Local Seafood Business Leaves a Lot of
Money on the Table
My Introduction to Mainely Seafood
Shoppers Guide
I stumbled on Mainely Seafood in the Shopper's Guide.
Locals love the food's taste and quality.
IMO they are leaving a lot of money on the table.
I'll also mention: Brooklyn Northeast Wines & Spirits, Soleil Bakery, William Bread BeauSoleil
Let's start with the Mainley Seafoods Shoppers Guide advertisement
I loved their advert and its placement.
The Ad stood out on the page, and the message was strong. “DON'T FORGET DAD. ORDER EARLY".
Since this was the “week” before FATHERS DAY, the message was timely and caught my attention.
- Kudos for the small size of the logo and company name
(it made the message in the advert more pronounced) - Always fresh was a great unique way to position themselves.
You expect that, but they reinforce it.
(Makes me subconsciously wonder whether their competition is fresh) - The “2 tone color “and the thick black border with the copy also helped get their message across.
- Loved the reminder, “Call ahead.”
Surprisingly Father's Day is not one of the most popular
dates for seafood market or lobster dinner searches.
I'm using a tool from Google that shows me searches.
These are real people typing things into Google looking for answers.
This is a GREAT tool to look at DEMAND
Click image
Since December and July are the busiest for people searching using seafood market and lobster dinner, finding other ways to get people interested in seafood throughout the year makes sense.
In CT more people searched for seafood market than lobster dinner.
In some cases, based on the volume of people searching you can see the results right down to individual towns.
Here's an example of what areas in Louisiana had the most searches for seafood market compared to lobster dinner.
The highest search/demand was in New Orleans.
If I had a place in that area, I'd make sure to use Seafood Market in my company name and ALL my advertisements!
Overall a great advert but only a 4 out of 5
Tracking the effectiveness of their ads
Understanding the success of your marketing efforts is fundamental to the growth of your business, and this is where tracking the effectiveness of your advertisements comes into play.
We use a tracking phone # on ALL our client's adverts.
Mainely Seafood could see how many calls came in, and where they came from and listen to the calls. They could use it for on or offline advertising.
Listening to these calls could serve as an opportunity to understand your customer's language, needs, and feedback. This knowledge is a gold mine - it will help you tweak your marketing messages, and product offering, and improve customer service. For more details, reach out.
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Let’s start with their Facebook page image
It’s blurry and takes away from the whole emotional feel.
I used a Google image search, and their image looks a lot like this one
They should go to this site and buy the image so the image on their page is crisper.
2.) The images below the number of likes...
Those images are people who are my friends on FB.
It's a quick way for me to “judge” Mainely Seafood.
That immediately offers me what they call social proof.
BECAUSE - "If my friends like them, they must be good."
The more likes from local people, the better 🙂
But then things take a turn
When I'm on their Facebook page and click on their website link, I get a warning that their site is not secure. If I continue through that WARNING, I go to a page running ads for other restaurants.
Puts a ding in the trust.
More Bad News
I can't quickly go to a menu on their FB page.
So If I’m interested in quickly finding out what they have, I’m not finding it and getting frustrated just like Barry did below.
A website could help with that
Here are just some of the benefits of a website:
1) They could Fix a broken link like the one I experienced, and fix it fast
3) They can focus on different reasons why people buy
- Health
- Focus on locally sourced
- Parties
- Cravings
- Recipes
An example of a health topic would be the recent consumer's guide.
This is a BIG deal right now
For Consumer Reports to make it the cover, you know EVERYONE is talking about it.
For Mainely Seafood to get involved and have a position on it helps position them as experts and keeps them front and center in people's minds.
With Facebook, it's like playing hide and seek
To write about the Consumer Reports article, that post would get lost on their FB page.
That's how Facebook works.
To comment on it on FB and link back to their own site with the article would help people and Google find it.
That's why they need a website for better control.
