businessbusiness growthMarketingProcess Improvementsmall-businessLocal Marketing Strategies for Success

Local Marketing Strategies for Success

 

 

For many businesses, their marketing efforts need to reach a local audience. Here are some local marketing strategies for small businesses.

What is local marketing?

 

Local marketing aims to reach people who live in the same town or area as your company. It is targeted at people who could potentially buy your product or service at any time and are within a specified distance of your physical location, usually based on a reasonable driving distance.

For instance, generating website traffic from Sacramento, California, won’t help you much if you own a restaurant in Red Bank, New Jersey. Instead, you should use local marketing strategies to make sure that the bulk of your target market is actually nearby enough to drive to your restaurant or place an order for delivery.

“The biggest approach people should be taking is really understanding who they’re trying to sell to … what benefit people can get from the product or service, and then relay that information upfront,” said Travis McKnight, senior content strategist at Portent Inc.

That holds true for all forms of marketing, but it is particularly true for local marketing strategies, he continued. The location of your company is one of the crucial details you should convey to your audience.

Utilizing your marketing and advertising money more effectively is the aim of a local marketing plan. All sizes of organizations can benefit from using digital marketing. However, if you run a local firm and are unable to connect with a local clientele, all of your marketing expenditures will be for nothing. Not all traffic is created equal, so using a local marketing approach makes sure you are focusing on potential customers.

What type of businesses benefit from local marketing?

 

Local marketing is beneficial for many businesses, but it is essential for certain kinds of enterprises as well. Restaurants are a good example because they are real places where customers may eat in, take out, or have food delivered. A restaurant is anchored to its physical location by its very nature.

A retail store is another excellent demonstration of a company that requires local store marketing. Today, even small retail businesses frequently have online stores, yet local marketing can boost customer foot traffic and local brand awareness. This is crucial for small, independent retailers who compete with national chains.

Similar to this, local marketing tactics should be used by professional services like law firms and accounting firms. While targeting a regional audience may be more suited for certain services, it is essential for professional advisors to establish relationships with a mostly local clientele. There are some major exceptions to this rule, including digital marketing firms, which frequently conduct their whole business online. However, nothing compares to a face-to-face consultation.

While many businesses require a local marketing strategy, other business types should also think about using local marketing. You can still profit from reaching a larger audience in the town or area where your company is headquartered even if a local approach isn’t your top goal.

 

11 local marketing strategies you can start today

 

You can start implementing some simple strategies for local marketing right away. Here are a few quick and easy suggestions to boost local marketing for your company.

 

1. Optimize your website (and localize it)

 

The secret to increasing traffic is website optimization, but is your website also optimized for consumers in your area? In addition to adhering to basic practices for search engine optimization (SEO), such as using keyword research to inform your website content, you need also make sure that your website provides a superior mobile experience.

Mobile devices account for more than half of website traffic. You’ll have an easier time recruiting local business if your website is neat and well-organized, with large text to read on a small screen and large buttons to simply click.

Your website should be localized in addition to these suggestions, which are essential for any digital marketing strategy. Consequently, you should choose your keywords and key phrases based on local SEO. To do this, consider what the local market is searching for on Google. As a general rule, mention your community or adjacent communities regularly. Consider including terms on your website like “serving the tri-state area” if you’re aiming to reach a local audience.

By using free keyword research tools like Google Analytics, Google Trends, and Google Search Console to determine precisely which local terms you should use, you may further enhance your understanding of local SEO. The more you prepare your website for local search, the more probable it is that local users will find it.

 

2. Update title tags and meta descriptions.

 

If your website’s title tags and information are current, it is another SEO factor to consider.

Although there are a few distinct types of information, most people only need to be concerned about the meta description and title tag.

On the search engine results page, the title tag is the 60 characters that users view (SERP). The ideal title tag should be less than 60 characters long and related to your brand and locality.

Although the meta description is less likely to affect search results, it can increase click-through rates by letting consumers know exactly what kind of material is likely to be on the page.

According to data, a good meta description can increase click-through rates. On the other hand, putting a phone number in the meta description is vital for a company like a restaurant that wants customers to contact. Always keep meta descriptions at 160 characters or less.

The web hosting platform’s administrator tools let you change the meta description and title tag. WordPress has a simple-to-use SEO tool, which is ideal for many small business owners.

 

3. Set up local landing pages for all your business locations.

 

If your company has many locations, you should make a page specifically for each one on your website to aid in localization.

Companies that have numerous locations frequently don’t have web pages on their websites that provide details about those locations. These pages ought to list each location, transportation information, and store hours.

