Whether you run a small, single-location business or your organization spans multiple geographical regions, developing a local marketing strategy is critical to your success.
Specifically, localizing your marketing efforts will help establish greater brand recognition within your community, support lead-generation efforts, and foster brand loyalty from consumers who support local businesses.
To help you begin devising an effective strategy, read on for some useful background and several digital marketing tips.
Why you should consider a local marketing strategy
What’s the first thing you do when you’re craving pizza, need a dry cleaner, or have a flat tire? If you’re like most people, you consult a search engine to find the appropriate businesses in your area. “Near me” searches have grown consistently since 2013, according to Think With Google, and a significant portion of those searches resulted in a visit or purchase.
A local marketing strategy can help increase your visibility to online audiences within a specific geographic area. That way, whether users start with a search query, check social media, or go directly to their preferred third-party review site, your company will be listed among the options — and hopefully will be the very first.
In short, strategic local marketing can drive both online engagement and in-store visits for businesses with brick-and-mortar locations.
How to use digital channels to support your local marketing
There are a few ways you can drive local engagement via digital channels. Here are a few tactics you should consider integrating into your local marketing strategy:
1. Create targeted advertising campaigns
Digital search or display ads offer you an excellent opportunity to target your audience using various parameters. You can leverage digital ad networks, such as Google Ads, and serve ads only to people within a specific geographic location, such as your city — or even your ZIP code.
2. Claim your business page on third-party review sites
From Google Places, Yelp, and TripAdvisor to Yellowpages.com and more, there are dozens of popular sites where users can leave reviews for local businesses. By claiming your business page on these sites, you can respond or react to these reviews. It’s also helpful to encourage happy customers to leave reviews to help bolster your online reputation.
3. Develop a local SEO strategy
When creating content for your website, it’s important to factor local marketing into your SEO strategy. It’s useful to include long-tail keywords with your geographic location, such as “vegetarian restaurant in New York” or “marketing agency in Austin.” You should build each page around one keyword phrase, putting that phrase in the page title, URL, and image alt tags as well as within the page copy. Here are several additional SEO tips you can use to further optimize your site.
4. Provide a mobile-friendly experience
When people perform local searches, they’re often using a mobile device. That’s why it’s crucial that you make your site mobile-responsive. A responsive theme will ensure visitors have a positive experience no matter which device they use to access your WordPress.com site.
Strategizing for Your Needs
Creating a local marketing strategy will help you to capitalize on the many searches taking place in your area, boost brand awareness, and earn even more business from the people within your community. By using these tips, you can create an effective strategy tailored to your geographic area and, ultimately, your business needs.
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