Why Visuals are so Important to your business

"A picture is worth 1,000 words..." 

Remember that saying? 

Well it still holds true today!

Take a look at this business's trends over the past 30 days: In your Google My Business page you can access these too. 

(Just go to "manage your page" and then click "insights" on your dashboard.)

Visibility stats from the Google My Business page provide some interesting points.... 

This business has had a Google Business Page for 17 months. Notice (upper left)  they have had 18,000 views in that time period. To me, (and hopefully you), 18,000 views means a lot of opportunity to connect with new customers. Big question is... what are you showing them visually on your business page to keep them interested? 

Here is WHY: On the far right by type of search, you'll notice 566 photo views in the past 30 days (greater than all others combined). Visuals are important folks because it is what your consumer wants. If they are of professional quality like this business has, more people will look, share, engage, and act. We created the professional images for this business.

To request a free business presence analysis, contact us here: REQUEST INFO

Add to your Bottom Line today.

What adds to your bottom line?

Simple....Customers. Customers give you the dollars that you take to the bank. 

So why not give potential customers a greater online experience?

Doing so will create ENGAGEMENT. And engaged customers take action and make choices based upon what relevant information you provide them. The quickest, most effective way to make an impression is visually. At ITB Marketing with Photography we do just that. We create stunning professional showcases of businesses that are utilized across all web platforms. Your potential audience takes notice, and we add interactive visual content too! This provides a greater search experience to customers online and makes an impact in the precise moment they are choosing who to buy from. 

To learn more, or tell us about your business needs you can do so here:

 REQUEST INFO

First impressions in Google Search?

Mobile search: The consumer's first impression?

The typical category search and target location i.e. (restaurants Mystic Ct) on a mobile device directs consumers to a list of choices on their screen. The top three businesses will appear and an option to "see all" button appears in the lower left corner. Here is that exact search on mobile in visual form...

Your Business category is no different in the way it appears to consumers. 

What you are seeing just like the consumer, is that business's Google Business Page >

When a consumer clicks on one of these panels, it opens the Google Business Page First.

Only then can that consumer access your website..

So developing this page is very important to be able to convince them to click thru to your website instead of clicking off (aka bounce)

At ITB, we help you develop this page with something called Google Business View. The difference in winning a consumer or not is how you present yourself. By clicking on a listing here is what the consumer sees on mobile: 

THIS IS THE GOOGLE BUSINESS PAGE

You get reviews, you can call direct, get directions from Google Maps, or finally click on the website. 

WHAT IS MISSING?

Professional Images? a virtual tour?

Scroll down to a business ITB has enhanced and see the difference for yourself.

SAME INFORMATION HERE>>>>>>

WHAT'S this? It tells me if I click it I get to See inside.

This is what the outside looks like on Street View, and there are photos...

Lets explore a little more.....

CLICK 'SEE INSIDE" and you get this Virtual Tour utilizing Business View technology (Street View Inside)

View Larger Map

Go Ahead, roll over the image, click the arrows, grab the N on the compass upper left rotate it and View the business 360 degrees. As a consumer, would this reinforce your choice to visit here? You bet it helps and statistics show a 20% increase in the number of views your business gets. Not enough? Our businesses we have done also see an average 1.5% increase in conversions. 

@1000 views/Mo. +1.5% = 15 new customers/mo. 

If you would like this feature for your business, 

say yes to technology, say yes to innovation, and 

We will increase your 

VISIBILITY

CUSTOMER COUNT

SEARCH RANKING

One affordable price that will return your investment in 11-120 days ave.

11 days? YES! A client recouped a $600 investment with one sale that was influenced by our virtual tour that we embedded in the website home page after publishing to Google.

Think about how much additional profit has been realized for that client since June 2013.

The sooner you act, the sooner you'll add to your bottom line.....

CONTACT ITB

And get started today!

Restaurant Marketing Ideas

Consumers unquestionably turn to the internet to search for a place to eat. Google is 70% of that traffic. Think about the customer for a minute. They are hungry, they are using their phone to find you, and they will make a decision today where to eat. Consumers of  food eat with their eyes. Which is why visuals are so important to Restaurant Marketing.

At ITB marketing with photography we do just that. We market your business with photography and we start at Google Business pages. These tend to be the least developed listings yet the most important. (As much as your website in many cases). That is because mobile search leads to this page first when a customer searches for restuarants/location. Then they can reach your website, but if you aren't enticing them here, you are missing a huge opportunity to keep them engaged and on your sites longer.

