Pontiac Chamber Businesses Learn Tips for Video and Google AdWords
(Crystal A. Proxmire, March 27, 2018)
Pontiac, MI – The future of Pontiac lies in its digital image. That’s the contention of Pontiac Regional Chamber Director Damany Head, who is bringing together local businesses to step up their digital game.
Among the efforts is the Smart Start Saturdays group that meets every other Saturday at the Chamber Headquarters at 402 N Telegraph Rd.
At the inaugural meeting, entrepreneurs heard from digital video production company owners and a sales representative from Google who talked about using Google Ad Words to reach potential customers online.
“No one’s giving the education necessary to revolutionize our economy,” Head said. “We have to be prepared as business owners, we have to move into the next generation. …If we don’t plug in we will be left behind.”
DIGITAL VIDEO
Kevin and Melissa Knecht of Um Um Video said that Facebook Live and videos done for You Tube are currently a popular way of connecting with audiences. Some people do this better than others. The Knecht’s gave some basics to the group and encouraged them to give it a try.
“Make it easy on yourself,” Melissa said. “Find something you can do consistently. Even if you just do one per month, in a year you will have gained technical experience and you’ll have a collection of videos.”
One of the attendees shared that she’d spent $150 to boost a video on Facebook, which got her 100 views and six people that bought tickets to the event, which she felt was a good return on investment.
Another attendee said she’d done a video but did not see how it translated into sales.
Melissa said videos alone were not the answer to success, but part of building an ongoing audience.
“You’re not going to put one video up and then peace out,” she said. “It has to be a regular thing and you have to follow up.”
Asking friends and family privately, not on the post itself, to like and share videos can be one way to help get traction in the Facebook feed. “Boosting” is a way to pay to get more videos.
Kevin said another tip is to make sure videos are short and sincere. “Don’t try to do a commercial. Are you offering entertainment? Are you offering insight or information?” he said.
He also said people tend to view videos on their phones, adding “Make sure it looks good on a small screen.”
GOOGLE
Katrina Turnbow is an authorized Google sales agent who prefers to work in the Pontiac community. “A lot of minority owned businesses are just trying to keep the lights on. They don’t have a website or social media,” she said. “But these are essential. How are customers going to find you if you aren’t online?”
Even if entrepreneurs are online, there are often ways to improve their web presence.
“Make sure your online profile is set up right,” Turnbow said. “One in five Google searches is location-based. You see ‘near me’ in the search, so you need to have your location set right.”
Examples of pages not set up properly include giving the owner’s address rather than the business location or giving the address of the hosting company.
Turnbow also talked about the need to keep a website current, as well as efforts on social media, and to make the website touches on key terms that people may be searching for. She recommended doing searches for businesses related to your own and see what kind of terms they include. You can also look for search trends at https://trends.google.com/trends/.
And of course Turnbow spoke of the benefits of advertising through Google AdWords. Google AdWords is an online advertising service developed by Google, where advertisers pay to display brief advertising copy, product listings, and video content within the Google ad network to web users. Those who consult directly with Turnbow can get credits as well as expert help crafting the most effective message.
Connect with Um Um Video and Turnbow through the Pontiac Regional Chamber. Learn more about the Chamber at https://www.pontiacrc.com/