Why You Should Be Utilizing Your Google Business Listing

Boosts Online Visibility

Using a Google My Business page increases your visibility on the most used online search platform in the world.  93% of web searchers use Google as opposed to other platforms. More and more people are turning to online searches before visiting a brick and mortar location.

Business Showcase

Google Business has great features to attract new customers or clients.  Crucial business information such as phone number, address, business type are important, but adding in professional photography of your business will help you stand out.  

Need professional imagery of your business? Send me a message!

Reviews

Having customers share their happy experiences can put your business ahead of the pack. Want to take it to another level? Write a personal thank you to each one.

Integration with Google Maps

Another important feature to bring in customers? Knowing where your business is located!  Google Business Profiles are fully integrated with Google Maps and all applications that use Google Maps.

Post Updates

You can post updates to your Google Business Profile.  Typical posts would be upcoming closures, new policies, sales, anything a customer (or potential customer) may need to know.  Posting updates can keep your customers informed and engaged.

Insights and Analytics

All Google Business Profiles are equipped with search performance and insights to show how web searchers find your business.  

Competitive Advantage

Having a verified Google Business profile puts your business above others who do not utilize the service.  And everyone should because it's FREE!

Need help branding and marketing your business?  The Daly Brand can help, fill out the contact form to learn more.

Meta Business suite is an all inclusive way to manage your business pages on Facebook and Instagram.  It allows you to ensure your brand is consistent across both platforms and even includes post scheduling, which is a fantastic tool to plan your entire week or month of social media marketing.  I absolutely recommend moving to Meta Business Suite to manage your business, as I find it much more responsive and user friendly than just utilizing the Facebook website or app.

Meta Business Suite can be used on a desktop through your prefered browser.  If your business is connected to your personal profile, you will have the option to "Switch" into the Business Suite.

Or Meta Business Suite can be used on a mobile device by downloading the Meta Business Suite app from the app store (available for Apple and Andriod devices).

Home

Once you have downloaded and logged in, ensure your Instagram pages are linked.  Once this is done, you should be able to view all your business Facebook and Instagram messages, likes, comments here.  

Of the many benefits of Business Suite, includes a "To Do List" that only your page managers can view.  This is a great space to delegate social tasks to your team or just simply make your own checklist.

You can also connect your pages to external apps such as appointment apps from this page, if you business would like to take appointments on social pages.

Notifications

All your comments and engagements will be on this tab. Replying to post comments on a personal level is always helpful to your business.

Inbox

You can respond to all messages and comments easily in Business Suite as your business.  Posts & Stories

From here you can create posts and stories, schedule posts, and view some limited Insights on your posts.

Planner

Another feature that benefits small business owners is the "Planner" tab.  This is basically a calendar that allows you to create, schedule, and manage your content.  This page also includes some ideas (first day of winter, National Cupcake Day, etc.) but not many at this time. 

Insights

Managing your Insights, or your online engagement is incredibly easy in Business Suite.  You should be checking in on your post insights weekly, this way you know what is working for your business and what is not.  This way you are able to tailor your content to your audience, to increase post engagement.

Ad Services

Business Suite also includes Ad Managing services.  Ads in Business Suite are very user friendly to create.  You are able to sort by likes, demographics, age groups, and more.

Overall, I recommend all business owners to make the switch to Meta Business Suite for managing their Facebook and Instagram business pages.  It's very user friendly and includes many helpful tools.

Need more help with your social pages? Send The Daly Brand a message and see what we can do for you!

Happy June!

Hopefully everyone is enjoying the transition of seasons like I am.  It's been awhile since I have been able to sit and write an entire (cohesive) blog post, but I'm back and ready to keep at it.

This month, the focus is ensuring your branding and web presence is up to date and concise. 

First up, your business growth checklist,

1.  Do you have strong brand identity?

Your website needs to look like your business.  Brand colors, tag lines, and a professional brand logo are all elements to create a strong brand identity.  Your business needs to be clear or customers will just move on to the next.  These days, customers are looking for polished brands that align with their likes and identity.  Stay uniform!

