In simple terms, local marketing is where small businesses target, reach, and engage with prospects and customers in their local area.
With this in mind, restaurants, barber shops, and financial planners are prime examples of small businesses utilizing local marketing strategies to serve their communities better.
Given these points, it is essential to remember that people will only drive so far when frequenting small businesses with a physical location.
Notably, this contrasts with larger companies that market to prospects and customers on a regional, national, or international level.
Yet, even if you own or operate a small business that markets to customers beyond the local level, you can and should still target local customers by setting up and managing separate local advertising campaigns.
To be sure, some people prefer shopping from local businesses when possible.
With the above in mind, in this quick guide, we'll look at local marketing and provide tips for small business owners looking to connect with their local communities while driving business growth.
1. Newspaper advertising
Newspaper advertising is among the cheapest ways to reach people in your local area and can be highly effective when done correctly.
However, the primary problem with newspaper advertising is that it is untargeted.
Consequently, most people reading the paper and viewing your advertisement won't be interested in your product.
Nonetheless, even a tiny response level can prove effective.
2. Yellow Pages
The Yellow Pages is another traditional method of local advertising that has existed for many years.
Moreover, when done right, it can prove highly effective.
3. Direct mail marketing
Direct mail is hands down one of the top local marketing methods.
In a word, direct mail marketing involves sending out advertisements to people in your local area based on specific characteristics, including age, gender, income level, etc.
Therefore, you can choose which prospects to target or focus on.
In addition, direct mail marketing is more targeted than the previous two.
4. Online advertising
Online advertising is another highly effective strategy to gain local customers.
Yet, you must know how to drive and convert traffic to your offer into revenue.
Get their contact information
Your primary goal with online advertising is to acquire customer contact information to continue marketing to them.
Notably, the average customer requires at least four to seven touches before they will opt to purchase from your small business.
Hence, you will likely miss out on most of your sales if you give up after your initial contact.
Track each advertising source separately
You must track each advertising method to determine what is and isn't working well when evaluating the effectiveness of your online advertising campaigns.
Accordingly, you could send traffic from each source to different destinations to determine the effectiveness of each channel.
In Conclusion
As shown above, when done right, local marketing is an effective tool for small businesses looking to thrive in today's competitive market.
Likewise, implementing these tips can help you get your marketing efforts on track by establishing a powerful presence in your community and beyond.
So get started; implement these tips and watch your local business grow.
Talk Soon,
Erik
We implement creative, results-based digital marketing strategies for local business clients.
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