If you plan to embark on a local business or are already a small business owner, you want your business to succeed. An essential factor for business success is to plug into a digital marketing strategy for local businesses. Through local SEO, you can target the local customers effectively.
Do you know that over half of Google searches consist of users seeking local information?
You must learn local marketing strategies and understand how much digital marketing can do for your business.
This post covers essential tips for marketing your small business online and how to target local customers.
What Is Local Digital Marketing for Small Businesses?
Every local business owner wants success. One way to attain that success is to implement a couple of local digital marketing strategies for your business.
Local digital marketing encompasses the online marketing tactics that help local businesses reach customers and grow business revenue.
Local businesses like plumbers, HVAC experts, locksmiths, and others have a limited marketing budget. So, billboards, advertising in local newspapers, or other traditional marketing methods may be too expensive.
Luckily, digital strategies make small business marketing cost-effective, enabling these local business owners to compete with the larger businesses.
Effective Local Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses
Here is an overview of powerful local digital marketing ideas that can work for your small business.
- Location Targeting
Location-based marketing allows small businesses to target consumers at a granular, personal level. The marketing strategy depends on qualifiers like store proximity, events happening in the region, and others.
Therefore, location-based marketing hones in on qualified leads with targeted offers, increasing the chances of converting the user to a customer.
For instance, a plumber’s location-based marketing may alert homeowners that an experienced plumber is in their neighborhood and available 24/7, so they can call anytime when experiencing a plumbing issue.
- Run Local Social Media Ads
Running local Facebook ads alongside localized advertising facilitates sustained growth for your small business. Not only can social media ads increase a business’s visibility online, but it also increases sales over time.
As social media users in your locality scroll through their feeds and perform web searches, they see your business. More exposure increases the chances of their calling you the next time they want services related to your business.
- Build and Optimize Localized Landing Pages
A local landing page features content that is specific to the geographic area your business is targeting. Thus, businesses with multiple locations have multiple landing pages for each locality and service area. Each landing page must feature a local address, operating hours, a specific feature, a localized ad campaign, and directions.
Local landing pages should attract and convert customers.
- Google My Business Listing
As a local entrepreneur, your role is to make a consumer’s search easy. Local business listings ease how local customers find your local business. Therefore, managing your local business on the local listing directories facilitates the process for your customers to find your business quickly.
A business listing is the information and contact details listed on Google and other online directories.
Benefits of listing your business on local directories include:
- Accuracy and consistency across all channels
- Helps your business ranking on search engines
- Is part of local marketing or advertising
- Enhances online visibility
When listing your business online, provide accurate address details and keep the information updated.
- Encourage Customer Reviews
Having customer reviews from local customers not only creates a positive feedback loop but can also boost your local SEO. Typically, positive customer reviews improve trust signals with potential customers and provide social proof that your brand can deliver satisfactorily.
A simple approach for getting reviews from local customers is asking the customers you already know to leave a comment on your website. Also, you can use the review management tools to request, compile, and respond to online reviews.
- Identify and Use Local Search Terms on Your Web Content
Even for local digital marketing, there is no avoiding content creation. To improve your visibility locally, invest in local keyword research.
Local keyword research refers to finding search terms that people enter into the search engines while looking for responses to your queries. When searching keywords for your local SO, focus on search volume, website content, and the specific pages for which you create content. Moreover, know which keywords to target and what locations to target.
- Ensure Consistent Citations
A business citation includes the business name, address, and phone number. First, the essential information is helpful for customers, especially when searching for businesses near them. Second, consistency helps search engines establish your business as a legitimate company.
Therefore, consistency helps you rank higher on the results page.
Conclusion
Local digital marketing increases brand visibility for local businesses. You can use a mix of local SEO strategies to get your business in front of target customers and attract more traffic to your business.
The amount of time you need for your business to grow through small business marketing strategies depends on your approach. To see results much faster, engage a local SEO expert to help you implement the strategies we covered in this digital marketing overview.
SwingPointMedia for Local Digital Marketing
At SwingPointMedia, we are focused on helping local businesses improve their digital marketing strategies. Contact us today for more details on our approach.
SwingPointMedia is a marketing company focused on using content marketing, such as written articles, videos, and podcasts, to attract customers’ ideal audiences. This approach has proven to attract higher-quality customers while simultaneously reducing the sales cycle by as much as 70%.
SwingPointMedia serves local businesses in Southern California and can be reached by calling 760-422-5176.
