are they calling it digital marketing, Google Marketing Google rankings, they’re using all these different variations with it. So use that as much as you can. roofing, plumbing, electric, electricians, they’re not going to have as many changes with it, there still might be a niche service in which you provide that people are not calling it an easy repair. They’re calling it something else. So just be wary of that and incorporate it because that makes them feel included, a part of the conversation. And again, if you’re making me feel comfortable, I’m going to choose you so make my terms not so weird in your book, because that would that would turn me off to make me feel that I’m not as smart to start having a conversation with you when I could call your competitor and they’ll probably easily make me feel at home and say oh, don’t worry, that’s not what to call it. It’s this, but we’ll get your right set up. So, think about that next time.

Absolutely. Brittany, just for fun, I play a quick rapid fire round of five questions. The first one, describe yourself in three words.?

Loud, funny. And very intelligent.

Texting or talking?

Talking, I don’t like things to get misconstrued.

Who is your favorite superhero?

I don’t think this one exists. But if there was a superhero that could speak every language fluently, that would be my superhero. I’ve not found them caught in the comics yet. But if I do, that would be who it is.

Are you a morning person or a night person?

I’m a night owl.

I think most of all, all of us marketers are I mean, I have not found a single one till now who has said a morning person.

Well, do you feel like your brain fires? A lot of ideas by the time the end of the night comes around?

Oh, absolutely. So normally, around like, five 6pm. In the evening, I’m sleepy, tired. And I go out for a walk or go out for a coffee. But then, as soon as it is 10, 11 PM. Like, I’m sitting on my laptop, the ideas just start pouring in.

And see, it’s kind of what I love, in a sense, when you own a business, ideas will come at you left and right. And at times, I’ve had random ideas while driving. And I’m trying to speak by text to my voicemail to remind me about it later. Or, you wake up and you have an idea of how I can present this to make it more understandable to people . Actually three days ago, I woke up world over, typed in my notes, everything I just thought of, and went back to sleep with it. So it is fun. But I think like, if you can be creative with it, like don’t shut off that power. At the end of the night. Just write it down and then look at the next morning and maybe we’ll become morning people because all of our ideas at night we can actually utilize them and make progress on them in the morning.

Right. And the last one favorite day of the week?

Saturday, I’m sorry.

Well, Brittany, thank you so much for your time. It was a fun chat. Thank you for sharing some great tips and insights. I would really love to have you again, on some episode, but it was really fun chatting with you.

Yes, I had a blast. Thank you for all the great questions.

Thank you so much