If you’ve recently started a business, then you’re already on the way to greatness! But you’re not done yet. You need to refine your marketing strategy in order to see long-term success. Small businesses depend on a steady flow of loyal customers in order to maintain healthy growth.
Local marketing is getting more customers from your community through different tactics. By reading this blog post, you’ll learn about different ways to get attention for your local business through clever local marketing strategies.
From understanding your target audience to perfecting your advertising strategy, you’re going to learn the ins and outs of local marketing for new businesses.
Whether you’re a small retail store, a service-based business, or a restaurant, these local marketing tips will help you leave a lasting impact on the community.
1. Do Local Marketing Research
Research serves as the foundation of any marketing strategy. Let’s explore your target audience, trends, and competition.
Understand Your Target Audience
To effectively market your business, you need to understand who you’re marketing to. Your target audience is the group of people who you will be targeting with your marketing efforts.
You should define your ideal customer. Identify their race, age, marital status, family, gender, income level, and more. Identifying your perfect customer will help you know the type of person you want to sell to. This gives you an idea of what this person wants from a business and how your business can provide it to them.
You should also be aware of their interests, values, and lifestyle.
If you’ve been in business for a while, then you likely already have some customers that you can look into for some useful insight. Talk to them and pay attention to everything they say. They could give you a lot of great information about who they are, and in turn, who your customers are.
If you don’t have too many customers, then turn to the internet for help. If you’re targeting suburban moms, then join some Facebook groups for moms. Pay attention to the posts you’re seeing and how it reflects your audience.
Learn About the Local Market
To understand your local market, you need to conduct research on it. Here’s what you should focus on: Trends: Stay up to date with the latest trends and shifts in your community. Maybe you’re noticing a bigger craving for certain foods in the area. You could capitalize on that. Or the weather is pushing for a certain type of clothes. Staying ahead of the trends could help you cash in on them.
News: Like trends, staying updated with the news could be beneficial for your business. If you run a security business and there’s been an uptick in retail robberies, then you could use that to market your services.
Competitors: Identify your local competitors and analyze their strengths, weaknesses, and marketing strategies. What makes you stand apart from the rest of the competition? Maybe it’s your attentiveness to customer service or the quality of your product. Whatever it is, make sure it’s known! Just be sure to not bring anybody else down. People don’t like bullies, especially in close communities. By spending time and effort on research, you’ll be able to understand your community and know how your business can serve them. This foundation will enable you to execute targeted, impactful marketing that resonates with your ideal customers and set your business up for success.
2. Build an Optimized Website for Your New Business
In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is essential for any business. Even for those with physical locations! Your website serves as your business’s first impression for many customers. Your site needs to be the online hub that engages visitors and drives sales. Let’s look into the key aspects of building a good website for your business.
A Clean Look
A website is like the digital hub for your business. It needs to look professional. Spend some time designing your website (or hire a designer) for a clean look. Your site needs to be inviting and well-presented.
A User-Friendly Design and Navigation
Your site is for more than just looks. It serves as the hub for information regarding your business. Website visitors should be able to learn all they need to know about your business. Essential information such as contact details, address, business hours, and all services/products offered should be easily accessible.
That includes making appointments if you offer them.
Your site’s menu navigation should use clear labels for each page. Make it easy for somebody who isn’t good with computers to find the information they need.
Mobile Optimization and Fast Loading Speed
People rely on their phones to get information. Most business owners forget about mobile devices when starting their business website. You must ensure that mobile users can easily navigate and use your website. Most customers will be browsing your site through their smartphones.
Your site also needs to load quickly. If your customers need to wait more than a few seconds for your website to load, then they’ll likely go to a competitor’s website instead. Use techniques like image compression, caching techniques, and minimizing scripts in order to get this done. If you don’t know what any of that means, you’re likely better off using a site builder like Wix or Squarespace. These site builders will do all of this work for you without any coding knowledge.
Have a Clear Call-to-Action
A call-to-action, or CTA, is the desired action you want site visitors to take. For example, a big button urging people to “Call Now” or “Request a Quote”. Make sure that your CTA is clear and easy to follow.
Optimize for Local SEO
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the process of optimizing your website for search engine visibility. For example, if you’re a barber shop, then you’d likely want your shop to show up as Google’s first result when somebody searches for “barber shop”.
Keywords are the search terms that people look up. In our previous instance, the keyword was “barber shop”. You want your website to show up for keywords that are relevant to your business. That’s called keyword targeting. Keyword research is identifying those relevant keywords.
Incorporate these keywords into your website page titles, URLs, and writing in order to show up on Google’s search results page for those search terms.
Since you run a local business, it’s smarter to target keywords that are exclusive to your area. Let’s say you run a Los Angeles-based barber shop. It would make sense to target “los angeles barber shop”.
If we do some keyword research, we can find that people are also looking up “boys haircuts los angeles”. This would be another keyword that we should target.
3. Google: My Business
When it comes to local marketing, using the power of Google My Business (GMB) is a must. GMB is a free and valuable tool for business owners provided by Google. This tool allows you to manage your business’s online presence in your local community. Let’s learn all about GMB and how you can make the most of it.
