Local marketing and marketing on Google aren’t a good combination, if you don’t know what you are doing or why you are doing it. The “Ultimate Guide to Local Business Marketing (Ultimate Series)” positions itself as a resource that can guide frustrated business owners in the specific steps they need to take to get more reliable results when they place their bids on Google or Facebook.
What is the Book About
“Ultimate Guide to Local Business Marketing (Ultimate Series)” presents its promise to readers in the first few pages: to double or triple business income in a relatively short time using specific advertising techniques in Google. The book’s claim to fame comes from its focus on the crucial 20 percent (out of the famous Pareto’s rule) that will drive that increase in income. Authors Perry Marshall and Talor Zamir argue that business owners focus erroneously on the wrong things when planning local marketing campaigns.
Instead of trying to copy marketing firms or the latest marketing trend, local businesses should model the “Yellow Pages”. Why? The book argues that Google functions in the same role as the Yellow Pages did in the past. When a person wanted a plumber, handyman or lawyer, they looked that business up in the phonebook.
The “Yellow Pages” model also highlights another feature of local marketing, the keyword. Unlike the advice often given of focusing on the “long tail keyword”, Marshall and Zamir argue that businesses should focus on establishing a place in a common niche that your potential audience might actually use. In other words, don’t focus on keywords with a rare chance of discovery. Focus on keywords that your audience will actually use and that will establish your unique expertise. This ensures you get the best bang for your marketing buck.
One other area that the authors of “Ultimate Guide to Local Business Marketing” disagree with conventional wisdom is on the idea of putting SEO first in a marketing campaign. This, according to the authors, is backward. SEO is long-term and ultimately out of your control. A better approach is to focus on specific techniques (AdWords, PPC, and remarketing, etc.) and using those techniques to build a strong SEO campaign in the long-run.
The book’s two authors have more than a little experience in the marketing world between them. Marshall (www.perrymarshall.com) (@PerryMarshall) is a business consultant and author with expertise in online marketing, specifically AdWords and PPC. Zamir (www.talorzamir.com) (@TalorZamir) is a business consultant, entrepreneur and speaker with experience in online marketing and entrepreneurship.
What Was Best About This Book
The best part of the book was the in-depth Google Adwords advice provided by the authors. The authors provide experience-guided insights into the tiniest of details about Google advertising with excellent real-life illustrations of actual campaigns.
Another equally positive feature of the book is the divergence in ideas from traditional marketing advice. Marshall and Zamir challenge readers to confront the marketing advice that may not be targeted toward a local audience.
The book empowers small business owners to proactively control their online marketing in a way that speaks to their customers without the need for an expensive marketing firm.
What Could Have Been Done Differently
“Ultimate Guide to Local Business Marketing” can serve as an excellent reference guide to any business owner who wants to optimize their Google Adwords or PPC account. The only problem with that reference guide is the organization, particularly for newbies. If you are new to Google Adwords, it may be hard to figure out exactly where to start using this book and how to progress to the level where you can actually use the book as a reference.
Why Read This Book on Local Business Marketing
The “Ultimate Guide to Local Business Marketing” is a perfect book for any manager or business owner in the same situation as Paul Downs, writer of “Boss Life: Surviving My Own Small Business.” In that book, Downs poured money into Google Adwords without really understanding what was happening. He knew that certain tricks could help over the short-term, but never really understood how to make those shortcuts into lasting success. “Ultimate Guide to Local Business Marketing” provides a plethora of avenues and examples that readers can review to adapt their strategies in a proactive way.
[“source-smallbiztrends”]
