I took my 12 year-old daughter to get braces put on this morning. As the assistant was finishing up with her our orthodontist, Dr. Johnson, took my husband and I into his office to talk. He pulled out X-rays and pictures they had taken from every angle at the start of the appointment to show us each of the problems with my daughter’s bite, teeth, and alignment. Then he walked us through the plan that will unfold over the next two years. Each phase is targeting a specific problem, leading to the next phase, and culminating in the fix for the most prevalent issue. Slow and steady, one step at a time, fix the little things that, in the end, will make fixing the largest issue easier. She’s starting with braces just on her top teeth, the bottom will be added in about 4-5 months because, “the correction made to the bottom will just be counteracted by the top until the top are totally fixed.” In other words, the teeth will just fight against each other if he tries to fix it all at once. Without looking at the whole picture, or in this case, X-ray, they may have focused on the larger problem alone missing the smaller causes.
As Dr. Johnson laid out the plans and explained the problems and solutions I realized just how similar this process is to small businesses managing their online reputation and social media marketing. All too often, a business owner goes blindly into digital marketing because someone told them “you need to be here”. Without evaluating how they are currently performing, they try to fix everything in one step.
Instead they should look at the big picture to identify steps and phases of the process. An accurate overview of your digital marketing efforts should cover areas such as business listings, reviews, competitors, social media platforms, and your website. A comprehensive report, looking at all these areas, will answer the following questions:
- Is your business listing accurate where it counts?
- How do customers feel about your business?
- What sites should your business be on?
- How do you compare with industry standards?
- Are your social media accounts effective?
Our free Snapshot report provides a business with a comprehensive look at their digital footprint (Information you provide online about your business) as well as their digital shadow (what others are saying about your business online). It answers all the questions above, and then some, allowing you to identify areas of opportunity and create a step by step plan of solutions. We can help you evaluate your digital efforts and set a plan in motion to reach your goals through digital marketing solutions.
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