Claim and Verify Your Listing
Claim your business on GMB by creating an account (or logging into an existing one). Be sure to write down your password and keep it safe. This account will grant you control of the information displayed about your business on Google’s search results and Google Maps.
Google requires you to verify your listing in order to ensure that you are the real owner. Verification options include receiving a letter with a special code, a phone call, or email verification. When I started my business, I opted for the letter, but the decision is entirely up to you.
Providing the Right Information
Google allows you to provide information for customers looking into your business.
They’ll ask for your business name and category. Be certain that this information is accurate since it’s going to be what you go by online. The category must reflect your products and services for better visibility on Google’s search results.
Google also requires your contact information. It’s best to leave your business phone number and email here since this will be readily available to the general public. You should also provide your website URL and an accurate address. This address will be where your business is listed on Google Maps.
You’re also able to add a business description. Write a short and compelling description that highlights what makes your business unique. You could also include a special deal that you’re offering. Use relevant keywords here to get a better rank on the search results page.
Google will also ask for your logo and some photos. Upload a high-quality logo that reflects your brand. The images should be appealing and high-quality. A good cover photo should be of your physical location or main products. The rest of the photos could be lifestyle images of customers enjoying your products.
If you run a restaurant, then people would love to see your menu as well!
4. Be Active on Social Media
Social media is how people communicate with their local community. It serves as the digital hub of the town. Being active on social media could help you engage with your local audience, build brand awareness, drive sales, and more.
You should dedicate yourself to a few platforms. Think about your target audience and where they’re spending their time online. Are you selling to middle-aged moms? Stick to Facebook. Trying to sell to teens? Post on TikTok. Dedicate your time and resources to the platforms that make sense for your target audience.
Social media won’t do you any good if you don’t post. Share behind-the-scenes moments, customer stories, and fun experiences to humanize your brand. Engage your audience by asking for their opinions, listening to their feedback, and showing them off!
Encourage your customers to share their experiences with your business on social media. You could repost this material.
The occasional contest or giveaway could grow your following and increase engagement. Participants could share your brand with their own networks of friends and family.
It’s also a good idea to look into social media groups. Many communities have a Facebook or Instagram page that serves as a means of communication for everybody in the area. Contact whoever’s in charge of your area’s social media page to ask about promoting your business.
People love to share everything on social media. Make your customer experience worthy of posting. If you run a restaurant, put up a cute flower wall for customers to take photos in front of. If you detail cars, encourage customers to post their before and after!
5. Earn Reviews
If you have a good experience with a business, you might consider telling a friend. If you have a terrible experience with a business, then you’re telling everybody.
Reviews play a vital role in local marketing. They provide social proof for your target audience. Reviews could either make or break a potential customer’s decision to purchase from you.
To earn reviews, you have to go above and beyond customer expectations. Be friendly, attentive, and helpful. Make your customers feel valued. Your team should be trained to do the exact same.
Business owners often struggle with asking for reviews. Ask customers for a review only after they’ve had a positive experience. Don’t be annoying with it, either. A gentle nudge should do. If you have a physical location, consider posting a sign near the exit reminding customers to leave a review.
Make sure to respond to every review. Show appreciation for the positive ones. Respond gracefully to the negative ones. Replying to reviews will show that you care about your customers.
Most customers only leave a review if they have a bad experience. Try to make your business stand out by working hard for a ton of positive ones!
6. Engage with the Local Community
Actively engaging with the local community is a powerful way to establish your business. By connecting with residents, other businesses, and community organizations, you can foster relationships, build trust, and promote your business.
Participating in and sponsoring local events is a great way to get your name out there. Set up a booth to talk about your business with anyone who’s curious. If you sell ice cream, consider giving some out at the next big event!
Partnering with local charities or nonprofits would be really great for your reputation. Contribute to their cause however you can.
Collaborate and partner with other local businesses. Teaming up with non-competing businesses could be beneficial for both of you. You could promote each other’s products or services and reach a wider audience.
Running a business might be stressful but always make time to get involved. Operating a local business is a lot more fulfilling if you engage with the local community.
7. Invest in Paid Ads
Organic (unpaid) marketing efforts are great for your business, but investing in paid advertising can give your business a significant boost. Paid ads allow you to reach a wider audience, target specific demographics, and increase brand awareness.
Before buying ad space, define your advertising goals. Do you want to increase brand awareness? Drive website traffic? Promote a specific product? It’s important to know your ultimate goal because there are different ways of achieving those goals.
If you want to increase brand awareness, then it’s best to invest in ads that just get your name out there. Think billboards, flyers, Facebook ads, etc.
If you want to drive web traffic, then invest in online ads. Instagram ads, Facebook ads, TikTok ads, and Google Ads would be your best bet. If you want to promote a specific product, then invest in Google Search ads or targeted web ads.
If you decide to go with online advertising, then make sure that your ads only display in your local area. Use location parameters to define the geographic area where you want your ads to be shown. This is essential if you run a local business.
Track ad performance and take note of what works and what doesn’t.
Need Help? Let Rosayo Give You a Hand!
Local marketing is difficult. Especially if you’re a new business. That’s why Rosayo is here to give you a hand.
We’re a digital marketing agency that can drive results. We have the experience to prove it, too. Click here to get a free quote for your business.
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