How we do it is by providing search photos relative to your business first. We publish these to Google Maps and your Google Business page. Then we do a virtual tour of your business interior, perhaps kitchen, or deck, whatever would help that consumer decide to say "yes" to choosing your business. We publish this to Google Maps as a new Map feature called "See Inside" This also gets placed in your Google business page. Now we can add it to you website homepage or Facebook page as well. 100% coverage no matter how that consumer discovers your business on the internet.

If you are currently considering or spending ANY money on advertising, this is well worth looking into. For the cost of a couple of print ads (that quickly expire), you could be enjoying unlimited benefit, return, reach, and engagement 24/7 right where your target audience is (online)...and only pay once for this service. 

Click this link to Request Info  and get your business visibility enhanced. We can usually get your tour live within 14 days.

Travel Schedule For Google Business Views

Internet Visibility is coming your way!

We will be conducting photo shoots in the following areas:

August 12-13th. SE Connecticut (Mystic Area)
August 19-21st Rhode Island Shore (Newport Area)
August 25-26th Western Massachusetts ( Springfield Area)

More Dates to follow.

 If you are interested in getting your business visibly enhanced on Google, please start the registration process here: Request Info

Not sure if Google Business View is for you? 

Give us a call and we would be happy to discuss what might be best for your business.

We can also embed this tour into website and Facebook pages.

(413) 237-6307

Mobile Marketing Newport, Rhode Island

Do you Fish?

Mobile marketing is a lot like fishing. The internet is the ocean, the consumer -the fish. What your business needs to do first is position itself where most of the "fish" are: In this case, on Google where 70% of the search traffic "swims". To get the fish or (consumer) interested you need to attract or "lure" them. Lures in fishing are simply visual representations of the real thing, and this works on consumers too. 

I like this analogy because most business owners start to realize that  attraction is what draws consumers in for a closer look. Yet 85% of the businesses I approach don't have a lure in those Google waters. More specifically in their Google My Business page listing, where most new consumers get a first impression of a business in Mobile search. Without the visual "lure" (i.e. professional images of the business or the products you sell), you are not going to catch that savvy consumer of today. 

At ITB Marketing with Photography we take it a step further. We create not only images to lure customers to do business with you, we also provide a virtual experience. Virtual tours of businesses that a consumer can access in Search, Websites, or Facebook with just one click. If you would like to see what you are missing in your tackle box, click HERE   Navigate around and realize that you too could be offering your potential consumer more value from their search efforts. Oh and yes the tour is fully mobile compatible across all devices. 

Mobile Website? 76% of all businesses do not offer mobile compatibility to search consumers. Result? Consumers Click OFF, not THRU your business. Opportunity is lost. We have a design team that converts existing websites to a fully integrated version so no matter what the consumer is searching you with, your listing loads quickly and scales to size of device instantly. 

If you would like to get started with Mobile Marketing, share your needs or questions here: Request Info

Introducing Google My Business

% of people who search online Locally

 Image courtesy of Google

The key word takeaways are 97% look local

What are they "seeing" about your business from Google Map search results?

This?

This?

Or This?

Contact Us to get "See Inside" on your map... and their radar.

Request Info

Local Search Visibility

Local Search On Mobile Converts 9 out of 10.... 

...consumers to Visit or Buy from local businesses. Start attracting and engaging those customers in ways that align to their preferences. 

Here is a Tip. Google has a new search feature that can achieve better conversions. How? By showcasing your business right from Search Results on Google. Check out Google  Business View

A 360 Degree Virtual Tour of your business- Try it out for yourself here, just click the arrows to move forward and left click and drag to turn. Navigate just like street view, only indoors.

View Larger Map

If you are looking for better Local Search Visibility with Mobile Compatibility, this is what we specialize in. #ITB Photography

Contact us here: Contact Form ITB

Google Business View and What it does for your business

Google Business View Tours explained

How it works and how it can help you business.

Here is a recent tour I created and published for the D. Hotel and Suites in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Hover your finger (for mobile users) or mouse over the image and click on or ahead of the directional arrows to navigate the tour. In less than 2 minutes you have a really good idea what this business offers you. And for the price, there is a lot of value shown from the tour. These tours are created with the same Google Street View Technology except with greater precision. Like what you "see"? Read on....

View Larger Map

How it can Help Business? Think about it, when you yourself start a buying process, where does most of your research come from? 93% of consumers like you, go online first. Especially when searching for a local business. So the importance here is what reasons do businesses give consumers to buy from them at the most impressionable landing page- search results? Is there a great image available attracting them to look more closely? To spend more time? To help forge their decisions? Those answers need to be "YES".

