Each year, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, communities across the country highlight and celebrate their locally-owned businesses by celebrating Small Business Saturday.  They encourage everyone to support their local and independent businesses and in turn, the businesses serve up special and unique holiday promotions. 

Parents and other community members are actively looking for...

Local Links - One Way to Boost Your Google Rankings

Google is the number one tool moms use when starting their search for a family-friendly local business, so it pays to stay near the top of those search rankings.  

There are a lot of factors that affect your Google search result placement - enough that entire careers are made on that topic alone.  Local businesses like yours...

The Most Important Information in Your Google My Business Profile

First things first, if you're a local business and you haven't claimed your Google My Business profile, go do it.  Seriously, do it right now.

That GMB profile has a lot of information and it's tempting to fill in the required fields and leave the rest for later.  But that information serves valuable...

WHAT IS SOCIAL PROOF?

Social proof is validation from a third party that your businesses is awesome.

It's when a person or a brand that you identify with or trust shares their experience or opinion about a business.  This 'social proof' lends your business immediate credibility.

It works because people naturally like to copy the actions of others and conform. They feel good about...

How do Moms Want You to Communicate?

Local businesses walk a fine line between connecting with their audience and turning them off with too much outreach.  One way to ensure you're keeping your audience happy?  Contact them using the platforms they prefer.

We asked moms across the country how they prefer local businesses reach out and there was one clear winner.

EMAIL WINS...

Local Promotions Parents Love

When you're planning your next promotion, the possibilities are endless.  Do you offer cash discounts, bonus coupons, loyalty rewards, free samples, charitable donations?  The list of options goes on and on.  

The best promotion is the one that your customers really want.  What are local parents looking for?  We asked over 5000 moms...

How Important are Online Reviews?

Are online reviews and rankings really that important for your local business? 

Well, we asked over 5000 moms in our recent survey, Moms Online and Looking for You, and over 90% of them said that online reviews influenced their purchasing decisions. 

So yes, online reviews and rankings are very important for local businesses trying to reach moms.

...

Can You Reach Moms with Print in 2022?

We all know that newspapers have declined in importance in today's internet-driven world. 

But it's hard to grasp just how much they have diminished in popularity.

In 1984, newspaper circulation reached 74% of all US households.  In 2018, that number was just 24% of households and falling.

In fact, weekday newspaper circulation dropped 12%...

The Art of Being Found

This week's tip is understanding the resources moms use to find local, kid-friendly businesses like yours.

Once you understand that, there's a whole lot you can do to improve your chances of being the answer to their search.

So how do moms search for local, kid-friendly businesses? We asked over 5000 moms across the country and they said these five tactics reigned...

When Do Moms Read Email?

When to send email is one of those constantly debated marketing questions.  And for good reason.  You don't want to work hard on an email only to have it buried in an already overloaded inbox.  

Every expert has an opinion on the optimal email send time but instead of asking experts, maybe you should ask your audience.  We asked moms across the...