November 2022 Newsletter

How Non-Retail Businesses Can Leverage the Holiday Season

A retail shop decorated for christmas with logos for black friday, cyber monday, show logo swirling around as a man in a business suit scratches his head

For retailers, Q4 is usually the busiest time of the year, with digital marketing going full force in every possible way. For service-oriented industries and B-to-B’s, however, the holidays tend to be a slower time of the year. This can leave these organizations feeling a little disoriented, chaos swirling all around as they stand still and wonder – “should we be… doing something?”

From the experts at a digital marketing agency, here is our answer for what B-to-B’s, service-focused businesses, and non-retailers should be doing during the holiday season.


Google Business Profile Fake Ownership Requests on the Rise

Envelope with Scam Alert written inside.

Fraudulent emails requesting ownership of Google Business Profiles (GBP) are not a new scam, but they have been on the uptick recently, as noticed by many Local Search professionals

In these fake requests, the real GBP owner will receive an email from someone trying to claim ownership of the business. While it is tempting to ignore these emails, doing so is a bad idea. In the past, people requesting ownership of a profile were able to gain access after there was no response from the existing account owner after three days. Ignoring the request may allow your GBP to be usurped by a scammer.

While ownership of a business’s GBP can seem benign, scammers can use it to hold it for ransom, change business details, or tank a competitor’s business.

If you receive an ownership request from someone you don’t know, ask any other users on the account if they know about the request. If no one recognizes it, click “review request” and reject it as soon as possible.

Read more about the Google Business Profile Ownership Scam.


Tip of the Month

Finger touching a button on a touchscreen.

Incorporate interactivity into your blog posts. Interactive elements encourage people to be more engaged with your content. When users engage, they are more invested and have higher levels of satisfaction with your brand.

There are different levels of interactivity. Elements like quizzes provide fun interactivity while comment sections give users a voice to share their thoughts. Even just clicking on an embedded video can make users more engaged.

Here are some interactivity ideas that you can easily implement:

  • Social Sharing
  • Surveys and Polls
  • Quizzes
  • Embedded Videos
  • Gamification
  • Embedded Social Media Content
  • Clickable Table of Contents
  • Chatbot

Buzzfeed is a great example of a brand that uses interactivity well. They’re known for their quizzes and ability for users to rate articles using buttons like “Win”, “LOL”, and “OMG”. The site also has an active comment section where users can share their opinions about anything.

Try using one (or more!) of these interactive elements to help your users become more engaged, or contact Top Of The List for help.


Just For Laughs

A man was driving on the interstate and saw a truck stalled on the side of the highway. As he slowed down, he was surprised to see eight penguins standing next to the truck. So he pulled over and asked the truck driver if he needed any help.

The truck driver replied, “Boy do I ever! If you could take these penguins to the zoo while I wait for AAA, that would be great!”

The man agreed and the penguins hopped into the back of his car, and off they went.

Two hours later, the trucker was back on the road and decided to check on the penguins. He showed up at the zoo, but they weren’t there! Bewildered, he headed back to his truck and started driving frantically around the town, looking for any signs of the penguins, the man, or his car. Then, while driving past a movie theater, he spotted the guy walking out with the eight penguins.

laughing dog

The truck driver pulled over and yelled, “What are you doing!??!! You were supposed to take them to the zoo!!”

The man replied, “I did, and then I had some extra money so I took them to see a movie.”

Our best for your success!

The Top Of The List Team