4 data-driven insights from GoDaddy to help you find your audience online 

As a marketing lead at GoDaddy, a software-first company focused on enabling small businesses and entrepreneurs, Amy Jennette is an expert in building brands and helping them get discovered by the right people. She believes in homing in on your audience and engaging with them intentionally and consistently to find long-term success. 

“A lot of folks try to be everything to everyone. If you do that, then you will ultimately be nothing to no one,” she said. “Knowing who you are and what you stand for in your core is going to help you narrow in your focus. When you do that, it will also help you figure out the type of marketing channels that are going to be most efficient and effective for you.”

Below, Amy shares four key customer insights that can help you connect with your audience across several of those channels, including your website, social media, and reviews. 

1. Boost your website’s reach with SEO  

According to a recent consumer survey by GoDaddy, 89% of consumers said it’s important for small businesses to have a website, although 24% of businesses surveyed still do not have one.

Creating a website is essential—it’s also the top way customers connect with businesses on Yelp—but making sure people find your site organically requires another level of strategy. Search engine optimization (SEO) helps you rank higher on search engine results pages so you can connect with the 61% of consumers who use search engines and other online resources to discover local businesses. “It’s not just about what you are putting out online, but it’s ultimately about how you are going to get found by your potential audience,” Amy said.

Amy’s advice: “Traffic to your site equates to potential customers. You want your SEO to be dialed in so that you show up on the page. If I’m searching for, say, a landscaping company with heirloom garden quality services, a landscaping company that has their SEO dialed in will be on the first page at the top of the search results. Ultimately, I will find them and I’ll be more likely to engage with them.”

Where to start: This small business SEO guide can help you improve website content and develop an SEO strategy to rank higher—and get in front of more customers—on search engines. If you’re just creating your website now, many website builders like GoDaddy also have tools to help you boost SEO. Learn more in GoDaddy’s digital marketing guide.

2. Follow your audience’s lead on social media 

GoDaddy research found a vast majority of young consumers (80% of Gen Z and 75% of millennials) believe it’s important for small businesses to link their storefronts to their social pages, while most older consumers (71% of boomers) said it’s not important. 

When it comes to social media strategy, audience is everything. GoDaddy’s research shows that convenience is a strong motivator for younger generations, who want the convenience of being able to purchase products directly from social media. But if your business caters to older customers, you may find more success using social media for brand awareness instead of sales. 

Amy’s advice: “I do not recommend trying to be on every single social media platform. Go and be active where your audience is. If your audience is younger, maybe you need to be on TikTok or Snapchat. If they’re a little bit older, maybe you need to be on Instagram and Facebook… If 80% of Gen Z says that social storefronts are important, they’re transacting through social media. If boomers are saying that it’s not important, they’re not going to transact. Then you have to think about: If they’re not transacting specifically, are they engaging [with the content]? That’s where your content strategy comes into play.”

Where to start: Consider doing market research to understand more about who your audience is and what motivates them. Plus, tune into what social media experts across the industry believe is the best use of your limited time and resources. 

3. Start telling your story online

The majority of consumers (65%) said they’re more likely to make a purchase if they know the personal story of the business. However, one in five small businesses do not share their story online, GoDaddy found. 

In an age when customers are bombarded with choices on the internet, your personal story sets you apart. Maybe you’re the third-generation owner of your family’s pest control business, dedicated to providing quality service. Maybe you opened an auto shop to meet a need in your community or make the industry more accessible. Telling your story—or better yet, enlisting your biggest fans to help share it—can help you build trust and grow relationships with loyal customers. 

Amy’s advice: “Let your customers, who are your advocates and maybe your critics, help you tell your story. Let your customers be the ones who are shouting your praises. Let them do the heavy lifting for you. Link out to [their reviews] or include those reviews on your website itself. Testimonials [are] social proof. Why do I want to do business with this company? ‘Oh, well, these three people gave them five stars and, ultimately, they’ve got a really high rating, and the reviews were really thorough and thoughtful.’ That’s huge.”

Where to start: Discover creative ideas for using reviews to promote your business online. Plus, get tips and prompts for writing the “From this business” section on Yelp—another opportunity for you to introduce yourself and tell your story in your own words.

4. Maintain a consistent review response strategy  

In a survey commissioned by Yelp and conducted by Material, 87% of review readers said they’re more likely to look past a critical review if they see that the business has responded and adequately addressed the issue.*

Let that soak in: If you’ve ever doubted that responding to reviews matters, know that customers are reading reviews not only to learn more about your business but also to see how you deal with critical feedback and navigate difficult situations. You can impress them by showcasing your customer service practices in public comments.

Amy’s advice: “You want to make sure that you have a strategy for dealing with and addressing customer reviews. Are you going to respond to every single review? Are you going to solve a challenging experience or a critical review [directly on the platform, or] are you going to ask them to reach out to you in a direct message? Those are all things you want to consider and be really consistent with. Maybe if you’re doing your social media calendar once a week, schedule time to respond to those reviews at the same time so that you’re constantly communicating and getting that feedback.”

“And if you do get a negative review from someone or some negative feedback, make sure you follow up and signal to your other customers who may be reading what you’ve done to either improve the product [or your customer service.]”

Where to start: These five tips for responding to online reviews will help you navigate even the trickiest customer feedback. You can also use GoDaddy’s AI Prompt Library, a free tool to help coach you through customer support interactions or craft review responses—just remember to remove any sensitive or personal information since most AI tools are not confidential.

More resources to explore 

• GoDaddy’s resource library covers trending topics for business owners, such as website building, marketing, and branding.
• GoDaddy’s AI prompt library provides free, detailed prompts that can help businesses use AI for content creation, support tasks, and more.
• GoDaddy’s digital marketing guide gives an overview of the best marketing strategies for small business owners, from email marketing to SEO and digital ads.

These lessons come from an episode of Behind the Review, Yelp & Entrepreneur Media’s weekly podcast. Listen below to hear from Amy, or visit the show homepage to learn about the show and find more episodes.

GoDaddy is a Yelp partner that provides small businesses the ability to claim their Yelp Business Pages and manage Yelp Ads directly through the GoDaddy platform. Neither company received compensation for its appearance on Behind the Review.

*Material Survey 2022