Local marketing is a difficult task for many companies because of the lack of visibility. However, there are ways that you can get your company’s name out there in order to increase business. There are also some other challenges that come with local marketing, such as not enough information due to limited resources or time constraints. You might have heard some of these things before but they bear repeating.
I will go over ways to reach prospective customers for your relevant local businesses. Having a local business listing will help you reach local consumers and allow you to spend less time on local marketing.
You Need More Than Just Advertising
Many companies begin by purchasing Google AdWords or Facebook Ads without considering how it fits into their larger local marketing campaign. These types of ads are powerful tools but if you don’t have a consistent local marketing presence, you’ll just be wasting money.
Search engines and social media platforms don’t give your ads much time before they get buried, so if you’re not there to capitalize on the traffic right away, you will lose out. You must have a plan for what are you are going to do when the phone rings. If someone calls because your ad led them to believe that you offer something they’re looking for, what are you going to say?
The most effective marketing campaigns build customer loyalty by portraying their company as an expert in their chosen field. These companies make a name for themselves by creating a consistent presence in their local community, offering a product or service that is so good it doesn’t require advertising.
In the age of digital marketing, your company should have an online presence. In order to get new customers, you need to have a plan. If you can’t be everywhere, at least tell people where they can find you by using a variety of marketing tools.
Before choosing a web marketing tool, make sure it’s going to help your company convey the right message. A website is your best shot at making a good impression on potential customers and if you don’t have one, you’ll miss out on a lot of business. With so many digital marketing tools and strategies available, there’s no reason for your company to be missing out.
You Don't Have Limitless Funds
Another big problem with Local Marketing is that you can’t spend your way to success. You need to make sure that you are using resources to your benefit, not squandering them because you don’t know what else to do. It’s also important for management to get on board with quality marketing rather than quick fixes like AdWords or other ads that might be seen as wasted money if no one is on the other end to see it.
A great way to think about Local Marketing is as a pyramid. At the bottom, you have massive amounts of people, and at each level, there are fewer and fewer until you reach those that will be interested in your product or service. You can’t go straight for those at the top with only $5 because they don’t know who you are yet, so you need to create content that will push them down the steps until they are ready for your ad.
This is done by offering value, not just ads. You should be regularly providing information that people want or need. That could come in the form of blog posts, weekly newsletters, or even webinars that discuss industry trends. The idea is to provide information that will help people make better decisions, and in return they will see your business as one that is worth spending money on.
When you are getting started, it’s important to not be overwhelmed by trying to do everything at once. You need to focus on becoming known for something before you can branch out into other areas of Local Marketing. Think about who you are, what you believe in, and how that makes you unique compared to other businesses in your industry. Then use that as a foundation to start building your presence online.
Once your Local Marketing strategy starts working it will be easier to figure out what works best for your business. You can then test new ideas and see if they stick, but until then you need to focus on building the foundation of your marketing plan. Don’t try to be everything for everyone or it will lead to confusion and loss of money. Instead, figure out how you can be valuable information providers for those at the bottom of your steps so that you can attract the right customers for your business.
Taking it to the Next Level
The local marketing landscape is changing rapidly.
Marketing agencies have to evolve with the changes in consumer behavior and technologies. Here are some challenges, broken down into three categories: social media, digital advertising tactics, and increasing ad prices.
Social Media
Local businesses will need to adapt quickly in order to effectively use social media. This means creating a marketing plan that accounts for the ever-increasing number of social networks, which are constantly changing their algorithms, posting times, and protocols.
Most importantly, local businesses will have to learn how best to engage with customers on each platform in order to convert them into loyal followers/consumers.
Digital Advertising And Tactics
Local businesses will need to recognize that digital advertising is incredibly complex.
Today, they can choose from a wide range of ever-evolving tactics and platforms in order to best reach their customers.
These choices also mean that local business owners will need to become educated on the costs and benefits of each approach (i.e. social media, search engine marketing, pay-per-click ads, etc.) in order to best align their goals with their budgets.
Growing Ad Prices
Depending on the digital advertising tactic used, local businesses are likely to experience increased costs for paid advertisement placements within those channels.
The challenge here will be to determine what strategy you will use for paid advertising (i.e. local pay-per-click ads, search engine marketing, etc.) and how much you are willing to spend on each effort in order to successfully acquire customers at the lowest possible price point.
While some challenges are truly unavoidable, there are some that might lead to opportunities if handled the right way.
