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Hi, I'm Maile Ohye.
You're watching the fifth video in our series designed
to help local business owners create an online presence.
The goal of the last two videos is to help potential customers
not just find your business online
but to select your business from the competition.
In this video, you'll learn how to differentiate your business
from the competition and present your product or service
in its most positive light.
Let's begin with a summary of where we're at thus far.
You've identified your business's value-add
and your most common customer journeys.
You've built an online presence on the common channels
in your customer journeys.
You've traced the online customer
funnel to increase revenue.
And you've already provided information
throughout the customer funnel.
This allowed potential customers to reach conversion.
Conversion might be defined as calling, emailing,
or walking through your storefront.
Now, to increase conversions and hopefully revenue.
The agenda for this video focuses
on the engagement stage of our customer funnel.
We'll do more than include a value-add.
We'll research how to answer common customer questions
and reinforce your value-add.
Let's begin with researching common customer questions.
What questions do potential customers
ask before selecting either your business or your competition?
For my cousin Scott, the Realtor we referenced in an earlier
video, a customer who needs to buy a house
wants to know what makes Scott the best person for the job.
Her questions might be, are his clients happy with his work?
What are his credentials?
How many homes has he helped buy?
To assist conversion, which in Scott's case
is to call or email him, he'll try
to address all of these questions
within the customer's online journey.
We'll cover the process of implementation
in the next video, but first, it's
helpful to do some research before diving in.
To start, check out the competition for good ideas
and to provide a benchmark for your business's
online presence.
As the owner, you most likely already
have a firm grasp of the competition.
But let's review some general questions
to make sure you've covered all your bases.
Who are your competitors?
What type of online presence do your competitors have?
Do they have a Google+ page, Yelp page, or a website?
Of course, there's no need for you
to replicate their online behavior
but checking out the competition can
help determine best practices.
Next, what's compelling about your competitors'
online presence?
And finally, does your value-add truly distinguish your business
from the others?
In addition to investigating the competition,
another approach to answering potential customer questions
is to put yourself in their shoes.
How would you, as a customer, verify
the legitimacy of your business?
Online reviews or testimonials from satisfied customers
can provide legitimacy.
Imagine how reassuring it is for potential customers
interested in buying a house to see a testimony like,
"Scott always paid attention to our needs
and was conscious of our budget."
or "Scott was responsive in all stages of the home buying
process."
Again, as we emphasized in the last video,
it's beneficial for all the positive sentiment
you receive in the offline world to be equally reflected
in the online world.
That's the mental shift that needs to take place
as you expand your business from offline to online.
We talked about reviews.
Now let's take this a step further
and ask, in addition to text, how
can you demonstrate your value-add?
There are many ways to personalize and reinforce
the unique value of your business.
For instance, Scott could post photos of himself
with happy clients in their new home.
Or with maps, he could indicate the location and area
he serves.
He could film a short video with tips for buying a house,
upload the video to YouTube, and then include it in his Google+
page.
Further, Scott could provide links
to the type of sample presentations
he creates for clients.
This sort of reinforcement would provide prospective clients
a clear idea of the real Scott and demonstrate
his high-touch approach.
The creative ideas you brainstorm in this video
should reinforce your value-add and help
answer some of the common questions your customers might
ask.
We'll look to implement them into a holistic online identity
in the next and final video in this series.
See you there.
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