TRAFFIC – EXPOSURE, ACCURACY, AND YOUR BRAND
In the last article, we described the need to build your brand. An excellent BRAND encourages people to know you, understand the quality of your product or service, and then feel comfortable buying from you. That’s the point -right? Said another way, you making a sale is the point.
This is an easy concept to understand when you think about it. Take McDonald’s for example.
When you hear the name McDonald’s, what is the first thing that comes into your mind? Right –hamburgers. I think you get the point, and I don’t need to say much more here.
BRANDING makes a difference. Work on your Brand and try to make it such that people recognize it. Remember, people buy from merchants that they know, trust, and feel comfortable doing business with most of the time.
Now, you must also acknowledge that your brand probably will not be as widely recognized as the big guys like Walmart, HP, Apple, and those other big companies. But the concept still very much applies. A recognizable Brand will improve your chances of making the sale.
A point that is not acknowledged very often is the need to have your Brand underpinned by accurate information. I will never forget one of my early mistakes in building my Brand. Platforms of today have algorithms that drive their processes. When companies like Google scan your Brand’s information on your website, and they find errors, guess what? They do not even permit you to post your ads on their platforms or permit you to register for anything they sponsor. You and your Brand (company) are ignored by the search engines.
You want to spend money to boost your ad, or post an ad on Google? You may fool the system for a little while, but sooner or later you will be bumped off their platform or banned. Why? Because their algorithm found data regarding your Brand on the internet that was inconsistent. Just remember, inconsistency is your enemy!
Back when I called Google so I could post ads on their platform, they asked a few questions and then said they had to verify my data. Later, I received a phone call from them. They told me they did a search with their algorithm and found the data underpinning my business Brand was 100% inaccurate. I was crushed! Asking what that meant, Google told me that any ads I placed would be a waste of money as they would land in spam folders, or they would limit my exposure to 10,000 people.
Most of my company data was in conflict, not accurate in one way or another across various internet platforms. My addresses, my website names, my telephone numbers, my “contact” email address—almost every data item had some other piece of information associated with it inaccurately posted across the internet platforms. This meant my exposure and my ads were never seen or ignored. Unbelievably bad for me!
So, I paid $399 to Google to have what data I wished to be public made 100% consistent on Google, and then I paid $2000 to have that data consistent across all 72 of the major internet platforms—Google, Bing, Firefox, Yelp, plus 72 platforms.
Now, my primary business is on Google maps, and someone can enter any of my keywords to find me. When someone thinks they want to buy something I am selling, there is increased trust because I am consistently seen and recognized across all these platforms. When they find me, that alone ticks boxes of knowing me, trusting me, and recognizing others are buying from me. BRAND EXPOSURE WORKS!