In today’s competitive market, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for businesses to stand out and attract customers. With the rise of local marketing or e-commerce and online shopping, many small local businesses have been struggling to drive foot traffic to their physical storefronts.
However, with the right strategies, it is possible to bring more customers to your doorstep and increase your sales.
In this article, we will be discussing 13 proven local marketing strategies that can help your business thrive.
These strategies have been implemented by successful businesses and have shown tangible results. From utilizing social media to hosting community events, there are various ways to reach and engage with potential customers in your local area.
We will also provide tips and insights on how to tailor these strategies to your specific business and target audience. By incorporating these techniques into your marketing plan, you can effectively drive more customers to your doorstep and ultimately boost your bottom line.
So, let’s dive in and explore the 13 local marketing strategies that actually work.
A Valuable Pool
One can tap into a valuable pool of potential customers by leveraging both online and offline marketing methods within the local community.
In order to establish your brand as a trusted authority and attract a larger customer base, it is imperative to craft effective local marketing strategies.
Irrespective of whether you are commencing a new venture or already possess an established business, a well-defined digital marketing strategy is essential.
When it comes to marketing a local business, digital and social media platforms hold immense significance. Google’s research reveals that a staggering “83% of U.S. shoppers who visited a store in the last week say they used online search before going into a store.”
Within this context, we will delve into various online marketing tactics and strategies that have proven highly successful in capturing the attention of the local audience.
Great Local Marketing Strategies For This Year
1. Optimize For Local Search
Google Business Profile (GBP) offers businesses the opportunity to instantly appear in search results when someone searches for their business or relevant keywords on Google. The best part is that it is completely free of charge.
The search results presented through GBP focus on businesses located near the person conducting the search, and even display your business on Google Maps for added visibility.
To get started, simply create a profile by providing your company name, contact details, industry, and other relevant information. Once your GBP listing is created, it is important to verify it to ensure its credibility.
Upon verification, you can enhance your profile by adding captivating images and a compelling bio. Additionally, you have the ability to upload blogs, create enticing offers, communicate with customers through messages, gather customer reviews, and analyze important metrics.
Advantages of Using GBP
One of the advantages of using GBP is its user-friendly interface, making it easy to update your profile with the latest information, ensuring that customers always have access to relevant details about your business.
To further optimize your online presence, consider implementing a robust local link-building strategy. Utilizing citation sources like Yellowpages.com can provide Google with accurate information regarding your company’s location.
Furthermore, GBP offers a fantastic feature that allows you to set the radius for your services, enabling you to target a specific area, such as a 10km radius.
Consistently adding fresh content or blog posts to your GBP account is crucial. Since each post expires after seven days, it is recommended to schedule a new post at least once a week. This regular activity is essential because GBP posts have the potential to drive traffic and increase engagement.
Provides a Platform to Promote
Additionally, GBP provides a platform to promote any upcoming sales or events related to your business, maximizing its visibility and attracting potential customers.
If you are concerned about remembering to upload a blog post each week, there are helpful content scheduling apps and tools available, such as Semrush and Hootsuite, which can assist you in managing your content effectively.
When it comes to achieving high visibility in specific local areas, the choice of GBP is undoubtedly an obvious and straightforward decision.
2. Local Reviews From Local Customers
When it comes to browsing online, one of the first things that cautious users take note of is the online reviews on the GBP listing. These reviews hold immense value, as they can instill trust in local customers towards your business.
Establishing trust goes a long way in guiding customers through the sales funnel, ultimately leading to conversions or purchases.
Now, the question arises – how can you acquire these coveted reviews? While I do not endorse directly soliciting reviews from your existing customers or resorting to paid reviews, there are subtler methods to gently remind customers to share their positive experiences.
But what if you encounter negative reviews? Fear not, for they can serve as an opportunity to gather valuable customer insights. Not only will you receive feedback on how to enhance your products or improve the overall customer experience, but you can also leverage this chance to transform a negative review into a positive one.
By reaching out to the customer and rectifying their poor experience, product, or service, you have the power to turn the tables and create a positive outcome.
3. SEO Optimize Your Website
The next step in expanding your brand and product in the local market involves optimizing your website for organic search. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is through keyword optimization.
Initially, you may come up with some intuitive ideas for keywords, but eventually, you will exhaust these and need to conduct thorough keyword research. Short-tail keywords, which are more general, are highly competitive, and it is likely that businesses with longer-established online presence already rank for them.
Focus on Long-Tail Keywords
Instead, it is advisable to focus on long-tail keywords that are specific to your geographic location. These keywords are advantageous because people who use them usually have a clear idea of what they want and are more inclined to engage with your website.
If, for example, you run a digital marketing company that specializes in B2B marketing services for businesses in a particular area, it would be ineffective to solely optimize your website for generic terms such as “marketing” or “digital marketing.” These keywords are already saturated.
Creating Pages or Blog posts
Instead, consider creating pages or blog posts that are location-based, cater to a specific niche, and incorporate long-tail keywords. For instance, you could create a page titled “Digital Marketing for B2B Companies in California” or “How B2B Companies in California Can Leverage Digital Marketing.”