The same holds with sharing recipes or information that people want to reference more than once. William Bread BeauSoleil is sharing recipes, and I believe when people try to find them on his FB page, they may be a little tuff to find.
So what do you do when Facebook algo flakes like that?
- You focus on the goldmine that's email marketing.
- It's like having a direct hotline to your customers.
Having your customer's email gives you the freedom to contact your customers at any time.
Using your website, you can build an email list and reach out to people whenever you want.
Facebook's dirty little secret
When you reach out to people by posting on FB, FB throttles the post.
That means not everyone sees it.
I’ve seen reports where only 1 % of the FB friends list sees it.
For Mainely Seafood that would be only 50 people see their post.
Let's do the math; call it 5K likes X 1% = only 50 people.
And 1% is the average.
That means Mainely Seafood is missing out on a HUGE majority of those almost 5K people.
Depending solely on a Facebook page will restrict their online presence and visibility to potential customers who are not active on that platform.
Expanding their online presence beyond Facebook to other platforms like Instagram, Yelp, their own website, or Google My Business would attract a larger audience.
Gentle reminders that a website can do for you
A website allows for “remarketing ads.” Meaning Mainely Seafood could send reminder ads to all the likes, and that advert could be seen on FB and all over the net.
It's like leaving little breadcrumbs across the internet leading back to your delicious seafood offerings.
Think of a nice advert for a big lobster meal showing up in people's feeds or when they are searching Google.
Mainely Seafood can control how often it shows and when.
There's more, but this chunk of info would help get the register to ring and reduce the slow times.
Here's a fun twist for more exposure
Who doesn’t love a birthday surprise?
Imagine sending a special seafood deal to your customers on their birthday!
Now, that's a recipe for customer loyalty!
Since Birthdays are a potential big win for Mainely Seafood it makes sense that they reach out to the people that visited their FB page on their birthday.
Ideally, the outreach would be a happy birthday video and an offer to come down for a birthday gift or a coupon towards their birthday dinner.
Yes, you can do just that on Facebook 🙂 If you want details, please drop me a note.
When I search for seafood near me (from their area).
The good news is they appear high in the search results because no other small business is doing exactly what they are doing.
The bad news? Big changes are coming comes from Google's NEW search results page that G is rolling out
My search for Seafood near Putnam ct
Here’s what it looks like now
Click to enlarge
Here's the NEW search results page
Click to enlarge
I added the arrows to the map
Notice the GROCERY STORE?
IMO their MAIN competition is the GROCERY STORE.
That's where most people buy their seafood because of convenience.
The video explains the BIG differences in more detail
My search term was lobster on sale near me.
So, how does Mainely Seafood compete?
IMO it’s time to educate their people and potential customers about seafood.
For example, this happens to be Blueberry Week at Big Y
(this could easily be seafood week)
I have Big Y’s app installed, and I get emails that send me information, like blueberry recipes.
They send me things like this
Mainely Seafood could do something similar
WITHOUT a bank of writers or an app
Mainely could share some tasty seafood recipes or fun facts about sustainable fishing.
They can even link to other interesting sites to keep your customers hooked.
But here's the twist...
Instead of hiring writers, they need to create a link to GREAT content on someone else's site so it looks like this."
The link would look like it's a link from Mainely Seafood
And when they get to the other website page, they see a picture of Mainely Seafood and something as easy as “brought to you by” For more recipes like this, sign up for our email list.
Here's the link breakdown
We do something like that for a water damage restoration company
Here's what it looks like for them:
The link is branded with the company name.
In this case, the link is
Servpro-westchesterpa.go.prexposure .com/mold-symptoms-westchester
All chock full of important keywords that people will use to find them PLUS we mention the city and state we want to focus on.
The link takes them to the US Environmental Protection page on mold and health
- Tech MAGIC -
- The link still appears as Servpro-westchesterpa.go.prexposure .com/mold-symptoms-westchester
- There’s the “brought to you buy” slider
- And there's a link that says reach me here.
