by Patrick Giammarco | Nov 22, 2016 | Digital Marketing, Local SEO
4 out of 5 consumers use search engines to find local products and services, however only 37% of businesses have claimed their listing on Google.
People turn to their computers, laptops and smartphones multiple times a day to learn something, do something, discover something, watch something, or buy something. This means it’s more important than ever for your businesses to be online this holiday season.
Join the Toledo Small Business Development Center, Tim Saddoris of InfoStream Solutions and Patrick Giammarco of PWG Marketing on December 1, 2016 for a 90-minute Google My Business Bootcamp where they’ll teach you everything you need to know about how to get local search working hard for you before the holidays.
“One of the most important times to make sure your business is findable online by the consumers in your community is the Holiday season,” commented Bill Wersell, Toledo SBDC director. “Shoppers often start with online research and keep searching even after they are inside a store. This training is help make sure your business gets found when people are searching for what you have to offer,” he continued.
Some of the things that will be covered include:
- The impact of Google My Business on your ability to get found online
- How to set up, claim and verify your Google My Business listing
- How to optimize categories and keywords for your Google My Business listing
- The local search power of Google360
- The importance of ratings and reviews in local search
- How to get your business listed in Google’s 3-pack
Cost: $25/person
Location: Advanced Manufacturing Training Center | 200 West Scott Park Drive, Toledo Ohio
Space is limited. Visit https://toledoohcoc.wliinc19.com/events/google-my-business-workshop-1550/details?dnh=true to register.
by Patrick Giammarco | Sep 21, 2016 | Marketing Plans, Marketing Strategy
Small business marketing consultant Patrick Giammarco, announced today his participation in the Women’s Entrepreneurial Network’s (WEN) enrichment event on October 24, 2016.
Giammarco, a Master Duct Tape Marketing Consultant, will provide simple, practical ways for small businesses to create and implement a marketing plan for their business.
“Marketing plans are the foundation of every single business. They determine how you should be positioned relative to competition, how you’re valued and how your customers are going to relate to you,” said Giammarco. “A marketing plan is the strategic cornerstone of your business, but many businesses do a poor job of implementing their plan. Even worse, they don’t have one.”
“We are very excited to be hosting this inaugural event,” commented Cindy Ursell, WEN Board Vice President. “We look forward to bringing the Toledo business community together to grow personally and professionally.”
While executing the plan has its challenges, deciding what to do and how to do it is marketing’s greatest challenge. Attend the WEN event on October 24, 2016 to hear best practices for developing and implementing a marketing plan.
CLICK FOR REGISTRATION INFORMATION
About PWG Marketing
PWG Marketing is a small business marketing firm that provides focus, control, clarity and confidence in small business marketing. PWG Marketing helps companies identify ideal clients, find and communicate a core difference, create marketing materials that educate, get found more easily online and create and live by a marketing calendar. Based in Perrysburg, OH, PWG Marketing can be found at www.pwgmarketing.com.
About Women’s Entrepreneurial Network
Women’s Entrepreneurial Network is a long-standing networking group for business owners and professionals who want to build relationships and grow their businesses. WEN members work together to help each other, contribute to charities, and promote non-profit organizations in our area. Visit www.wen-usa.com for more information.
by Patrick Giammarco | Aug 12, 2016 | Duct Tape Marketing
Small business marketing consultant Patrick Giammarco, announced today he will host a free Webinar titled 7 Steps to Small Business Marketing Success on Tuesday, August 30 from 11 am-12 noon ET.
Giammarco, a Master Duct Tape Marketing Consultant, has consistently delivered real-world small business marketing ideas and proven strategies. The Duct Tape Marketing system, created by John Jantsch, is known to be the “World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing System.”
“I truly believe that marketing is not only a system, it may be the most important system in any business,” said Giammarco. “Too many businesses fall into the chaotic cycle of producing the ‘marketing idea of the week’ and miss an opportunity to product significant and sustainable marketing results. This Webinar is aimed at providing a step-by-step guide for small business marketing success.”
Giammarco will present the 7 Steps to Small Business Success during a free, 60-minute Webinar tailored for small businesses, on Tuesday, August 30 from 11 am-12 noon ET.
Attendees of this Webinar will learn how to:
- Develop a marketing strategy that creates momentum
- Narrow your marketing focus to capture ideal customers
- Create content and marketing materials that educate
- Generate leads from multiple sources
- Live by the marketing calendar
To register for the free Webinar, click below.