By implementing this strategy, search engine results pages (SERPs) will display your website for users who search for terms like “digital marketing companies near me.”
4. Create Localized Content
Effective content marketing plays a significant role in attracting a specific audience, making it a key aspect of inbound marketing. Our research has revealed that the more valuable, relevant, and consistent your content is, the higher the level of engagement you can expect from your target audience. But where do you begin?
Start by creating content that addresses and solves the pain points of your customers. Focus on producing evergreen content that remains relevant and useful over time.
It’s important to note that there are no shortcuts when it comes to creating quality content. Conduct thorough research, write with your audience in mind, and rest assured that search engine algorithms, such as Google bots, will also appreciate your efforts.
Perform Exceptionally Well
We have discovered that certain types of content tend to perform exceptionally well. “How-to” blogs, whitepapers, ebooks, infographics, videos, and long-form blogs, consisting of more than 900 words, have proven to be highly effective.
By crafting content in these formats, you increase the likelihood of your website being discovered by potential customers seeking solutions to their problems.
Consider this scenario: When a user searches for a specific long-tail keyword, such as “best flowers for weddings,” Google displays relevant advertisements and organic search results. Additionally, it presents “People also ask” (PAA) questions, such as “What is the average cost of flowers for a wedding?” These questions can serve as a valuable guide for generating fresh content ideas.
Position your Brand as an Authoritative Figure
By creating SEO-rich content that provides substantial value, you not only attract new visitors to your website but also position your brand as an authoritative figure in your field. This approach yields superior results for your business, especially when integrated into your local online marketing strategy.
In conclusion, incorporating content marketing into your overall marketing strategy is crucial for achieving success. By investing time and effort into creating informative, high-quality content, you can effectively engage your target audience, enhance brand authority, and ultimately drive better results for your business.
5. Review Your Website’s Design
The visual aesthetics and overall impression of your website hold equal significance alongside the textual content that helps you gain visibility on search engines.
While keywords play a crucial role in attracting visitors to your site, it is the design and user experience (UX) that ultimately determine whether they stay or leave.
Incorporating images and videos that relate to your location, neighborhood, and business helps establish a distinctive connection to your localized entity.
Furthermore, the internet is constantly evolving to cater to the ever-changing needs of consumers.
Therefore, if your website was cutting-edge in design when you first launched it five years ago, it may no longer meet current standards.
Perhaps it is time to consider a redesign.
Above all, prioritizing the user’s experience is paramount.
Your website should be user-friendly, easy to navigate, and effortlessly comprehensible.
6. Integrate CRM Tool
CRM solutions play a crucial role in enhancing our understanding of our customer loyalty. By integrating with modern websites, CRMs offer a seamless way to gather prospect data. To accomplish this, one effective strategy is to incorporate a pop-up on your website.
This pop-up can serve multiple purposes, such as inviting visitors to subscribe to your newsletter, providing access to limited promotions, or announcing new product launches.
When your website and CRM are connected, lead generation landing pages can automatically update your CRM, regardless of whether you use HubSpot or Salesforce. This not only helps to fill your pipeline with potential customers but also enriches your first-party data.
Consequently, your marketing messaging becomes more refined and targeted, improving its effectiveness.
Furthermore, CRMs enable you to launch localized campaigns. By appropriately capturing data in your CRM, you can easily identify and segment customers and prospects based on their geographic location.
This capability allows for personalized invitations to in-person events and activations, as well as area-specific email campaigns.
It is crucial to emphasize that the quality of the data captured directly impacts the quality of the output you receive. Therefore, investing in accurate and comprehensive data collection will yield more effective results.
By leveraging the power of CRM solutions, you can enhance your understanding of customers and prospects, leading to more personalized and successful marketing initiatives.
7. Attract Local Visitors Through Google Ads
Effective advertising is essential for generating sales. Google Ads is a highly valuable tool for achieving this goal.
While SEO is beneficial for local organic search results, incorporating Google Ads and other paid media channels is crucial for successful lead generation and brand awareness campaigns.
Google Ads operates on a keyword-driven, pay-per-click model, allowing you to specifically target audiences based on keywords and location, among other factors.
By creating compelling copy and solution-oriented content, you can effectively capture your local market until your SEO efforts gain traction.
When setting up your Google Ads, it is important to implement conversion tracking. This feature enables you to optimize your campaigns and adjust towards achieving optimal business success.
Furthermore, conversion tracking aligns marketing tactics with sales objectives, ultimately contributing to overall business growth.
To illustrate this, consider a health and fitness gym that we work with. Through Google Ads, we exclusively target individuals within a 10 km radius of their seven gym locations.
This strategic approach ensures maximum return on investment (ROI) for the money invested in advertising.
8. Feed The Funnel With Remarketing
Remarketing serves as a crucial component in your arsenal of localized digital marketing strategies.
This approach proves highly effective in cases where your SEO efforts or Google ads may have fallen short initially, or when potential customers are still in the consideration phase of their buyer journey.
