Do you have a small business and want to grow it? If so, read on for the ultimate guide to local marketing.
What is your goal for your company? Do you want more customers? More leads? A larger staff in order to serve more clients or provide better customer service? Whatever your goals are, there are actions that can be taken today to get there. This post will cover everything from understanding the importance of local SEO and social media campaigns, building an email list, creating content that converts visitors into leads & customers, and much more! You’ll learn about the latest tactics in digital marketing – including some of my own discoveries over the years as well as time-tested strategies that always work. I hope this ultimate guide helps.
Why is Local Business Marketing Important?
Let’s start with a question
Why local? Why marketing in local business is the best choice for any SEO and digital marketing campaign.
The local world is much more competitive than ever before, especially if you’re trying to rank on Google Maps. Just take a look at this infographic that we made about local search trends. The local SEO market is expected to continue growing at a fast rate, and local search is the most effective marketing channel out there. But local SEO can be a bit tricky if you don’t know what you’re doing.
One word of advice before we continue – local business marketing isn’t easy, especially since there are so many local businesses competing in every industry on top of all the local SEO companies fighting for rankings as well. If your local business’ solution and service doesn’t stand out from the rest, then it’s going to be hard to get more customers without spending tons of money on advertising or hiring expensive PR firms like The HOTH. That’s why having accurate information about local marketing is essential when starting out.
How to Create a Marketing Strategy?
You can always hire local marketing agencies who charge a premium just for local SEO ( local SEO companies), but why pay someone else when you can do it yourself at an affordable price. If you want to save money, focus on local social media and local SEO – that’s the best way to market your business locally, as well as build relationships with customers in your community.
Steps to create a Local Marketing Strategy
- What local business do you own? Burgers, pizza, coffee, gas station, open 24/7 or local grocery store. Or maybe a local dentist business or local doctor office, for example, a local vet clinic.
- Who are your customers? What local keywords does your ideal customer search on Google and how can you help them with your local service or product? Answer the questions: What is their lifestyle and what problems do they have? Where are they most likely to go if they need local services like yours? How did they find out about you in the first place (blogger blogging about it or SEO)? What makes them different from other local competitors? Is there an opportunity to provide something new that really solves a local problem?
- Where are they on the purchase cycle? Do local customers just need local information right away before taking action, or do they first need local recommendations from their local community and local businesses before making a decision to buy local products or services.
The steps above will help you create a solid foundation for your local marketing strategy which is super important for any local business. A local marketing strategy is essential in order to get more leads and sales locally, online as well as offline. More than that, it’ll give you a clear idea of where you should invest most of your time when building a content marketing campaign – social media advertising, blogging, email list & SEO.
Once you’ve got all the information about local customers and local marketing strategy, it’s time to think about the best ways to market your business locally:
What’s the best way to market your business locally?
You have two local marketing options – local advertising and local SEO.
Local Advertising Options:
The best local advertisement when you’re starting out is definitely local social media posts like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, or Pinterest ads. It’s affordable ( as you get started for only $5 on Facebook with Facebook Ads ), it can be tracked properly and you already have local customers in your local area following these social media networks, so it’s a great local marketing channel. You can quickly see how effective local Facebook ads are once you start running local paid advertising campaigns.
Local SEO:
Local SEO is also a good way to market your local business online. If you invest the time and energy into local SEO, it can be very effective. Many local businesses don’t even realize that local SEO is a thing and they’re losing tons of local customers because of it! Local search traffic is the #1 way for local businesses to get new customers.
- Local SEO asks local businesses to rank higher in local Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Local SEO makes local businesses rank higher and above local competitors in local search results on Google, Bing, and Yahoo for local keywords. Local SEO is the foundation of local business marketing online.
- Local Search Marketing > Local SEO: If you want to get more traffic from local customers, it’s really important that your website is optimized for local search engines. local search marketing is the local version of search engine optimization. local SEO on your website is a set of local ranking factors that local search engines use to rank local businesses for local keywords and local searches.
