Question #1

Am I focused on the right metrics for a mobile-first world?

Think about it. Most of your customers are searching for you business on their phones, not their desktops. If you’re still looking at your website on a desktop computer, stop it. Look at your website on your phone first. Make changes there, then worry about what your website looks like on a desktop.

Think about how your website helps your customers contact you. Is it easy to find the phone number? Is the phone number clickable? How easy is it to click a link and get to Google Maps so they can find your location?

Question #2

Is your brand there for your customers all the time?

Really this relates to your website and your other online pages. Can your customers find answers to questions about your brand, your services, your product in real time? The new customer doesn’t wait anymore. If they can’t find you and get answers to questions easily and quickly, you just lost a customer.

Question #3

Do you appeal to both the long-term and the immediate needs of your customers?

Are you thinking about the entire decision cycle of your customers? Some customers are ready to buy the second they see your website, or even before they see your website if they read your online reviews, or were referred to your business. That customer needs a direct connection to yoru phone as fast as possible.

But what about the customer that’s just starting to think about who to buy from, or what they need? That customer needs information. Is your information organized in such a way that they’ll remember you as the expert in your field? Bottom line, you need to match your content to moment – get them the right message at the right time.

Question #4

Are you thinking about video the right way?

TV is dead. Commercials are powerful and that hasn’t changed. What changed was the way people watch video. They watch what they want, when they want and how much they want to watch. You can now reach more 18 to 49 year-olds on YouTube than you can with a local TV commercial. Not many small businesses are thinking video right now. They are still in the old-school “costs a lot of money to reach a small portion of my market” mentality.

YouTube is highly-targeted. If you haven’t looked into it for your business, consider adding video to your 2017 budget.

We hope that helps you in 2017!