In Mainely Seafoods' case
- this could easily take you to a website page about an excellent lobster recipe
- with a slider that says, “GRAB Your Lobster here.”
- and has a link to a phone # or links to Mainely Seafoods website.
You can see the details of this process on our sister site here https://prexposure.com/
How much money is Mainely Seafood leaving on the table?
I’ll bet a boatload...
- How many potential customers does Mainely Seafood lose to people doing their grocery shopping and spur-of-the-moment buying seafood?
- Or all the other “perceived” competitors that Google is happy to people when they're searching for seafood.
With all the new changes Google is NOW introducing to the search results, the game has changed for Mainely Seafood
There are a bunch of things Mainely can do.
Some options...
Time to look at other ways to leverage the Internet, like promotion and advertising
How about a sponsored (ads) listing?
It may not get the lion's share of visitors, but it will generate exposure and even sales.
They need to fish in ALL the ponds, and that includes multiple Google properties and use other online locations too.
There are oceans of opportunities for Mainely Seafood to swim into, and the same goes for every small business out there!
So, Mainely Seafood don your captain’s hat and set sail for those uncharted marketing waters!
Time to make your business the big fish in your local sea
Lawyer by Day | Mr. Magic All the Time Click the image & watch his surprise comment
For example, I’m working with a magician, and we are using just 1 directory that is NOT Google.
His schedule is full.
In many cases, he has 2 shows a day full.
So don't discount other options because you think they are too small and not worth it.
My magician client is booked solid.
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What about partnering up with other local businesses?
Mainely Seafood offers the main meal; how about running a contest with someone that supplies the dessert… Like a local bakery?
Imagine winning a lobster dinner and a delicious dessert from a local bakery.
Now that’s a tasty collab!
I suggest Soleil in Woodstock.
Click the image to watch the video
They don't directly compete, but they certainly speak to a similar customer 🙂
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Or Mainely Seafood could offer its own contest
They'll get more exposure, grow their email list, and get more people to stop in and buy more seafood.
Here are some contest examples:
Creating special offers and promotions during off-peak seasons might encourage customers to visit the restaurant even during slower times.
Things like:
Or
Even offering a prize of a big seafood meal
I’ve seen the real estate niche offer gift cards as prizes.
This is just one of the Contest Templates we offer
We also offer the following campaigns to get more :
- Referrals
- Visitor Engagement
- Sweepstakes
- Testimonials
- Coupons
- and more 😉
Including helping you to PUSH your campaign out to your local area and help make you Five Mile Famous.
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Google Advertising - one of many additional options
BTW - here is another local company that is embracing this stuff.
I know because that’s how I became their customer.
I drove by them multiple times a week, and I never stopped.
The story: my wife loves Sweet Walter red wine.
It’s been hard to find, and NO ONE carries it.
The liquor stores I’ve asked to bring it in need a case order.
My wife loves it, but it would take her a year to go through a case.
By luck, I Googled it, and this came up.
Brooklyn Northeast Wines and Spirits
Apparently, they were advertising their inventory, and they came up in the sponsored advert section as a local business that carried the wine my wife loves.
I stopped in and bought two bottles of wine and a 12 pack of beer.
I’ve been going back to them ever since.
If you consider my “lifetime value” as a customer…
Let's say my consistent purchase over the next 5 years at least…
Let's say I spend $20/week with him, X 52 weeks (1,040/year) X 5 years = $5,200.
Not a bad return on their advertising investment huh?
This guy’s smart.
He plays the long game.
He knows if I come back and create a habit, I’ll spend all my liquor budget with him.
By the way, he is one of the only liquor stores in the area that offers door dash.
How cool is that?
Imagine if Mainely Seafood did a fraction of what I suggested 🙂
I’ve listed many options to make MS famous and grow their business; there are plenty more
I'll be launching some DIY info to make it easy for local businesses to become five mile famous.
We'll be starting with the Google Business Platform.
If you'd like details drop me a note.