So your local business got a negative review. What are you going to do?

If you are thinking of just ignoring it and letting it blow over “the next news cycle” until a new problem comes along, you are definitely going to suffer the consequences of that inaction. This is because Google does not let things slide. Its crawlers do not forget things that have already been posted on the Internet, so unless that comment or review has been taken down, you cannot just ignore it. On the other hand, people, especially those frequenting reviews and social media accounts of local businesses, will notice if a comment has been removed. They are that keen when it comes to following local businesses.

Be quick
Customers these days have this expectation that things should be done instantly, es1pecially if happening online. So, you don’t really have the luxury of just sitting the entire matter out until hopefully, people forget. Finally, they will expect you to understand their concerns, so rude replies will reflect badly on your reputation that has already been tarnished by that negative review.

The faster the manager responds to a negative online review, the faster the reviewer is appeased and prospective reviewers can see that the manager and the firm are dedicated to solving customer complaints in a timely fashion.
(Via: https://hbr.org/2020/05/5-principles-for-responding-to-customer-reviews)

Be a pro
Hold that temper! Yes, negative reviews sting bad, especially for local business owners like you who more or less assume all roles for your company to run. But getting angry at those negative reviews will not really go change anything. If you react badly, people in your network will most likely get wind of your reaction and will earn you an unfavorable reputation. Remember that your business caters to a small audience – a local community, so news tends to spread at lightning speed. Be a professional about the review.

Don’t ever go berserk over a negative review. Or else, you will lose everything your small business has established. Using fire against fire does not always have the best results. It will be unwise to do that. Sit back, try to relax as much as you can, and take a deep breath to process what you just read. That’s how a smart business owner or an online reputation manager acts.
(Via: https://www.meegle.com/blog/how-to-respond-to-negative-reviews/)

Consider getting in touch with the negative reviewer offline
There are some issues that are best handled on the same platform. But in a majority of cases, an offline manner of handling the issue has proven to be more effective. After all, to cite an old adage, washing one’s dirty laundry in public is almost never a good idea.

Sometimes a minor issue can be resolved with a quick phone call or email. If you have the ability to do this and you feel that reaching out to this person directly will be the best approach, go for it. It all depends on how comfortable you are with this approach, how well you can take a tongue lashing without getting angry, and how good of a rapport you have with the reviewer.
(Via: https://www.outboundengine.com/blog/how-to-handle-a-bad-online-review-the-right-way/)

 

If you need more information on how to run your local SEO efforts, look no further! Read more here.

So your local business got a negative review. What are you going to do? was originally published on ASGM Blog

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La Mesa

La Mesa, California is a city a mere 9 miles from the center of downtown San Diego, CA, a smallish city with a population nearing 60000 with a growing community as homeowners are pushed east because of the incredibly high San Diego real estate prices. The civic motto of La Mesa is “jewel of the hills”, and it can be a pretty place, very hilly and with a lot of classic old homes.

Getting To La Mesa

Like a lot of places around San Diego County, La Mesa is geographically pretty large, but mostly residential. Driving East from San Diego, you’ll want to take the 8 Interstate to arrive at the city at its northern most areas, or you can take the 94 highway to arrive at the South of the city. A major portion of the 125 highway forms the Eastern most border of La Mesa, with Lemon Avenue extending La Mesa into the neighboring Mt. Helix area. The city is bordered by Rolando on the west, Lake Murray to the north and of course Lemon Grove to the south. Also to the South of La Mesa is Spring Valley, which reveals itself when drivers continue on the 94 instead of taking the 125 north into La Mesa.

Outdoors In La Mesa

Although it shares a lot of its incredible climate with San Diego, La Mesa is quite a bit hotter, as it is much further from the Pacific Ocean. But, this is still an enjoyable place for a hike or a picnic, and one of the best places for that has got to be Collier Park, which is a neat little 7.7 acre park that has some pretty quality green space. The park does have lighted tennis courts, which are harder to find in the county than you might expect. It also is a great place for families to get together on the weekend for a picnic, as there are quite a few tables around and BBQs, of course.

Since we’re still outdoors here, it’s probably a good bet to talk about MacArthur Park, which is a little park just north of La Mesa Boulevard that offers some nice outdoor space. The park is fenced in, is a great place to bring your dog and does have free parking. What is also cool is that it’s within walking distance of downtown La Mesa, which is a pretty cool area if you’re looking to do shopping or just grab a drink and a meal. The park does also have a recreation center and a pretty substantial play area for kids.