Everyone that signs up will also receive a bonus gift valued at $250.
by Patrick Giammarco | Jul 9, 2016 | Content Marketing
Patrick Giammarco, owner of Inbound Marketing agency PWG Marketing, recently completed the content marketing certification master course offered by Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and has been designated as a content marketing specialist.
What Content Marketing Certification Means
“We were well-positioned before, but after completing CMI’s master content marketing course and achieving content marketing certification, we’re even more prepared to help our clients’ build teams and create content strategy that really moves the needle,” commented Giammarco.
CMI’s content marketing certification course is a set of 13 courses designed specifically for today’s marketing professional. The course includes intensive and comprehensive lessons on topics like how to build and engage an audience, how to create a channel plan, and how to measure success. Joe Pulizzi, the founder of CMI, points out that CMI’s course is the only one that provides tangible assets to work with instead of delivering just theories and tactics.
PWG Marketing has spent close to 10 years creating innovative, memorable, and successful marketing campaigns focused on:
PWG Marketing is dedicated to helping clients create and promote content that drives awareness, creates trust and converts leads into customers. Content includes professional blogs and websites, as well as business-specific e-books, infographics and white papers.
About PWG Marketing
A hybrid marketing agency, PWG Marketing is on a mission to replace annoying, interruptive marketing with marketing that people love. Powered by Duct Tape Marketing and HubSpot software, PWG Marketing develops integrated inbound marketing campaigns that include: strategy, branding, content publishing, public relations, social media, SEO, website development, email marketing, lead nurturing and analytics. Find us at www.pwgmarketing.com.
About Content Marketing Institute
Content Marketing Institute is the leading global content marketing education and training organization, teaching enterprise brands how to attract and retain customers through compelling, multi-channel storytelling. CMI’s Content Marketing World event, the largest content marketing-focused event, is held every September in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, and the Intelligent Content Conference event is held every spring. CMI publishes the bi-monthly magazine Chief Content Officer, and provides strategic consulting and content marketing research for some of the best-known brands in the world. CMI is a 2012-2015 Inc. 500/5000 company.
by Patrick Giammarco | Jul 2, 2016 | Inbound Marketing, Local SEO, SEO
For the last few years, local businesses that excel in their crafts have enjoyed a prime spot on the Google 3-pack listing of hits close to the user’s location. However, Google announced a change that will bring the 3-pack configuration down to just a 2-pack – turning the third spot into a paid advertisement.
Paid-For Inclusions: Is this the End of Good Business?
Traditionally, the only businesses included in Google’s 3-pack of local hits were those that earned their spots by genuinely doing good business. These businesses won their prominent placements through years of hard work, search engine optimization strategy, and positive consumer reviews. Now, Google is giving one of the spots (the top spot, no less) to any business that will pay for it.
Google advertised the system at this year’s SMX Advanced with the tagline: “Fully unlock the potential of local internet on mobile.” It appears the key will cost more than a little elbow grease. The 3-pack was difficult enough for businesses to get into. Now, with a 33% smaller chance, many local businesses feel put out. This change could cause problems for local business owners as well as consumers.
Consumers will lose the guarantee that the top local hit is actually a popular business. They will have to dig further for this information, looking businesses up on Yelp and reading reviews. For many business owners, Google seems to be shutting out old-fashioned, high-quality businesses in favor of businesses that pay for fame; many entrepreneurs who pride themselves on their earned status think this a poor practice.
Some consumers worry that this will be a crushing blow for local businesses, which already spend a good chunk of their budgets on optimizing advertisements for Google. Google’s need to boost revenue is quickly smothering its incentives for good businesses. The apprehension the public feels about this is worse than when Google announced it was cutting the glorious 7-pack down to just 3 back in August 2015.
The Skinny on the Slimmer 3-Pack
The new 3-pack structure – or 2-pack plus 1 ad – will be available as part of Adwords Extensions to local business advertisers. These ads may make Adwords Express a viable marketing channel for local businesses that want to jump to the top of their local 3-pack listings, if it also becomes available on Express.
Google is testing the new 2-pack, meaning we may see something different once it officially debuts. This could even mean more ads and fewer organic results. There is also the question of whether Google will keep the four advertisements at the top of the search results, hitting users with five ads in a row. We won’t find out until Google releases the change, which could be at any time.
Organic traffic appears to be getting lost in the shuffle of a pay-to-play business model with Google’s newest update. It’s too soon to tell what the new 2-pack system will mean to local businesses, but one thing is clear: It’s Google’s world and we’re all just living in it.
For more information on upgrading your SEO strategy, request your free copy of our eBook, Local Search – A Guide to Increasing Your Local Search Presence. Click below to request your free copy.