Challenge: Too much information to sift through before making a decision
Many businesses attempt to use local marketing tactics, but they turn out to have very little payoff because consumers don’t have enough information about the product or service. This means that they are not confident in making a purchase.
Possible Solution: The first possible solution to this situation is to make sure the marketing content is simple, cohesive, and targeted at one goal. A second solution would be to check the local businesses frequently throughout the year for new marketing tactics; this way consumers can get the information they want before making a purchase.
Challenge: Overwhelming customers with local marketing messages
Some businesses believe that the more billboards, advertisements, and other forms of marketing they throw at consumers, the better their business will be; however, this can overwhelm customers who are already overwhelmed by sales pitches from multiple companies. This leads to no purchase being made.
Possible Solution: The solution to this challenge would be to focus on one or two marketing tactics at a time for each business, allowing consumers to take the information in rather than be overwhelmed by it all.
Challenge: The cost of doing too much advertising
Because business owners believe that more is better for their business, they advertise in many places and at the same time. This leads to a lack of focus on each individual marketing tactic and less return for each investment made.
Possible Solution: The solution to this problem would be to take out one advertisement from every advertising source and see if there is any decline in business revenue before putting another advertisement in. This helps to focus on one marketing tactic and improve the return on investment.
Challenge: Competition overusing local marketing tactics
With the growing number of people using social media and mobile devices, there is an increase in ads trying to attract customers’ attention; this has led to a lack of impact by companies who do not use these sources.
Possible Solution: The solution to this problem would be to focus on less traditional forms of advertising, such as word-of-mouth marketing. This decimates the competition’s advertisements and leaves consumers more incentivized to remember your company than the others.
Challenge: Using old marketing tactics for new customers
Businesses often use existing methods of advertising to attract new customers because they are the most familiar, making them seem easier or cheaper to use. However, these tactics may not be appealing to the consumers that businesses are trying to target.
Possible Solution: The solution for this problem would be to try out new marketing tactics that could appeal more to each customer demographic. For example, millennial consumers might respond better to social media marketing than traditional advertising methods.
Local Marketing Strategies
Every local business needs to have a strong local marketing strategy or they will probably not make much money or stay in business for very long. Local marketing strategies are especially important for local businesses that only have local customers. Your local marketing strategies can provide customers with enough information about your business, its goods and services, and what makes your local business different from local competitors.
Develop Local SEO
A local marketing strategy should include local SEO strategies. For local businesses, local search engine optimization (SEO) is important because local customers use search engines to find local services and products.
You should also know your local customers, what they want, how to reach them, and what local keywords (with local monthly searches) these customers use when searching for goods or services like yours. You can get this information by using free tools like Google Insights for Search and Keyword Tool
Build Local Relationships
As local businesses evolve, so does the local economy.
While local marketing strategies have started to change more towards digital marketing, local marketers should still continue focusing on local events and community involvement in order to maximize exposure for their business while also building local relationships.
We can’t forget about face-to-face community events – they’re a great way to build local relationships, while also increasing brand awareness.
As community members get excited about an upcoming event, or community project, they will likely continue following your business online after the community work has been completed.
Local events enable community members to learn more about your business, feel connected to your community, and are likely to share their community work with friends and family.
The community collaboration aspect of community events is what makes them great ways to reach new audiences for local businesses.
Local community events also play a role in local SEO – getting community members involved on social media before, during, and after community events will increase the chances of community members sharing your business online.
Events like community clean-ups provide opportunities to interact with community members in real life, while also giving you a chance to make new connections and strengthen existing relationships.
You can also create community projects that are more targeted towards people who might be interested in your business.
We live in a society where local marketing is critical to success for any business. Local marketing strategies are an important part of building strong local relationships with consumers and audiences.
Create Local Content
Creating local marketing content can be tough when there are so many things to consider. You want to make sure that the information is local in focus, but not local in feel. If you limit yourself too much to local, your business will come across as small-time and unprofessional; however, if you include local information, you will lose the opportunity to appeal to a wider audience. This means that local marketing content is not easy to get exactly right.
When local search results come up in Google or another search engine, it’s likely your customers are looking for local services and products. They aren’t looking for websites based somewhere local; they want local results, local information, and local deals.
Instead, you should be considering how to market your local business in terms of local content. This can mean blogging about local trends and issues, or local events. It can also mean localizing information on your website so that the customer feels local, even if they’re looking at a local page on an international website.
When local content is what you need for local marketing success, there are some things that you can do. Create local news articles about local happenings and local information to keep your site fresh with localized content. Include local events, local tips, local news stories. Provide local information for local people who are looking for local products and services.