La Mesita Park includes the Junior Seau Sports Complex, named after the famous San Diego Charger, Junior Seau. This park also has a good amount of space to walk, as well as tennis courts, picnic sites and a skate park, which is always of interest to those looking to rip it up on a board.

Fitness enthusiasts will want to check out the not so secret La Mesa Secret Stairs, a place that has an excellent view from the top. This is a public stairway that was installed to facilitate foot traffic through adjacent neighborhoods. But, a lot of stair climbers tend to use it for fresh air exercising, and the sheer number of stairs makes it a serious exercise challenge.

Finally, we would be remiss if we did not mention Aztec Park, which is a smaller park than either Collier or MacArthur, but has a great view and vibe and can sometimes be quite empty, despite having a child’s playground and some urban trails which are excellent for hiking in general.

Fun La Mesa Tourist Attractions

OK, so being right next to San Diego, one of Southern California’s most epic tourist destinations, isn’t necessarily going to be the best, but La Mesa does have some points of interest worth checking out. I would look to the San Pasqual Winery first, a small winery that apparently boasts great local wine and very friendly staff and servers. Check them out at the winery or a separate tasting room and gallery located on La Mesa Boulevard.

For Train enthusiasts, the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum is an excellent bet, located on Nebo drive not far from La Mesa Boulevard. The museum here is quite small, but does feature some classic looking train engines and cars, as well as a little gift shop. Apparently, this is one of the oldest buildings in California, and does sport a good deal of excellent railway history information.

Education in La Mesa

As this is a community nearing a population of 60,000, it only makes sense that there would be some quality spots for kids to be educated. So naturally, we first talk about Helix Charter High School, located on University Avenue at almost the middle point of La Mesa. Meanwhile, those of a more artistic bent may want to consider the La Mesa Arts Academy. This school actually has a lottery to select its students, so it’s probably a good idea to not leave an admissions application until the last second! Finally, younger kids are gonna need some kind of book learning as well, which is of course offered at Murray Manor Elementary School, located north of the Interstate 8 and near the unofficial border with Lake Murray. Another interesting elementary school is the Lemon Avenue Elementary School, which is of course located on Lemon Avenue in La Mesa. Finally, for folks that would prefer to place their children in private schools, La Mesa does feature the Mount Helix Academy, and is in the North East corner of La Mesa right near Harry Griffen Park.

Shopping In La Mesa

As La Mesa isn’t the smallest city ever, there are quite a few shops and shopping centers, but few as expansive and as popular as the Grossmont Center located just off of the 8 Interstate and is very near to the intersection at Fletcher Parkway and Jackson Drive. The mall is a little old school, but does have some pretty serious anchor tenants, such as Best Buy, Macy’s, Target AND Walmart. As tends to be the case surrounding larger southern California malls like this, there does tend to be a variety of restaurant and retail properties nearby, such as Office Depot, Petco, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse and of course a Guitar Center, which actually apparently is still open (early 2021, anyway).

If you’re looking primarily for groceries, or at least relatively interesting and nutritious non prepared foods, the Vine Ripe Market is a winner up on Fletcher Parkway, or nearer to downtown and Spring Street, check out the Sprouts location, or even the Vons at the corner of University and Allison. If you’re from California or the West Coast, then it also bears pointing out that there is an excellent Trader Joe’s location right off of Murray Drive and about a couple minute drive from the Grossmont Center. Also, the Frazier Farms Market is a great natural grocery store with no shortage of organic and farm to table-type items.

Eating Out In La Mesa

One of the best places to walk around and hang out in La Mesa has got to be downtown, where you’ll run into such luminaries as the classic Hills Local Pub, Swami’s Cafe and the Tiramisu Trattoria for good eats. A bit off of the beaten track but an easy and total classic establishment in the area is of course the Riviera Supper Club and Turquoise Room, a classic old school steakhouse where you can either cook your steak yourself, or have them do it for you. This is one of the most high character spots in the area, so if you have to be in La Mesa, hit the Riviera, and then stay and watch a band afterwards. You won’t regret it!

Healthy Living In La Mesa

Last but definitely not least is mentioning access to health care in the area, which of course is fairly limited, but not by much. The Kaiser Permanente La Mesa Medical Offices are where a lot of locals see their M.D., while Sharp Grossmont Hospital is clearly the crown jewel of the area as far as medical care goes. The latter also features the La Mesa Cardiac Center and other medical specialties in the area, so if you have an issue, it’s more than likely that it can be dealt with here. Meanwhile, if you have some kind of medical situation that requires a period of rehab, the Country Manor La Mesa Healthcare Center may be a good call for you!

