Zoom and pan using controls at the right, or download graphic here
How to Use This Graphic to Inform Your Decisions
OVERALL INTERPRETATION
Generally speaking, you should read the graphic from left-to-right and bottom-to-top. Points lower and to the left are more fundamental to the overall success of your business than points higher and to the right in the sequence.
THE STOPS
We’ve identified close to 60 of the most popular digital products, services, and tactics in the market today; each is called out by a circle. Some stops are particularly key integration points that contribute to the success of multiple marketing avenues.
For example, Reviews & Testimonials are particularly important for organic marketing (especially SEO and customer conversion), but they also represent an important endpoint/outcome of customer service.
Not every stop on every line is essential to every local business. For example, some local business websites may not need Ecommerce capabilities (or the SSL certificates required to implement them). Community can be an incredibly powerful driver of business for private schools and personal care providers, but probably doesn’t make as much sense for plumbers or locksmiths.
THE ZONES
We’ve also marked six major zones from left to right. For the most part, you should complete each stop that lies to the left of a given zone boundary (for example Website CMS and Web Analytics are just inside of Zone 1) before moving onto stops in zones that are further out (such as Content and Website UX).
A suggested timeline of all steps follows below.
Components & Vendor Recommendations
Name Address & Phone
Your Name, Address and Phone are foundational to your identity as a business, and they're not something you should change frequently, if ever.
Learn More About Name Address & PhoneRecommended Vendors:
Domain Name
Your domain name is your business's address on the web, and it's fundamental to the permanent identity of your business.
Learn More About Domain NameRecommended Vendors:
Trademark
Every new business should speak with a trademark lawyer for at least an initial consultation before settling on a name.
Learn More About TrademarkRecommended Vendors:
Productivity
An integrated productivity suite saves time and reduces complexity.
Learn More About ProductivityRecommended Vendors:
Branding
While the old advertising adage is true that in the end, your customers define your brand, you can certainly influence that definition with a professional image.
Learn More About BrandingRecommended Vendors:
Accounting & Bookkeeping
Your accounting software is also an important repository of customer data that other software can leverage for marketing and re-marketing.
Learn More About Accounting & BookkeepingRecommended Vendors:
Photos & Videos
As companies like YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat have proven, we live in a visual culture.
Learn More About Photos & VideosRecommended Vendors:
Payments & POS
Choosing your payments or point-of-sale provider may not seem like it has anything to do with your marketing stack, but it's one of the most important decisions you have to make as a small business owner.
Learn More About Payments & POSRecommended Vendors:
Customer Data
At a minimum, every business should collect an email address from every customer (and prospect, if appropriate), and maintain a spreadsheet or database of each customer's purchase history.
Learn More About Customer DataRecommended Vendors:
SSL Certificate
An SSL certificate enhances the security of your website by confirming for visitors that you are who you say you are.
Learn More About SSL CertificateRecommended Vendors:
Offline Collateral
No matter your business, it's still important to present a good offline impression with items like business cards, menus, posters, and presentations.
Learn More About Offline CollateralRecommended Vendors:
Referrals & Word-of-Mouth
Perhaps the oldest form of marketing is the word-of-mouth referral--and it's still the most effective, according to most small business owners.
Learn More About Referrals & Word-of-MouthHosting
If your domain name is your address on the web, then think of hosting as the foundation of your house at that address, and your website as the house.
Learn More About HostingRecommended Vendors:
Website (CMS)
The choice of Content Management System (CMS) -- the platform on which your website is built -- is far more consequential and has far longer-lasting consequences than does the initial look-and-feel you choose for your website.
Learn More About Website (CMS)Recommended Vendors:
Web Analytics
The goal of web analytics is to help you understand how consumers are finding and interacting with your website.
Learn More About Web AnalyticsRecommended Vendors:
Content
Your content should be authentic, informative, and focused on your customers.
Learn More About ContentRecommended Vendors:
eCommerce
Your eCommerce platform sits between your Content Management System and your payment processor (or, in some cases, is both your CMS and payment processor).
Learn More About eCommerceRecommended Vendors:
Scheduling & Booking
If you run a high-volume service business like a salon, HVAC company, or landscaping company, for example, online booking is a win-win for you as a business owner and for your customers.
Learn More About Scheduling & BookingRecommended Vendors:
Website (UX)
It's important to put your best foot forward with your website -- 60% of consumers are less likely to buy from a small business that offers a poor website experience.
Learn More About Website (UX)Customer Feedback
Beyond the obvious marketing value of positive reviews and testimonials, customer feedback helps you run a better business!
Learn More About Customer FeedbackRecommended Vendors:
Since the dawn of the Internet, small business owners have ranked email marketing as one of their top three marketing channels.
Learn More About EmailRecommended Vendors:
Community
"Community" is a concept that means different things to companies of different sizes.
Learn More About CommunityRecommended Vendors:
Email Analytics
One of the many advantages to using an Email Service Provider for your email marketing (as opposed to just sending them from your personal email account) is the analytics that ESP's provide you as part of your subscription.
Learn More About Email AnalyticsRecommended Vendors:
Local Profiles
Local Profiles (in particular Google My Business and Yelp) are the foundation of any local business's search engine presence.
Learn More About Local ProfilesRecommended Vendors:
Local Analytics
As part of their free local profile offerings, prominent local search sites like Google and Yelp (as well as others) provide basic metrics around number of impressions of your profile.
