8 Marketing Strategies That Every Local Business Owner Should Know
A good marketing effort will be put to waste if it doesn’t reach its intended audience. Local marketing is all about targeting the audience within your area or region, the people who are most likely to go to your establishment and actually make a purchase. If you’re running a local business, you know how difficult it can be to create a good marketing plan. Finding the best way to market your business can also be challenging.
While word of mouth is still a powerful and effective means to let more potential customers know about your business, it’s not the only way to get your business out there and be seen.
Marketing Strategies for Local Business Owners
1. Build a user-friendly website
As a business owner, one of your top priorities should be building a user-friendly website. This means your website should load quickly, be easy to read and navigate, and look professional, as it’s an extension of you and your brand.
2. Make use of social media
Social media marketing is also an important component that local business owners should consider. You should optimize and localize all your social media channels by providing accurate and up-to-date business information. You can also use social media to promote your brand and connect with your local audience. Not working on your social media may run you the risk of losing customers.
3. List your business on maps and voice search platforms
Claiming map listings is an easy way to make your brand more visible. By claiming your listings on map platforms, such as Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, and more, you’re making it easier for potential customers to find and get in touch with you. It’s also a crucial step in getting your business known in a local setting, as you’re providing your customers with relevant and updated business information. This includes your business name, phone number, address, directions, store hours, reviews, photos, and more.
Moreover, if you list your business on voice search platforms, such as Alexa and Siri, you’ll give your audience an even easier way to locate your business and know more about it. You can use a service, such as iMapping, to get your business information listed on all the major maps and voice search platforms. It collects your business information and syncs it to these popular apps, making you more visible to your audience.
4. Get on review sites and request reviews
Don’t hesitate to join review sites, such as Yelp, Facebook, and Google Reviews, and encourage positive reviews from your customers. Think of reviews as word-of-mouth marketing, making it a great way to establish your brand and reputation.
If you’re on these review sites, it’s important that you respond to your customer reviews, whether they’re positive or negative.
5. Establish a customer loyalty program
Establishing a loyalty program helps make your customers feel that they’re valued. It rewards them for the transactions that they make with your business. It also encourages the building of trust between you and your customers. You can offer them discounts, freebies, early access to exclusive offers or events, or rewards if they meet your spending threshold.
Moreover, a customer loyalty program comes with a lot of benefits for your business. It can get you more customer referrals and more conversions, which can lead to increased revenue for your business.
6. Do email marketing
Email marketing is a crucial marketing strategy that shouldn’t be overlooked by local business owners. By sending newsletters, product updates, and surveys through email, you keep the communication lines open with your local audience.
7. Optimize your website
Another important strategy for local business owners is to create an optimized and localized website. An optimized website means following search engine optimization (SEO) best practices. This entails doing keyword research, particularly focusing on local SEO and making your site more mobile-friendly, as mobile internet makes up about half of the web traffic worldwide. In the US alone, it accounts for 48% of online traffic.
8. Get involved with the community, or educate your consumers with a blog
One of the best and most organic ways to raise awareness about your business is to engage with your local community. It’s relatively easy and cost-effective. Plus, it lets you meet a lot of people from your community with whom you can establish relationships. Engage with your community by participating in local events, such as festivals or contests, where you could opt to become a sponsor. You can volunteer at your local charity or shelter too.
Meanwhile, you can also start a blog, which you can use to educate your consumers. By blogging, you can let the locals know the best places to eat or the best locations to go to if they’re planning a quick vacation within your region.