So, let’s have a good ol’ time in La Mesa, shall we! We’ll start by checking out the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum and then stopping for lunch at Banbu Sushi!

Good times right there, but let’s get local and burn off some of those calories at La Mesa Secret Stairs!

There’s always business to be done in La Mesa, so let’s take a quick trip to La Mesa City Hall:

With the Sun still out, we want to take in a little more outdoors time, so let’s head up to Aztec Park, which is a pretty quick drive if we take Baltimore Drive.

Having enjoyed the great weather, let’s have a quick dinner at our absolute favorite local spot, The Riviera Supper Club!

And, of course, we close out our day trip to La Mesa by driving down University Avenue to hit the offices of La Mesa’s most loved Internet Marketing Service, All Systems Go Marketing!

The blog post La Mesa is available on http://www.allsystemsgomarketing.com

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Get More Impact for Your Digital Marketing Moves in 2021

You may be reading this in December, which means you only have a few days to enjoy this dreadful year of 2020 before plunging on to a hopefully better new year of 2021. And with the coming of the new year comes new hopes and increased speculations that 2021 will be a return to a more active business environment. That means that you need to think of how you can reverse the losses you experienced in 2020 and advance your business with the new year. the question is, have you thought of marketing strategies and plans to elevate your business to the top or are you still reeling from the blows that 2020 has dealt to your business? Well, not to be a party pooper, but now’s the best time to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, leave the pity party that is 2020, and move on to better things in 2021!

So, what’s your online marketing strategy in 2021? You may realize that even in these uncertain times we live in due to the pandemic, you notice some businesses still killing it as their content has become viral, engaging consumers even if most of them are holed up in their homes, afraid that they might catch the virus if they step out and socially interact with the rest of the world. Take note though: These viral content products didn’t just come out of thin air. They are products of careful planning, agile action, and timely decisions where everything aligned – the content, the goals of the company, its voice and tone, and the interests of the audience.

So, if you have decided that this coming year will be the year your business makes a splash with your online marketing efforts, consider three strategies that have proven themselves to be effective to a number of businesses that have implemented them in the past years. Take your pick from account-based marketing, collaboration, and turning your customer base into evangelists for your business.

Considering ABM

A high-impact marketing strategy you may consider is ABM or Account-Based Marketing. This marketing approach includes marketing initiatives and programs that are personalized and highly targeted to specific accounts for your business to grow. When you implement ABM, you must treat every client or account as an individual. Thus, marketing to each accordingly will be different – no approach is the name to every individual.  The content that you use for one potential client is different from another potential client. Challenging, yes. Rewarding, yes as well. Your potential clients may feel that you really know their individual needs and concerns, so your efforts will likely put you in their favor. Measuring the success of ABM strategies can be a bigger challenge, though.

Why is measuring ABM proving to be so difficult for firms? In part, it could be due to an over-reliance on lead-based metrics making it difficult to measure the effectiveness of an account-based approach.

Marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) was found to be the second most common metric tracked in this year’s study (revenue was #1). Only 29 percent of firms are measuring Marketing-qualified accounts (MQAs), and the vast majority (57 percent) haven’t even started to measure.

(Via: https://www.demandbase.com/b2b-marketing-blog/state-of-abm-in-2020/

Stop, Collaborate, Listen, and Win!

One of the lessons this pandemic has reminded businesses is that there is, indeed, strength in numbers. When your business finds a partner that you can collaborate with, try to milk it. The benefits of partner collaboration abound – you get a bigger audience with the expanded reach of your partner’s. Moreover, costs can also be decreased because you are working with another entity that may be willing to invest financial resources for your collaborative efforts to bear fruit. Alas, a collaborator will also expose you not just to a new audience but also different perspectives and insights that you may not have considered when you were only working by yourself.

If you’re new to B2B channel partner marketing or your company is smaller, consider starting with a simpler partnership. If the partnership works out well, you can try moving up to a more involved agreement.

(Via: https://www.webfx.com/blog/marketing/b2b-partner-marketing/

Use your users to spread the word

Making customers evangelists of your business is very impactful, as they will most likely lead you to more potential customers who will also spread the word about your business, and so on and so forth. To be successful in this marketing strategy, you need to be successful in three sections: attracting customers, engaging with them, and delighting them so much that they will shout the name of your business to the high heavens. If you are considering this strategy, remember to strengthen your customer service, don’t leave your customers out in the cold, and provide them with an amazing product or service.

