The digital marketing sector is increasingly being filled with scammers and charlatans who try to take advantage of the complex situation of thousands of businesses. Nowadays, it’s so hard to find honest and professional people among all the rubbish that it’s normal for many to view the sector as a kind of “stamp scam”.
I don’t blame companies that want to make a qualitative leap and not fall behind, after all, anyone who has a business fears not being able to move it forward. And it’s tempting for someone to offer you an online store for 150 euros and include everything, promising results. But as you know: “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it’s probably a duck“.
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Adapt a plan to your business, not the other way around
The problem with this type of offer is that they usually don’t deliver what the final customer expects. And sometimes they even inflate the services to add things that are not needed, which end up being a headache.
Each client and each business is a different world, and not everyone needs the same A, B, and C. That’s why it’s so important to trust the right consultant. Maybe you don’t need to venture into an online store, maybe you just need someone to improve the visibility of your local listing on Google My Business. Maybe you don’t need to be active on all social media platforms if your audience doesn’t use them. Maybe you don’t need to open a YouTube channel… etc.
What’s important in a business audit is to detect areas for improvement in the short term and establish realistic and achievable action plans. No grandiose promises that will eventually push you to spend money on things you can’t maintain in the long run.
Real case
I’ll give you a real example. A few weeks ago, a good friend was “prescribed” to open an online store. He has a small children’s clothing store in a central neighborhood of Cordoba. The pro forma he received started with the hook, the 150 euros for the creation of the store, and then several superfluous expenses that added up to around 500 euros extra.
What they didn’t tell my friend is that:
- The online store requires additional attention that he can’t provide. Managing order processing, calling or communicating with customers… etc.
- It needs constant maintenance. Product sheets need to be worked on, links need to be obtained, innovations and product image improvements need to be made, along with a long ad eternum that never ends. If you’re still in a competitive sector, your rivals will quickly surpass you. These offers usually don’t include the creation of texts and products, another expense.
- He’ll have to split his business in two and start managing shipments, with all the complexities that entails.
- A new store takes time to take off, so a targeted Google Ads or Facebook Ads campaign is essential.
These are just some of the obstacles, and depending on the volume, you can imagine that a business that is both local and online will need software to help with day-to-day tasks. And of course, the billing of this person doesn’t allow for all that.
In the end, consultants are working with other people’s budgets, so we have to be honest when diagnosing.
What did we do to improve? without an online store
After talking to him, we outlined a different plan of action, more realistic and effective. To improve what he already had active, only basic things were needed, no need to start from scratch.
- Company page on Facebook.
- Targeted campaign by audience and location on Facebook Ads.
- Claiming a listing on Google My Business.
- Working on local SEO on the My Business listing to gain an edge over the competition.
- Improving his website and making it more visible.
Measuring results and growing
As you can imagine, the monthly investment is infinitely lower. The result is more optimal because it’s easier to manage, and there’s always time to move on to something bigger. The idea behind this is that he builds his brand locally and grows in a sustainable way.
The results have taken little time to appear, even in difficult times like the ones we’re living in. But the best part is that everything is set up to be measured; from the calls that come in from his My Business listing to the new fans who interact with his Facebook page.