Local Marketing Strategies for Success
Local marketing is an essential element of a larger marketing strategy for small businesses, as it can get your brand in front of a broader local audience that are likely to patronize your business in the near future. But what can you do as an entrepreneur to improve your small business’s reach with a local audience? This guide includes seven quick, free tips that can immediately improve your local marketing strategy.
Local marketing targets an audience based in the same town or region as your business. It is geared toward people who are within a certain radius of your physical location – generally based on a reasonable driving distance – who might realistically purchase your product or service at any time.
For example, if you run a restaurant in Red Bank, New Jersey, driving website traffic from Sacramento, California, is not going to do you much good. Instead, you need to employ local marketing tactics to ensure that the majority of your audience is indeed located near enough that they could conceivably drive to your restaurant or order 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’s true in all marketing, but especially when it comes to a local marketing strategy, he added. Part of the key information you should relay to your audience is where your business is located.
The goal behind a local marketing strategy is to spend your marketing and advertising budget more efficiently. Digital marketing is an effective tool for businesses of all sizes. However, if you are a local business and you fail to gain traction with a local audience, your marketing expense is all for naught. Not all traffic is created equal; a local marketing strategy ensures that you are targeting an audience that might patronize your business.
Key takeaway: Local marketing targets people within a certain radius of your business. It can improve conversion rates by narrowing the focus of your digital marketing efforts to potential nearby customers.
What types of businesses benefit from local marketing?
Many businesses can benefit from local marketing, but there are some types of businesses for which local marketing is absolutely required. Restaurants are a good example because they are physical locations that offer dine-in, takeout or delivery services. By nature, a restaurant is locked into its physical location.
Another good example of a business that needs local store marketing is a retail store. While even small retail operations often have e-commerce stores these days, local marketing can increase the store’s foot traffic and local brand awareness. This is especially important for small, boutique retail stores competing with large chains.
Similarly, professional services like lawyers’ and accountants’ offices should employ a local marketing strategy. While it might be more appropriate to cast a regional net for these services, it is critical for professional advisors to connect with a largely local audience. There are some notable exceptions to this rule, such as digital marketing companies, which often operate fully digitally. However, nothing beats an in-person consultation.
While there are plenty of businesses that need a local marketing strategy, other types of businesses should consider implementing local marketing as well. Just because a local strategy isn’t your priority doesn’t mean you can’t reap the benefits of capturing a wider audience in the town or region where your business is based.
Key takeaway: All businesses can benefit from local marketing, but some – such as restaurants or retail stores that depend on foot traffic – require a local marketing strategy.
What is Branding and Why is it important for your Business?
As defined by Investopedia, a brand refers to business and marketing concepts that help people identify a particular company, product, or individual. Apart from creating identities within a marketplace, branding techniques add value to a company and a competitive advantage over others in a similar industry category.
Strong branding is an essential element in the foundation of your business. Whether you’re launching a new one or looking to revamp for relevance, effective branding gives you an immediate edge in the market.
This can be especially tricky for small businesses, or anyone who opts for online marketing strategies to navigate through uncertainty as new enterprises face enormous challenges in building trust in the initial years. Maybe you deliver the best of services and put together the ideal team. It may still be daunting to get the desired attention from your target audience to trust your business. That is unless you adopt an effective branding strategy that helps your brand connect to the people, understand their needs, and deliver on your promises.
This article will guide many enterprising small business owners and startups to crack the code of business branding. If these branding tips are followed religiously, your business will surely get the desired credibility, engagement, and recognition.
Telephone answering & live chat
Telephone answering can have a major impact on each customer’s perception of your brand. In each stage of branding, the telephone and live chat are key customer touchpoints. Whether a customer visits your website or calls your company, the first interaction they have with your business is vital. With a friendly, professional and dedicated receptionist answering your calls, and a highly trained live chat agent building rapport with visitors on your website, customers feel valued and appreciated whenever and however they get in touch. With a 24/7 service, you can gain a distinct competitive advantage and provide a point of contact around the clock – providing a great foundation of customer service and experience.
A branding strategy is vital when it comes to building a small business. Remember that attracting people to your store or website is just the start and people are still judging you during the purchase and the post-purchase stages of your relationship. Customer service can make a massive difference in how your brand is perceived, and if done correctly, customers will promote your small business and your brand for you via word of mouth and great reviews.
Sources:
https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/15770-local-marketing-strategies-for-small-business.html
https://www.getomnify.com/blog/list-of-top-branding-strategies-for-small-businesses
https://www.moneypenny.com/uk/resources/blog/branding-strategy-small-business/