- Local Ranking Factors: When it comes to local rankings, there are many local ranking factors that come into play like title tags, meta descriptions, page load speed, local schema markup (more on local SEO below), local business citations, and local social mentions. It’s extremely important to have all these local ranking factors properly optimized because local search engines use them as a way to rank your local business for local keywords in local SERPs. local
- SERPs are local search results on local search engines like local Google, local Bing, local Yahoo, or local Yandex.
What is Content Marketing and why is it crucial to any local business?
Content is the King of local marketing
the local content marketing strategy should be structured around local customer needs. local business owners must realize that customers don’t want to hear about your company or product or service – they want local information, local recommendations, and solutions to their problems right away! They trust you only if you are an expert in your niche or local market segment and you can give them local advice.
Local Content Marketing
A local content marketing strategy is a set of local business values, local goals, and local actions to achieve these business values. Every local marketing campaign should start with a clear goal and then it’s crucial that your content is relevant for the local destination or local area you’re trying to get customers from.
What Social Media Platforms are Best for Your Business?
Social media is local business marketing at its finest. local businesses can reach local customers on social media portals like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. With local SEO and social networks you don’t have to advertise – search engines will do the job for you.
Social Media Channels:
1) Facebook
900 million users around the globe. Local business owners can help people discover local businesses and deals. People trust local businesses, so Facebook pages are the perfect place to get started with marketing. Facebook pages allow you to post photos, share videos, or comment on news from other posts in your area – this is what makes it such a powerful tool for local marketing with local SEO.
2) Twitter
Local business owners can get local tips, recommendations, and ideas on Twitter. It is a great way to connect with local customers and promote local products and services via tweets.
Tip: Tag relevant local hashtags in your posts – this will attract new followers
3.) Google+
Local business owners can attract local customers on Google+. Google local search is now a local SEO local marketing channel that businesses should master. Google local listings are local SERPs of Google for local keywords.
4.) LinkedIn
Local business owners can get local customers via local InMails.
5.) Pinterest
Local business owners can use Pins to collect local customer impressions from local searches.
6.) Yelp
Local business owners can get local customers via local reviews and answers.
7.) YouTube
Local business owners can become local experts by using videos on YouTube to help people discover local businesses and deals. People trust local businesses, so local videos are the perfect place to start local marketing.
8.) Yellow Pages
Local business owners can get local customers via local listings.
9.) Foursquare
local business owners can get local customers by offering special promotions to people who check-in near your location.
10.) TripAdvisor
Local business owners can get local customers by listing the local businesses on the local TripAdvisor sites.
11.) Bing local
Local business owners can get local customers via local listings in local SERPs.
12.) Parking apps
Local business owners can get more visibility for their locations through local parking apps like SpotHero or local car-sharing apps.
13.) LocalSEOBook
Local business owners can get local customers via local blog posts on the SEO Book website – it is one of the most popular websites for digital marketing advice.
How to Get More Leads with Blogging and SEO?
Local business owners can use local SEO techniques with blogging to get more local leads and local customers. Local blogs can be used to rank high for local keywords, so local blog posts are a very powerful local marketing tactic. You can use tips simple techniques you can apply to your business right now:
- Create blog posts that local customers will want to read.
- Use blogs to collect the email addresses of your future leads.
- Get more leads from blogging with local SEO techniques – create local social media accounts and link them up with each of your blogs and landing pages. Social media accounts can be used to promote blog posts and content.
- Use Google local search local advertising (local SERPs) for local keywords that you rank high on with local blogs – this will help get more leads from local search engines.
What are some good ways to advertise on a budget?
Local business owners can use local SEO to get more local leads and local customers without breaking the bank. There are many ways local business owners can learn to get more local exposure for their local products or services, including:
Add local keywords to your website’s Title Tags
this will help you rank high in local search engines like Google local search and local Bing local.
Create landing pages
describes local products and services local customers will be interested in on local keywords that local search engines are using to find local businesses. This is the best way for local business owners to advertise on a budget.
Create high-quality content with local keywords
this can increase traffic to local sites and lead to more leads for local business owners.
Now that you have this Ultimate Guideline in your hands, I am sure you can slay your local competitors and stand out!
If you think this local business marketing guideline was helpful, please share it with local business owners in your area!
As a local business owner, thanks for reading this Ultimate Guide to Local Business Marketing. I am sure many local businesses will benefit from what you learned here today!
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