As well as locally-focused content, local businesses need to have a local feel across all of their marketing channels. Make sure that your website is optimized for local search so that it stands out when local customers are looking for local products and services.
Find Local Influencers to Help Promote Your Local Business
There have been a lot of local businesses lately popping up in new cities, especially with the growth of e-commerce and online stores.
One thing you want to be sure of is that local residents know your local business is there, and if they don’t yet then here’s an idea – get local influencers involved!
You can partner with local media outlets, local bloggers, and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with local people who are big on social media. If you do some research online there are local directories that let you search by area or city to find local influencers.
You could also partner with your local chamber of commerce or local libraries and local events.
It’s a great idea to check out local newspapers, magazines, and local blogs for people who might be willing to give you a review or write about your business.
You could also look for local sports teams and athletes, or offer sponsorship so your business is affiliated with them.
Don’t forget to post about it on social media and try cross-promoting! Using hashtags like #SupportLocalBusinesses can be helpful in finding new influencers who are interested in the same things as you.
Social media marketing is a great way to promote local businesses and connect with your community – as an added bonus it’s also cost-effective.
Offer Local Deals and Discounts
One of the best ways for local businesses to get people in the door is through offering deals.
Here are some things you can do to offer locals your best deal:
- Use social media, like Facebook or Instagram, to announce your current promotion. Tag locations close by so they can see what specials are available nearby.
- Create an email newsletter for potential customers with exclusive offers only available to subscribers.
- Offer discounts on specific days of the week or month when you know that traffic will be high at your store or restaurant (like weekends).
- Get creative! What kind of promotion would work well for your establishment? Think about what might appeal to your target audience and what type of discounts they might be willing to take advantage of.
Now that you know what promotions work best for local businesses, it’s time to decide on your offer.
Do you want to offer a limited-time discount? Or something more creative like a two-for-one deal?
Figure out what will work best in your area and how you can make it stand out.
Another great way to get people through the door is by offering a complimentary item with another purchase. A lot of restaurants do this by giving patrons a small dessert or appetizer when they order an entree.
When people are thinking of where to go out for dinner or grab a quick drink, they need to know about your deal! Make sure you let everyone within driving distance know about it.
Don’t be afraid to try new strategies with your marketing efforts. What works for one business might not work for another and vice versa. Get creative and see what you can offer local customers.
One of the biggest mistakes that I’ve seen with local businesses is that they aren’t reaching out to their target market effectively. You need to find a balance between attracting the people that live and work nearby and those who don’t.
You can do this by using local hashtags and incorporating them into your posts on social media, like Facebook and Instagram. This way, anyone searching for #plumber in Des Moines will see your posts.
Use Location-Based Marketing Platforms Like Foursquare, Yelp, and Facebook Places for Your Business
For any business, the goal is to get in front of as many potential customers as possible. But how do you reach people who are driving by your storefront or passing through town? By using location-based marketing platforms like Foursquare, Yelp, and Facebook Places for your business.
Location-based marketing lets you create a profile and post updates at specific locations. These tools can help you: -reach people in your neighborhood; -stay top of mind with past customers; and -find new opportunities to sell your products/services locally. Location-based services offer an easy way to get started with social media marketing! You can share photos from inside the store or promote events happening nearby. Plus, this platform gives you the opportunity to highlight why your company is different.
Location-based marketing platforms are used by small local businesses, Fortune 500 companies, and even celebrities! Customers check into specific locations to “follow” them on Foursquare. They can also recommend locations they have visited by leaving tips for other users. This social media marketing platform is a great way to encourage people to check out your storefront.
Here are some ideas for getting started with location-based social media marketing:
- Check-in at your business on Foursquare and offer special deals/discounts;
- Use Facebook Places to make recommendations based on customer likes or recent purchases;
- Think about creating a relevant hashtag for your business and monitor social media to find people talking about your storefront;
- Take photos of customers inside the store/restaurant and share on Instagram!
In Conclusion
The most important thing to remember when marketing locally is that you don’t have limitless funds. You need to consider how much time and money you’re willing to spend on each effort in order to successfully acquire customers at the lowest possible price point. Whether it’s a digital product or service being sold online or a brick-and-mortar location, these principles will work for you in driving more visitors into your local marketing funnel and converting casual visits into sales.
If your company needs help with local marketing and gaining a better understanding on how to get more clients then get in touch with us today, we would love to help.
