Here’s this week’s post, exploring the wonders of Google Posts, peering under the driving instruction bonnet, and expressing my pleasure at having one of my longest-held pieces of marketing wisdom confirmed by one of the planet’s best-respected marketers.
Driving instructors – Crap at responding
I never bothered learning to drive when we lived in in Brighton. I do my best to be ‘green’, the city’s public transport was excellent, and on-street parking a nightmare. Now we’re in North Devon it’s clear I have to bite the driving bullet. Yes, I can easily walk the four miles to Great Torrington or Bideford, our nearest towns, and I adore walking, but it isn’t always practical to carry heavy shopping home.
So I’ve been trying to contact driving instructors in the area and, being a digital type of person, I’ve been doing it by email. The thing is, very few of them reply and those who do take several days, sometimes as long as a week. Eventually I gave up and picked up the phone. In the end, one driving instructor called me back. As for the rest I left voicemail and answerphone messages for two days ago, I’m still waiting…
In my world, when a potential client sends me an email I respond within the hour. Or at the very least by the end of that day. But then again I run an online business, and maybe I need to understand that not every business operates the same way, not every business owner sits at a computer screen all day.
Google Posts – I can do that for you
Do you use Google My Business, GMB? If so, you’re in luck – now you can use Google Posts to give your website a competitive advantage. Google Posts lets you create content directly on Google, content that pops up at the top of the search results when a potential customer searches for your business.
Google likes new content, and it surfaces new content above older stuff. New content confirms to the search engine’s algorithm that your business is active. You use Google Posts to blog, and it helps you climb to the top of the search results. Your posts can even show up in Google Maps, adding another dimension to your business’ natural visibility.
Google Posts lets you write a maximum of 300 words, upload an image, and promote everything from events and best-selling products to special offers. You can include a link to a reservation page, newsletter subscription, email campaign sign-up, whatever. Posts expire in a week, and some business owners are being sent an official notice on day six that their latest post is about to die off, a timely reminder to add a new post.
If you don’t have the time, energy or skills to write a fresh 300 word article or offer every week for Google Posts, I can do that for you… at just £20 per post or £75 for a month’s worth (4 posts).
Your customers are NOT different
I’ve said it in posts a couple of times before, and it’s great to see one of my biggest marketing bugbears borne out by the awesome Drayton Bird, direct marketer extraordinaire. If you think your customers are different from the rest, deserving of special marcomms treatment, think again. Drayton explains it beautifully in one of his excellent marketing emails:
“Almost all businesses think they are unique. ‘Our customers are different’, they say. Well, all I can say after 50 odd years working in 54 countries is that it is not even half true. They’re all human. They all want to gain some benefit – or escape some pain or worry. They all respond to emotion more than logic. So we apply exactly the same approach to all our clients – no matter what they sell.”
Me too. I know that while times may change, people don’t. It doesn’t matter whether you sell wellies or financial services, artisan bread or web design, clothing or legal advice. I will always harness copywriting and marketing best practice to encourage people to respond the way you want them to.