Taking that one step further, do you have interactive content in your search results? Interactive visual content is a huge benefit for both businesses and consumers. Why that is relates to providing the clearest pathway to do business. Open your doors to consumers inviting them in to look around and shovel that snow off the walkway...clear the path, more consumers will come. Google Business Views does just that. Here is the same business above as they appear in search results. The Tour you can take above is accessed by one click on the "See Inside" panel. Click here for the actual result: D. Hotel Google Search

(It Looks like this when you click on the Google Knowledge graph thumbnail of the D. Hotel)

Call to action buttons at search results trigger consumers to respond by clicking See Photos or See Inside the business. Consumers are curious, want information and this shows them more is available if they click. 

More Conversions and greater percentage of conversions are the result of ENGAGEMENT. Engaged consumers take more actions, that is a proven stat. 88% of ENGAGED consumers take action within 24 hours. So this option is available and if you are in Western Massachusetts, South East Ct, or Southern RI, we can get your business not only on the Map, but in the Map. 

Greg Bernier, owner of ITB Professional Photography is a Google Maps Certified trusted photographer. To contact ITB and request information please do so at the link provided below. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain! Let's chat about your business needs.

CONTACT ITB   

Information Consumers are looking for...

Visual, Important, Relevant and Interesting 

Strategic Digital Marketing is built upon these very words. 

Online consumers are looking for easy to digest, aka "snackable" information about your business. Today I will break these down into why. I recently did a seminar for the local Chamber of Commerce here in Amherst, Ma. and this was an important topic we covered. 

Visuals: are processed 60,000 times faster than text. That's right, 60,000 times!

We process 90% of our information visually....because it is faster and more efficient.

Which would you prefer? Text or picture?

Importance: If you are searching for a place to eat and you are hungry, does this visual tie you emotionally to the product? Absolutely, unless you are vegan of course. The goal with online strategy is to convert "intent" into actions. This is where good professional quality visuals shine.

Relevance: Again, dependent on the situation this image is very relevant to the target audience who sees this in search results. They are hungry, this shows them what they can have to satisfied that need. AHA moment, in the moment, the Reasons to Buy from You!

Interesting: Again this ties into the intent of the search. If you are looking for a big burger with a little extra love like a grilled kaiser roll, and onion rings topping it off with a fresh dill pickle.... actions will follow. Perhaps a visit, and a purchase. 

Mobile Consumers: Another topic I covered of great importance is the Mobile consumer. Why? Because of mobile's trends and the intentions associated with it. Trend: Mobile will surpass desktop total search in 2014 by device category. Mobile Search also has a more urgent intent: TO BUY. 55% of local searches on mobile result in actions within 60 minutes. 61% of those are actual purchases! Get your reasons to buy visual and align your business to the mobile future and you will see more customers walking through your doors! 

Greg Bernier is a Trusted Photographer for Google Maps Business View- based out of Springfield, Ma. and owner of ITB Photography. If you would like to get your business better aligned to today's consumer, contact us at the link below: Let's chat. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

ITB CONTACT US

Local Search, what 93% of consumers rely on

Google Places for Business....

Nearly 70% of all Mobile consumers click on this FIRST

That's right! Your website on Google Local Search is much less prominent than your business name "HEADLINE" is on Mobile. And stats point to the fact that 82% of Consumers rely on Google to research local businesses.

(Here is an example screenshot from Mobile search) 

The "headline" or business name is the most prominent.

It is accessed via touchscreen (on mobile) and it is the "easiest" land most visible link to access. So think about that for a minute. "70% of mobile users are clicking my Places for Business information first." That is what clicking your business name hyperlinks to. So what are you showing prospects about your business in your Google+ Places for Business page? Might be prime time to consider this and here is why.

The real "eye opener" is that mobile local search is growing double digits annually and conducted with the intent to buy.

55% of mobile searches lead to action within 1 HOUR. 

61% of those result in a purchase.

Lesson for today: First Get a Places for Business Listing to get "on the Map." Second: Start aligning to your consumer's preferences in your page.  What are they looking for? Visuals, Quick, Relevant, Informative, interesting information. ITB Photography can begin helping you align to today's consumers. If you would like to see an example of a Google Maps enhanced business click here: B. Home and "See Inside" for yourself.

Simple, easily digested permanent marketing where the majority of consumers are finding you today. 

Greg Bernier is the owner of ITB Photography and a certified content contributor for Google Maps. Based out of the Springfield, Massachusetts.

ITB serves Western Massachusetts, Southeastern, Ct, and Southern RI.

Contact Request Here: CONTACT ITB