Becoming a globally recognized entity may not be your goal as a small business owner. Starting a company does not inherently mean aiming for constant expansion and development in another environmental sphere. In fact, keeping things home-grown can be incredibly beneficial for community-minded individuals like you.
Local marketing can be a practical way to reach potential customers in your immediate vicinity. Ensuring your brand is search-engine optimized with area-specific keywords can tie your brand to a prime location, allowing customers to easily discover your product line, address, opening hours, and more.
So, what else does local marketing bring to the table?
Let’s take a deeper look below.
What Is Local Marketing?
Unlike other forms of outreach targeting broader audiences, local marketing is designed to attract a localized demographic. This approach generally encompasses patrons within a “walkable” or reasonable driving distance from a physical business site.
Local marketing is ideal for smaller businesses that primarily rely on revenue from in-person sales, such as landscapers, handymen, restaurants, or farmers markets. Because most of these establishments cannot realistically sell their products or services online, garnering community support via planned events, localized landing pages, or Google reviews can provide much-needed traction.
What Are the Benefits?
A local marketing strategy helps businesses plant their roots and flourish in their chosen neighborhoods. For example, instead of using general industry-related keywords on social media (e.g., #gardensupplystore, #cannabisdistributor, etc.), opting for localized hashtags (e.g., #clevelandlandscaping, #eriekayakrentals, etc.) can extend influence into communities that matter most!
Better yet, gaining trust and reliability within your community can establish customer loyalty, turning many into avid ambassadors for your brand. In turn, you achieve opportunities for localized recognition, easy market penetration, and an enhanced customer service approach.
Check out these advantages of local marketing:
- Expanded reach: Rather than dishing out content to a massive state or country-wide circle, keep outreach simple with local marketing. Community-based social media posts, paid ads, and online promotional incentives allow you to share your business profile with more potential customers in a targeted region.
- Higher search engine rankings: Incorporating the right keywords into your website, blog, and other online media can boost your ranking among localized search results.
- Improved customer service: Data gathered from local marketing can provide insight into your specific customer base, including mutual challenges, preferences, values, and buying behavior. This information can help you tailor your customer service methods to better suit their needs.
- Creating brand loyalty: Creating a community-oriented and welcoming brand personality through local marketing fosters a deeper business-customer relationship. Those who feel more connected with your mission will want to share their experience with friends and family, too–further boosting your reach.
- Lower marketing expenses: Digit marketing is generally less expensive than traditional advertising methods, such as billboard rentals, TV commercials, printed fliers/magazines, or sponsored banners. Plus, you can repurpose content for multiple uses and channels!
9 Strategies for Perfecting Your Local Marketing Game
Your local audience holds a special place in your heart–they co-exist alongside you in the community and help your business blossom. Without them, sustaining operations would certainly prove challenging, especially in rural areas where external outreach opportunities are scarce.
How then can you ensure these meaningful figures have access to your business and feel comfortable, welcome, and supported when involved?
Being active is key when tackling local marketing. Envelope yourself in the neighborhood by hosting promotional events to meet patrons, network with nearby businesses, or introduce new products. Remember to check your Google reviews regularly and respond to comments (both positive and negative!). Oh, and don’t forget the importance of SEO and website optimization!
Curious to learn more? Here are our nine tips for mastering local marketing.
1. Create a Google Business Profile
A perfect starting point for local marketing is claiming your business on Google. Your Google Business Profile will house all the information about your location, hours, directions, phone numbers, and email addresses. Customers then have access to this data anytime they search specifically for your brand or area-specific services (e.g., Phoenix, AZ greenhouse manufacturers).
2. Make Sure Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly
Make sure your website translates seamlessly to mobile devices. Most site hosts like WordPress offer a “mobile view” so you can see exactly how design elements transfer across systems.
Look for any weird spacing, enlarged headings, small text, or other easily overlooked details. Double-check that buttons and forms work correctly and users can navigate through tabs without difficulty. Because most organic traffic comes from mobile devices, optimizing your website is critical for drawing in potential customers and verifying your business.
3. Keep Your Website Local
Localize your website! Update meta descriptions and title tags to reflect relevant keywords related to your community and industry. Create location-specific tabs for different storefronts/work zones to provide customers with accurate contact information, addresses, and the like.
Use your SEO-savvy noggin to strategically place content that appeals to your audience and Google. For example, use phrases like Best Water Rafting in Colorado over ones like Water Raft Rentals. Simple changes like this ensure the right audience finds you!
4. Take an Engaged Role in Your Community
Why do you suppose outbound marketing efforts like door-to-door sales have withstood technological developments, industry shifts, and fluctuating economies? The answer is simple–engagement shows real investment in your community.
Local marketing can be as simple as increasing physical visibility. Spend time getting to know adjacent business owners or those who share your industry passion. Attend local meetings or pursue volunteer opportunities to promote your brand and connect with customers. No matter how you show up for others, stay positive and take every chance to develop brand loyalty.
5. Set Up Local Social Media Accounts
Social media offers another avenue for audience expansion and engagement. As with your website, keep things local and applicable to your niche market.
Remember our advice for effective local marketing through social media:
- Don’t shy from responding to feedback, comments, likes, or private messages
- Only use relevant hashtags
- Tag your location in posts
- Connect with/follow similar businesses in your area
- Set a posting schedule
- Find out the best platform for outreach based on customer analytics
- List your contact information and location across all platforms
- Add your website to your bio/info tab
- Examine competitors’ social media strategies
- Readjust your own strategy to fit customer needs
6. Don’t Forget About Print Material
Akin to physical engagement, tangible and distributable content allows you to show face in your community and draw up brand awareness. If within budget, consider compiling your best-performing blog posts, customer testimonials, or “How-To” guides into a magazine to place at local organizations (when possible). You can contact USPS about starting a mail campaign, too.
Other local print materials include:
- Business cards
- Catalogs
- Postcards
- Brochures
- Posters
- Calendars
- Thank you cards
- Branded stationery
- Door hangers
- Newsletters
7. Host Local Events
Whether you just cut the red ribbon or have been open for years, set a date for an exciting meet-and-greet. You could host at your physical site or even rent out a venue for larger crowds!
If you have branded materials available, setting up a table with free merchandise is a great way to become a household figure (literally!). Consider bringing samples of different products or printed media we covered earlier. You can also promote a Q&A or feedback session as the primary event.
In any case, create a welcoming environment where current and prospective customers can chat openly with you and each other about the community, your business, and future developments.
8. Honor Customer Loyalty
All the well-known corporations have customer loyalty programs. Why? Because everyone loves a good deal!
Honor sustained support with special promotional sales, discounts, or points system. These kind gestures show customers they are appreciated, valued, and deserving of recognition.
On a different note, you can leverage data gathered from loyalty programs to assess promotional campaigns for success. For example, perhaps your audience primarily prefers 20% off their whole purchase rather than one free item after spending X amount. Use this insight to finetune your strategy moving forward.
9. Ask for Customer Feedback
Encouraging customers to leave positive feedback on your Google business profile, Yelp page, or Facebook may be one of the top local marketing strategies.
A lot of people look for customer reviews before making a purchase. Your trustworthiness, visibility, and credibility significantly increase the more happy patrons rave about you online. Over time, these traits can separate you from the crowd and position you as a local expert.
Enhance Your Brand With Local Marketing
Community has always been a foundational element of human connection and genuineness. On that note, how you present yourself as a brand should resemble how you would show up with family and friends. Local marketing helps attract nearby customers looking for your expertise, thus offering you ample opportunities to cultivate an authentic presence in your area.