These pages ought to contain detailed information about your company. For instance, a Nashville, Tennessee-based real estate agent shouldn’t just mention on their website that they are a “real estate agent.” Instead, adding the keyword phrase “top real estate agent in Nashville” informs search engines about the agent’s location and aids in serving local search results to users in the area.

These pages should contain detailed information about your company. For instance, a Nashville, Tennessee-based real estate agent shouldn’t just mention on their website that they are a “real estate agent.” Instead, adding the keyword phrase “top real estate agent in Nashville” informs search engines about the agent’s location and aids in serving local search results to users in the area. It also takes into account how customers look for real estate brokers; they don’t simply want anyone; they want the “best” or “leading” brokers.

 

4. Claim your Google My Business listing.

 

Claiming your Google My Business listing is one of the simplest and most effective local marketing methods you can start using right away. Search engine users can access information from Google My Business immediately on the SERP, including your location, store hours, directions, contact details, and more.

Claim your Google My Business knowledge panel and make sure it is updated. During COVID-19, make sure it clearly describes any limits, such as takeout or delivery only, and appropriately reflects the current store hours.

Additionally, you ought to claim your local listings on other unofficial websites like Yelp. The more locations where users can locate your company (along with location data), the more successful your local marketing campaign will be.

 

5. Optimize social media pages.

 

In terms of local web marketing, social media marketing is really crucial. Your social media pages should be optimized and localized, much like your website. This entails giving current information, such as your company’s address, phone number, and store hours. Additionally, it entails keeping a lively social media presence. Social media posts can be scheduled using applications like Hootsuite.

From the standpoint of a small business, social media is mostly used to share information about sales, grand openings, or other special events.

 

6. Encourage positive user reviews and engage online.

 

Encourage your pleased clients to recommend you online on sites like Google Reviews, Facebook, Yelp, and other places. You may even offer them discounts or promotions, like a raffle or giveaway, to entice them to submit favorable evaluations.

Additionally, you ought to take the time to respond to the web reviews that your clients leave. Always be real and refrain from using canned responses.

Whether it’s a positive or bad evaluation, reply to people in general with authenticity, humility, and honesty. Set up an hour per week to read through, reply, and make sure it’s not just a boilerplate response. That turns them off and makes them think they aren’t being listened to.

 

7. Host or sponsor local community events.

 

While digital marketing is great, creating a physical connection between your audience and your company is invaluable. Whenever it’s feasible, think about producing or supporting a neighborhood event to raise your brand’s presence there. This is also a terrific method to get local news coverage, which increases the likelihood that a local audience will find you online.

8. Utilize localized email marketing.

 

Among many of the marketing tactics at your disposal, email marketing strategies have some of the lowest prices. The majority of the expense is related to gathering useful email addresses. Although there is nothing in an email address that can tell you where a person is situated, you may start employing email-gathering strategies to filter users based on location. The simplest method is to put a sign-up sheet in your shop, ideally by the register, or at booths or events you sponsor, so interested customers can see it and sign up to receive news and offers from you.

 

9. Try a direct mail campaign.

 

Contrary to popular belief, reaching customers using direct mail is far less expensive. By forgoing mailing lists and expert targeting, you can recoup your stamp expenditure. By looking at neighborhoods where the demographics of your target audience are present, you can usually target prime demographics.

 

10. Partner with other local businesses.

 

Collaboration with other companies can be an effective strategy. These partnerships increase the overall reach of both businesses. Finding companies with comparable beliefs and objectives (and who don’t immediately compete with your firm) is the key to making this work.

You and your corporate partners could, for instance, co-sponsor events. You can work together with your SEO content to create a situation where everyone wins. If these strategies are applied, every outreach effort you make will be magnified by the efforts of your company partners. You can link to each other as well.

11. Localize paid ads.

 

Ads can be filtered by location and IP by advertising groups. Local users can be the focus of ads, and Google, Facebook, and other online advertisers make use of this functionality.

Localized paid advertisements continue to be helpful outside of internet advertising. Some of the finest ways to market your brand to local customers are local sponsorships, local newspapers, radio ads, coupon books, and movie theaters.

 

Think globally, advertise locally

There are many things you can do for your business at little or no expense when it comes to optimizing your digital properties for a local audience.

The best places to start are by creating an optimized and localized website, treating your social network accounts similarly, and claiming your Google My Business listing. After that, spend some time interacting with your local audience both online and offline. To improve your visibility and establish a closer connection between your company and your audience, respond to reviews and plan neighborhood events.

These strategies are simple, inexpensive, and useful whether you run a company that is reliant on local interaction, or you just want to boost your local marketing.

By putting these local marketing methods into practice right away, you may see what kind of an impact your company can make in your neighborhood.