Learn More About Local AnalyticsRecommended Vendors:
Social Profiles
Whether or not your business has the time, energy, or budget to be active on social media, all businesses should claim a profile on each major social media channel.
Learn More About Social ProfilesRecommended Vendors:
Reviews & Testimonials
88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, and they're one of the most authentic ways you can convey what it's like to work with you or purchase from you.
Learn More About Reviews & TestimonialsRecommended Vendors:
SEO
There are a number of straightforward, low-cost techniques that can improve your search engine presence fairly quickly--many of which are represented elsewhere in the Marketing Stack.
Learn More About SEORecommended Vendors:
Paid Social
The demographic and geographic targeting potential of social media advertising makes it one of the most compelling advertising possibilities for local businesses.
Learn More About Paid SocialRecommended Vendors:
Social Media
Social media consistently ranks as one of the top three marketing channels among small business owners.
Learn More About Social MediaRecommended Vendors:
Social Analytics
As part of their free business offerings, most prominent social media sites provide basic metrics around likes/followers/fans as well as audience reach of individual content or aggregate reach of all of your content.
Learn More About Social AnalyticsRecommended Vendors:
SMS & Messaging
SMS is one of the highest-engagement marketing channels, with open rates regularly exceeding 90%, and clickthrough rates exceeding 6%.
Learn More About SMS & MessagingRecommended Vendors:
Paid Search
Paid search is the only way to guarantee a #1 ranking on Google or Bing.
Learn More About Paid SearchRecommended Vendors:
Landing Pages
Landing pages are specially designed to convert a particular kind of web visitor into taking a particular action.
Learn More About Landing PagesRecommended Vendors:
Call Tracking
You might think of call tracking as "phone analytics."
Learn More About Call TrackingRecommended Vendors:
CRM
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. R is the most important letter of the acronym: Relationship.
Learn More About CRMRecommended Vendors:
Conversion Rate Optimization
Conversion Rate Optimization, or CRO, is a logical next step after you've dipped your toe into the waters of Landing Pages.
Learn More About Conversion Rate OptimizationRecommended Vendors:
Blogs & Columns
Few techniques establish you as a thought leader with prospects and customers to the extent that a consistent, authentic blog can.
Learn More About Blogs & ColumnsRecommended Vendors:
Loyalty Programs
One of the best ways to retain existing customers--and keep them coming back to your store or using your service--is through a loyalty program.
Learn More About Loyalty ProgramsRecommended Vendors:
Retargeting & Audience Matching
Retargeting and audience matching helps you advertise to your existing customers and others that "look like" them.
Learn More About Retargeting & Audience MatchingRecommended Vendors:
Native/Display
Display advertising is a concept as old as the Internet itself -- banner ads have proliferated on sites across the web as a means for publishers to make money.
Learn More About Native/DisplayRecommended Vendors:
Classifieds & Marketplaces
One of the oldest forms of advertising is still one of the most cost-effective...although there are several companies that have recently put new twists on the idea.
Learn More About Classifieds & Marketplaces
Marketing Automation
At its best, marketing automation is an "easy button" for all of your marketing and advertising activities.
Learn More About Marketing AutomationRecommended Vendors:
Coupons & Deals
Small businesses are right to be leery of coupons and deals after the predatory sales tactics and unrealistic margins peddled by Groupon and other daily deal sites.
Learn More About Coupons & DealsRecommended Vendors:
Paid Video
Video remains an incredibly compelling medium for consumers, and although the number of traditional TV viewers continues to decline precipitously, online video consumption has never been bigger.
Learn More About Paid VideoRecommended Vendors:
Direct Mail
While digital marketing generally allows for more-pinpointed, lower-cost ad campaigns, done right, direct mail can be just as effective.
Learn More About Direct MailRecommended Vendors:
Influencers
Influencer marketing seems to be all the rage as a modern form of old-school endorsement.
Learn More About InfluencersRecommended Vendors:
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is essentially a referral program taken to the next level.
Learn More About Affiliate MarketingRecommended Vendors:
Print Ads
Print ads can still be cost-effective, as long as you've done your homework about the demographics, geographics, and circulation of the publication in which you're advertising.
Learn More About Print AdsPR
The worlds of SEO, content marketing, social media, and PR have gradually blended together over the past decade, and it won't be long before they blend together entirely.
Learn More About PRRecommended Vendors:
Radio Ads
Small business owners typically rate radio ads well down the list of best sources of new customers.
Learn More About Radio AdsRecommended Vendors:
TV Ads
Similar to radio, broadcast ads are lower-rated in terms of effectiveness and return-on-investment than most digital marketing and advertising options.
Learn More About TV AdsEvents
Events are a great way to spread word-of-mouth about your business, recruit new customers, and make a deeper connection with your existing customers.
Learn More About EventsRecommended Vendors:
Beacons
Beacons are physical-world sensors that collect data from and push data to digital devices around them.
Learn More About BeaconsRecommended Vendors:
Native Apps
Very, very, very few small businesses should spend money on a native app--i.e. a software application distributed through the iOS App Store or Google Play.
Learn More About Native AppsRecommended Vendors:
Chatbots
Chatbots are digital robots that use artificial intelligence to have conversations with humans.
Learn More About ChatbotsRecommended Vendors:
Joy Hawkins