As a local small business owner, competition can be intense, so you must stand out among local customers. To do this, you must advertise your business locally.
Advertising locally can be cheap too! Instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars on a local billboard that passersby may or may not look at, here are five helpful and effective strategies for advertising your business locally.
Have a Strong Local Listings Strategy
One of the most effective and inexpensive strategies you can use is local listings when looking for ways to advertise your business locally. A solid local listing strategy is key to drawing local attention to your business.
A local listing is an online profile of your business and business information. For example, you can set up a Google Business Listing on Google. Doing so makes it easier for customers to find your business when searching on Google.
Your Google Business Profile will have information such as your business name, what your company does, business address, business phone number, photos, reviews, and any other information relevant to your business. Think of it like a mini website for your business that gets promoted each time someone makes a relevant local search on Google.
Let’s say you own a pizza shop. If a local consumer is in the mood for pizza, they might search: “Pizza near me.” Google will show them all the local pizza shops via Google Business listings. If your business has a solid local listing strategy, it will likely be the first to show up. And just like that – a new customer has discovered your business!
So first things first, you need to make sure you have a local listing with a listing platform such as Google Business Profile Manager (formerly Google My Business). Once your listing is up and running, you will want to manage and optimize it for better local search rankings continuously.
Local listings management is an inexpensive and effective way to advertise locally (Psst – if you’re not sure where to start, we offer a free two-month Google listings management trial!)
Grow Your Email List
Another way to target local customers is with an email marketing strategy. Building a connection with your customers is very important as a small business owner. Email is one of the best ways to do this!
Reach more local customers by growing your email list. You can do this by adding an email signup section to your website. You can also get customer emails in person or after a sale!
Introduce and Promote a Loyalty Program or a Referral Program
Once you’ve started growing your email list, consider using email to promote a loyalty or referral program. A loyalty program is an inexpensive way to create long-term customers locally. And a referral program is excellent for local word-of-mouth advertising!
Social Media Marketing
Another strategy you can use to advertise locally is social media. Social media allows you to build an audience and keep them up to date on the latest happenings with your business. Promote events, promotions, exciting updates and more via social media. You can grow your local social media audience by tagging your location in posts, using location-based hashtags and promoting your social media via email, your website or in person!
Need a Hand With Local Advertising?
If you need help advertising your business locally, turn to us! 10|20 Marketing assists companies of all sizes – helping them reach customers locally. Reach out today for a free consultation!