Our Top Three Digital Marketing Articles | November 28

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! In this week’s round-up of digital marketing articles I’m sharing some research on the importance of Google Reviews on Google Local Search, new privacy changes to the LinkedIn platform, and tips for networking and social prospecting especially during the holiday season. As always, if you’ve found a great article on marketing or sales, please share it with me! There’s always a lot of information out there and it’s good to keep up to date with all the latest changes, studies, and news.

Google Local Search Study: Businesses on First Page Have an Avg. 4.4 Star Rating by Matt Southern

A recent study found that a high star rating is strongly correlated with better rankings in a Google search. Those ranking in the top 3 positions are more likely to have a rating of 4-5 stars. This demonstrates that having a favorable star review on Google is important in terms of Google local search. Positive reviews demonstrate to Google that a business is trustworthy and provides a good customer experience. The study also found that ratings also depend on the industry – with certain industries ranking higher overall and some industries getting more reviews than others.

My reflections: Rankings in Google can affect business as people are more likely to click on the top search results rather than scrolling through several pages. Additionally, this is especially key for local search results. Fortunately, there are things you can do to improve your star rankings in Google. Of course, by providing an excellent product or service, handling customer service issues promptly, and being responsive to questions and concerns, people are likely to think more favorably of your business. However, that might not be enough for a customer to leave a spontaneous review. You can always ask once you have completed work with someone for them to submit a review on Google.

LinkedIn cuts off email address exports with new privacy setting by Josh Constine

LinkedIn recently added a new privacy feature to their platform that defaults to blocking other users from exporting your email address. While this is a win for privacy, it can be seen as a loss for businesses and recruiters who were expecting to be able to download a copy of their connections’ email addresses. This setting was not announced by LinkedIn and is now set as the default for users, so many are not aware it exists. This change means that your connections’ email addresses will not appear when you conduct a LinkedIn Archive export. If a user provides their email address on their profile, you can still grab it there.

My reflections: In a time where user privacy is a hot-button issue, it makes sense why LinkedIn added these changes. It provides more privacy and protection for their users. However, for businesses or recruiters who were using this tool to have a database of email addresses, they will have to work harder to gather this data. The information is still available on LinkedIn, it’s just not as easy to download through one easy push of a button. It’s important to note here, that even if you have someone’s email address through LinkedIn that it is not consent to subscribe them to your newsletter list.

The business owner’s guide to holiday social prospecting by Bryce Sanders

The holiday season comes with it a lot of holiday parties and times for networking. By having a strategy going into these events, you can help build your business. Sanders shares his 10-step strategy with the ultimate goal of making connections. It includes determining who you want to meet, checking out local events, attending events, studying up on the people you want to meet, dressing well to make a good first impression, being able to explain what you do, finding a common interest, getting them interested in you, and then making sure to reconnect later in the evening. While these are good strategies for any time of the year, it’s especially important during the holiday season when there are a lot of functions and events and you’ll likely be running into many people who you want to connect with.

My reflections: While I’m always a huge advocate of online marketing and advertising, it shouldn’t come with the neglect of in-person networking. Being strategic with your networking, the events you attend, and who you talk to can be key to growing your business.

Categorised in: Digital Marketing