Local business marketing is slightly different and requires a different approach to other organizations selling to the masses. It often needs a more personal touch and process. We hope these tips will put on the right path to grow your own local business marketing success.
Connect with Other Local Businesses
There is always a cross-over or connection you can make with another local business that will benefit your own business. For example, if you sell Mother and baby classes, consider connecting with baby retailers in the area, or other related businesses. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, there will be a way to make this work. Think outside the box if you’re a more niche business.
The relationship could be something as simple as reciprocal links on your website or exchanging flyers, business cards to display in each other’s stores. However, it could also develop into something more substantial, a true partnership or some kind of collaboration on a product, event or package. The possibilities are truly endless and this can give you a foot up the ladder if you’re a new business too.
Sort out Local Listings
Google Local is a really important listing to have mastered. Utilize this to your advantage; keep the listing up to date and add all of the relevant information. Upload multiple photos, make the most of this feature and showcase your best bits. You should add a contact number, email address and of course a correct address. Google reviews will also display with your listing, so if you can find a way to encourage customers to leave reviews here (or even incentivize them to do so) your listing will stand out even more.
Google local is the main one, but of course, you need to be present on other local listings to really make the most of this. The majority of them are free so there is no harm in signing up for as many as you can. Bing, Yelp, Yellow Pages; you can find an extensive list here.
Local Facebook/Instagram Adverts
When it comes to social media adverts and local targeting, the best platform to use is the Facebook ads manager. From here you can run social media adverts on Facebook, Instagram or both simultaneously. The local area targeting is very powerful and, of course, you can couple this with interest-based targeting as well to really drive home the group of people you want your advert to be seen by. These types of ads give you full control over budget and provide in-depth stats that can help you make a decision on further investment or tweaks that need to be made to each campaign. You can start with a low budget and build on this over time, you don’t need to spend big to get results.
Direct Mail Campaigns
One of the most effective ways to reach a highly targeted local audience is through direct mail campaigns. Direct mail is highly trusted, more digestible than online adverts as well as inexpensive and quick to mail out your message. It is a common misconception that direct mail will take you a long time to get set-up and organized. Not to brag, but we created the concept of hybrid mail! Zairmail created the concept of short-run hybrid mail (“electronic-to-postal mail”) with the US Post Office back in 1999… we know what we’re talking about when it comes to mail.
We have seen how the online world has changed the space for the better, giving direct mail even more power than it had before! If you need more information check out our latest article, ‘building a local brand with direct mail’ which covers all of the reasons why direct mail brings a host of benefits to any local business.