Unlike salespeople, brand evangelists have no self-serving reason to promote a brand. They’re not receiving a commission, and they’re not paid to advertise – They’re just passionate! Consequently, when a superfan shares the advantages of your brand, potential customers are more likely to seriously consider their recommendations.

(Via: https://brittanyhodak.com/what-is-a-brand-evangelist/

 

Get in touch with us for more strategies on high impact online marketing moves.

The article Get More Impact for Your Digital Marketing Moves in 2021 is courtesy of ASGM

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Making Your Online Marketing Pitching Work

Depending on where you live, you may have already been working from home for at least eight months now. With the cases of COVID19 skyrocketing every single day and the best-case scenario for the release of the vaccine still weeks away, it may be safe to conclude that we will still be spending the remaining weeks of 2020 and even the start of 2021 working in our pjs, in the comforts of home. If that is the case, then you may already be a master in the art of presenting anything and everything, from monthly reports to marketing pitches, right? Right?

Or maybe you are still finding this entire scenario ridiculous and long for the days when you can see your boss or your prospective client face-to-face when you are throwing some ideas to them on how to effectively market their businesses online. Do not worry though, because you may not be alone in that. So many marketers, especially those employed by agencies are more at home with the practice of wooing clients by pitching to them in person. Gone are the days of firm handshakes, casual small talk, and after meeting drinks with teammates when you get to sign your client (or get a yes from your boss). Now, everything has to be done online. Hopefully, you have already found your rhythm and gotten used to it. If not, here are some tips on acing virtual pitches that should result in equally satisfying results as when you are doing in-person pitches.

The prep work

As in when you are doing in-person marketing pitches, you need to do a lot, if not more prep work when presenting pitches virtually. You need to be comfortable with the tech-related aspects of your presentation, such as sharing your screen so that everybody will see your presentation deck, as well as with troubleshooting possible tech difficulties in a virtual meeting, such as poor video, no audio, video and audio not in sync, and choppy video or audio because of intermittent Internet connection.

of course, you also need to diligently prepare the pitch itself. Map out the portions where you will be sharing your screen, when you will need to see your audience (a must in your pitch’s Q&A portion) and you need to determine the length of your pitch, obviously. There are a lot of behind-the-scenes action in virtual meetings and you cannot afford to have a bored audience who might get distracted by a family member, the antics of noisy neighbors, or even passing vehicles.

Finally, part of your preparation would be to know your audience intimately well. A lot of sensory cues are not readily available in virtual meetings, so you might miss changes in facial expression, uncomfortable noises because everybody is on mute, and body language. If you know your audience very well, you will be guided on how to roll out your pitch effectively.

Look at the demographics of where the person is likely to live, how much income she has, what her priorities are and what other types of products and services she is likely to be interested in. Knowing your customer allows you to create an online script and production that will make her feel connected to your business and likely to buy from you.

(Via: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/write-good-online-marketing-pitch-43033.html)

Practice

As with an in-person pitch, practice makes better pitches. Your pitch being a virtual one will be more of an advantage since you can record yourself rehearsing and the recording will be like the experience your audience will have on your actual presentation. In fact, do several recordings of your practice so that you can have a back-up of your actual pitch. That way, if things on your pitch day become a series of unfortunate events, then you have the option of just actually playing your recorded pitch. You can give yourself some peace of mind knowing you have a back-up when virtual sh*t hits the fan.

Plan to do more run-throughs with your team than you might for an in-person presentation. Not only does it take longer for everyone to feel comfortable with the technology, but you also want your team to be aware of what everyone ELSE on the team is planning to say.

(Via: https://u.group/thinking/5-tricks-for-nailing-your-next-virtual-pitch/)

Best practices on D-Day

On your actual pitch, make it a point to be as spontaneous and lively as possible. The format is already virtual, so the human interaction element of your pitch is already diminished. You don’t want to treat your audience to an overly rehearsed pitch that may get into robotic and artificial territory.  The suggestion above of playing your rehearsal during your pitch is just for worst case scenarios involving technical failure. It is still best for you to pitch clearly and naturally and your audience deserves nothing less.

Create bullet points to help stay on track, but don’t read from a script because that can easily come across as flat and boring. Spinato tapes his notes higher than his computer screen’s camera so he can look up to reference them during a virtual pitch without appearing too scripted.

(Via: https://www.newhope.com/branding-and-marketing/how-nail-virtual-pitch

 

Want more tips on effective online marketing? Send your concerns our way.

The blog article Making Your Online Marketing Pitching Work was first published to All Systems Go Marketing

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