2. Is your website current?

Take some time to go through every page of your website.  Is all the information up to date? Make all necessary changes.  Updating your website also helps with your Google search presence. Google loves a website update, so do often to keep your listing towards the top! 

3. Are you asking your customers for reviews? 

If you don't ask, they most likely won't leave them, and what's the harm of asking?  If someone had a great experience, ask for a review!  Bonus points for making it easy for your customer, like QR code cards to scan or even a simple text to their phone with a link.

4. Are you promoting your social media?

Ensure your customers know that you have social media and encourage them to interact with you there.

5. Do you have a blog?

Blogging is a great way to not only keep your website updated, but can also bring in potential customers for conversation.  Blog posts are a great place to share your expertise ensuring customers that you are up to the job!

Need help with maintaining a updating your branding or maintaining web presence? Click on my contact form and send me a message!  I would love to hear how I can help you, and your small business!

This month's post is all about how to increase your Google and Facebook reviews.

First, let's start with "Why do I need Google & Facebook reviews?"  Reviews are incredibly important in this day and age with the many, many choices potential customers are faced with online.  A good review can influence one, or many people to try your business over another.  But, a negative review can be a way for your business to showcase it's customer service, always respond to negative reviews in a clear, concise way, and do what you can to make it right.

Businesses with more reviews perform better on searches.  The more consistent reviews you have, the higher up in search results you will land.

How to increase the number of reviews

• Ensure customers can leave a review.  Do you have a Google my Business page? Do you have a Facebook business page? You should claim these pages if you haven't and brand them to match your business.  This is also a great opportunity to update your business pages if you have them, but haven't done anything with them in awhile. Upload new photos, new graphics, and other information to invite more reviews.

• Have lots of Google reviews? Expand your reviewability!  Ask customers to review you on other sites such as Facebook, Yelp, Rate A Biz, or any other review site.  This also will help with SEO.

• Use QR codes to get to review pages quickly.  Place marketing throughout your business and even give out cards with QR codes to encourage customers to write a review.  The easier it is for them to access, the more likely they are to leave a review.

• Offer a review worthy service.  All the marketing in the world cannot replace offering great service that your customers want to talk about.  So take care of your customer, and they will take care of you!

What steps are you going to take to increase your business reviews?  Let me know what's worked for you in the comments below!

What catches your eye when scrolling through Instagram and Facebook?  For almost everyone, its beautiful, light and airy photographs.

Did you know you can achieve this with your own iPhone? The cameras on phones these days have come a long way, they now can produce high quality images right in the palm of your hand.  Check out below some tips and tricks for getting the best images for social media for your business!

Use Natural lighting if possible

Natural lighting makes us look our best.  Position by a window (window casting light on the face, don't stand with a window behind you!)  Diffused light gives a soft, even glow.  Harsh lighting like direct sun can wash out your subject or create shadows.  

Create layers using Portrait Mode

New phones have this great feature called Portrait Mode.  With this, you can put the focus on your subject, and blur the background.  This can really draw the eye to your subject.

Keep thinking of your brand

One cool way to do this is to position your subject in front of something that has your logo on it, or incorporates your logo color into it.  Do you happen to have a wall in your office painted your brand color?  Even better if it also includes your logo. You can have vinyl wall decals created with your logo online, they are easy to install and do not damage the wall!  This would make a great background for social media posts! Think of it like a red carpet background for your social media posts.

Use the Rule of Thirds

Think of your frame as divided by 3 vertical lines and 3 horizontal lines and place your subject at the intersection of these lines.  This helps draw the eye around the image and makes it much more interesting than your subject directly in the middle of the photo.

Make sure your background is CLEAN

Too much stuff in the background of your image creates a distraction.  Look at the images that catch your eye online, most of the time the background is simple and clean so you can focus on the subject.  When taking a photo for social media, look around your subject, is there distractions, photos, knick knacks, and other stuff distracting? Clean it up, or move your subject to a new location.

And there you have it, some tips and tricks to help your photos stand out on social media!