The 4 Best Local Marketing Tips For Small Businesses

Small businesses tend to rely on old and outdated marketing methods to get their name out there. Although there are traditional marketing techniques that do work, they need to be combined with digital marketing strategies. Gone are the days when you could saturate the local radio station with ads and have that bring customers to your business. Word of mouth does still work but these days you have to use a strategy called local SEO.

Everybody is online these days so your business needs to be positioned well in the digital sphere to be seen and found by the people that need what your business provides. In this article, we will cover some of the ways that you can use local SEO for your marketing strategy when you have a small and local business.

1 – Have a website

All too often a local business will simply have a Facebook page and call it a day. This is helpful but should only be a part of your online presence. You need to have a website that is updated frequently and not just a contact page with your email and phone number.

Your website will be a resource that gives a lot of information about your business beyond just what hours you are open. For instance, you can write up some detailed product pages for the goods that you sell. Describe your services and how they can solve people’s problems.

A digital marketing agency such as Brighter Digital SEO can help you set up a website that is built with SEO in mind. This is because certain features need to be included on the website that will be picked up by Google and help when people search for keywords that are relevant to your business.

2 – Use Google

The first place that many people are going to start when looking for a service, product, or even your business name is going to be Google. Nobody uses a phone book or directory anymore so you need to have a presence on Google. This doesn’t just involve having a website with your contact information.

You have to set yourself up with Google My Business to be registered and allow Google to display the various information that is relevant to your business. It gives owners a way to control what information about your company is on the internet.

It is also a way for people to get the information they need quickly. If they are looking for a diner that is open 24 hours per day in their area, then yours should come up high in the search results. If you don’t have an account set up then Google has to rely on other factors to get the information across. This often means that you will come up low in the results or even not at all.

3 – Direct mailing

When some people think of direct mailing they imagine junk mail cluttering up their mailbox. Direct mailing is a lot different than that junk mail and has come a long way in the digital age. Even though the idea is still somewhat old-fashioned, direct mailing is still a very powerful marketing tool for local businesses.

One reason is that there is a lot of information about the residents in the area you are targeting. This makes it very easy to find the exact people that will be interested in your business. You can make sure that your mail is sent to the right market such as new homeowners, people with a certain income, or have spent money on the same type of product or service in the past.

The modern version of direct mailing is extremely effective. They can include video post cards that play an ad when opened. This is irresistible for many people when they arrive in their mailbox. Some also are simpler but have a QR code that can be scanned to bring them to your website landing page to get them into your sales funnel.

4 – Public relations

A public relations firm knows the local market extremely well and can put together a strategy that works. They should be a part of your marketing campaign as they can put together events that feature your business and will attract many of the people that will bring a lot of attention to it.

For instance, if you have a small distillery then they will organize a launch party at a local hotspot that features your products. Local dignitaries will be invited and there will be a lot of media coverage.