Highlights:
- The average time that a person spends online has increased again, to 155 minutes from mobile device(s), and 37 from desktop (Daily averages per device, worldwide study)
- The average time spent on a website is 52 seconds (2021 per Content Square)
- The first 2.6 seconds of those 52 is spent identifying THE landing page feature that will influence whether or not they stay on the site.
Conclusions:
- It’s ALL snackable content. The average user views/reads just over half of your site content (55%).
- If your content is not presented in snippets, graphics, and/or short videos, you have very little control of what a visitor reads, and understands.
- If you are burying your best content, you are wasting it.
Brand awareness and identification have become more and more important over the past 10 years (give or take). Although the statistics don’t exactly support their assertions, most people will tell you that they shop locally, and strive to support small businesses. Despite best efforts and intentions, Walmart, Amazon, and similar businesses are reporting record profits year after year.
How can local businesses level the playing field, if not the balance sheet? I’m glad you asked! These are a few things that are absolute necessities for any local business that is trying to compete to earn business through their online presence
- Consistent naming, branding, address, phone number and message, across all mediums and platforms. This includes your social media. Having inconsistent, outdated, and/or incorrect information online is the quickest way to make a prospect question their decision to use your product or service. If you are unsure of where you stand in this regard, reach out to an agency specializing in online advertising for a report.
- Use your size to your advantage. The advantages that huge businesses have are obvious: Increased buying power, storage and delivery capabilities, as well as outsized ad budgets. A small business must take advantage of what they offer, basically the opposite. That means that there is usually not a board or committee that needs to approve ad messaging, timely and relevant discounts and inventory, etc. If it is going to be freezing cold for the next 2 weeks, a local business should be flexible enough to change their online marketing strategy TODAY to take advantage of that qualified, transactional search traffic.
- Utilizing mobile-friendly, responsive website design that is modern, compelling, and has a clear call to action. Don’t expect users to look around and find what they want. They won’t.
3A. Here’s a quick test for you to try if you’re not sure if your website fits the bill. It’s called the 3-second test, and it’s simple: Can a first-time user look at your website, and in 3 seconds know Who you are, What you do, AND What sets you apart from your competition? If not, your website can probably benefit from a makeover, if not a complete redesign. There are plenty of free website analysis tools online, try one!
Online Marketing trends, tactics, and best practices are constantly evolving, and currently snackable content is all the rage. Whether true or not, everyone thinks they are too busy to read an article, listen to a TED talk, or even (GASP!) read a book. How can a business get its message across when no one has the time or attention to receive it? From our friends at Textuar, here is a handy guide to both tell AND show you what snackable content is, and how to use it:
If you are still reading, thanks! The fact of the matter is that most people have dropped off long before now, after having read the highlights of this blog, as well as maybe viewing the infographic above.
You may be asking yourself, “If he knows that no one is reading this, why is he writing it?” Also a great question, and I hope the answer lives up to it: Google “reads” the whole blog for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to know which content to display prominently when someone does a keyword search. Confused yet?
Conclusion: When it comes to marketing a small to medium-sized business online you really need to appeal to two different audiences, in 2 different ways- Snackable Content aimed at prospects who are considering using your company, and longer-form content that will help to get the content in front of the most people.
If this post raised more questions than it answered, please feel free to leave a comment with a question or give us a call.