When analyzing how to enhance your local marketing tactics, remarketing complements other geolocation-specific methods.
For instance, if your geolocation-limited Google Ads campaign or demographics-oriented paid social campaign directs traffic to your website, remarketing ensures continued engagement with these visitors even after they have left your site.
Ultimately, remarketing drives higher conversions, boosts brand awareness, and helps you maintain a prominent presence in the minds of potential customers.
9. Get The Phone Going With Google Call-Only Ads
If your business heavily relies on phone calls for generating sales, Google call-only ads can be an indispensable and highly suitable tool for localized marketing strategies. This is due to the fact that, similar to other Google products, you have the ability to target a specific demographic in your call-only advertisements.
Furthermore, call-only ads offer a great advantage if you do not possess dedicated landing pages. This is particularly beneficial if your product or service does not necessitate a landing page, as a direct phone call tends to yield better results.
However, it is important to note that one drawback of local online marketing is the potential of not receiving all qualified calls.
10. Insist On CRO-Optimized Landing Pages For Each Campaign
Contrary to popular belief, it is important to differentiate between your home page and your landing page.
While your home page serves as the central hub of your website, providing a comprehensive overview of your offerings and various exit points to other pages, it cannot be solely relied upon to drive conversions.
On the other hand, a landing page serves a specific purpose: to maximize conversions.
Especially when investing in an advertising campaign, it becomes crucial to make every click count. For this reason, it is essential to create a landing page tailored specifically to that campaign, strategically designed with lead generation in mind.
The established and reliable structure consists of the following elements:
- Compelling text that addresses a particular problem and offers a solution.
- A visually captivating image that elicits an emotional response.
- A call-to-action positioned prominently at the top of the page.
- Below the visible section, you may include indicators of trust, testimonials, advantages, and other relevant information.
- The footer can reinforce the call-to-action.
This brings us to the end of the page.
There are no buttons or links provided here that redirect you elsewhere.
You won’t need to click anything to view more content. The only available action on this page is to proceed with the desired action, such as “Buy now” or “Submit”.
Make sure to repeat this process for every campaign.
11. Leverage Social Media
Utilizing social media platforms can significantly contribute to enhancing the recognition and involvement of local brands.
One of the key benefits is the presence of community groups, which often gather your desired customer base in one convenient location.
It is crucial to actively engage in social media channels that cater to your specific target audience preferences. This may necessitate exploring platforms like TikTok and Instagram for Generation Z and Millennials, whereas Facebook tends to be more effective for Generation X and Baby Boomers.
For B2B targeting, LinkedIn offers an ideal platform.
In order to maximize the impact, it is recommended to share original and engaging content such as status updates, photos, and videos. Alternatively, running ad campaigns can also be a fruitful strategy.
Similar to Google Ads, most social media platforms provide the option to geo-target campaigns. This feature proves invaluable for localized marketing efforts. For instance, if you have a physical store, you can focus your social media ads on reaching individuals within a 10km radius of your location.
These capabilities enable the implementation of highly localized and precisely targeted marketing tactics.
12. Video Tells Your Homegrown Story
The preference for video has significantly increased among consumers, surpassing all other visual mediums. Remarkably, video plays a crucial role in approximately 95% of enterprise B2B conversions.
To effectively engage with your audience, it is essential to personalize and localize your video content. Direct your videos towards addressing the specific pain points that your customers are experiencing, and highlight how your solutions can alleviate their challenges.
Expanding your video assets beyond advertisements can be highly beneficial. Utilize testimonials and instructional videos that can be embedded on your website or shared on platforms like YouTube.
However, the key to making impactful videos lies in storytelling. Ensure that your videos tell a compelling narrative, where your customer is portrayed as the hero and you play the role of the guiding mentor who assists them in achieving success.
13. Offline Activations And Events
One effective strategy to enhance local marketing involves offline activations and events. These activities, when combined with online endeavors like email campaigns, advertisements, and social media, can yield remarkable outcomes.
By leveraging your physical proximity to local customers, you can take advantage of various tactics to strengthen your brand presence. Loyalty cards, charity sponsorships, referral programs, networking breakfasts, and community-focused events are among the options worth considering.
Implementing such initiatives not only adds significant weight to your brand but also facilitates meaningful connections with your target audience at a local level.
In Conclusion
There are numerous effective strategies to increase your local online presence and ensure that your target audience discovers your products and services. One crucial step is to activate and remain active on your Google Business Profile.
Additionally, it is essential to regularly update and enhance your website, making it user-friendly and engaging. By consistently adding valuable content through blog posts, you can keep your audience interested and informed.
Utilizing social media platforms, it is essential to identify and join relevant communities where your target audience is present. Furthermore, consider creating targeted advertisements on Google and social media platforms to precisely reach your desired audience.
In order to connect with your local target audience in real life, organizing events and activities that they can actively participate in can prove highly beneficial.
All of these strategies contribute to reinforcing your brand and establishing a strong presence in the local market. Lastly, always prioritize your customer by positioning them as the hero, showcasing how your products or services effectively address their pain points right where they are.
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