Need a leg up in the marketing department? Well, as Google has changed the way that their algorithms work to favor local businesses, neighborhood marketing may just be the solution you are looking for. With that in mind read on to find out more about what neighborhood or local marketing is, and how to action it effectively in your business.
What is neighborhood marketing?
It is the straightforward idea that by promoting your business to potential customers that are close to your physical location, you can increase your revenue.
Of course, this model work particularly well for some businesses such as restaurants and eateries, but is not exclusively useful to them. In fact, nearly all companies can benefit from increasing their local customer base, something that neighborhood marketing is designed to help you achieve.
Direct mailings and coupons
Firstly, when looking to harness the power of local marketing, don’t be afraid to use some more old school methods, even if your business is mainly digital and online. In fact, flyers, catalogs, and leaflets with coupon codes are a great way to target a particular demographic within a specific location.
Of course, this can really help to boost your business, especially if you are located in the midst of other companies whose workers could use your product or services. After all, if you have a 50% off coupon for a lunchtime pizza for the place next door, where would you be most likely to go when 1pm rolls around?
You can even integrate these types of methods with your digital efforts by including QR codes that take potential customers to individually customized landing pages. Such codes can also be used to track numbers and locations of the people that are engaging with this material, as well as where coupons end up getting used. Using an online custom QR code generator, you can make your own QR codes. Something else that can be helpful when tracking the efficacy of a local marketing campaign.
Rewarding loyalty
Just like offering coupons to get new local customers in the door, providing them with extra benefits when they give you repeated business is another more traditional marketing technique that can work well in a local context.
Many businesses offer cards which can be stamped with every purchase or a certain amount of spending, and then rewards can be slowly built up. Something that not only provides customers with benefits such as free purchases or discounts but also encourages them to keep choosing your business over others in the local area.
Local SEO
Next, while real-world methods have their place, when it comes to looking for a particular business or service, increasingly people first search online. That is why it is crucial that your Local Search Engine Optimization is on point. After all, by tending to this, you will be making your business much more organically visible to those that are located around you. Something that can help you generate more custom, and so increase profits.
In fact, there are many ways of achieving this goal including off-site SEO factors such as securing backlinks from other well known local business and organizations. Something that they may be willing to do for you if you return the favor, or if you can build a good working relationship with them. Of course, this usually works the best with a company that is complementary to yours, rather than one that is in direct competition.
Concerning onsite SEO, including local place names, that are geotagged is the way forward. Then when a potential customer searches for a business like yours from such well-known locations your company is much more likely to end up at the top of the listing.
Talking of listings, don’t forget that entering your details in an accurate and correctly tagged way to directory sites such as Yelp can help a great deal with local SEO as well.
PPC paid advertising
Of course, SEO isn’t the only string on your bow when it comes to local marketing, as PPC or paid advertisements should also be considered. The main benefit of these is that such adverts can be set with particular geotags, and so will ensure that your business always displays above the competition.
It is even possible now to add a distance figure into such as PPC ads, showing exactly how close your business is to a particular customer. Something that can really encourage them to use you above any of the others displayed.
Promote local activities & get involved in the community
Apart from traditional marketing techniques, PPC, and local SEO, there are other things that you can do to boost your local profile as well. In particular, PR supporting activities in the local community are always a fantastic idea.
One method of doing this is to sponsor particular events, activities or even local sports teams if this fits with the local target demographic you are trying to attract. For instance, sponsoring local car racing would be an excellent move for a vehicle mechanics firm, but not the best for a business looking to sell salads to busy moms.
Another strategy that you can use is to create online guides to things that are happening in your local area, and then have your business be associated with this service. OK so it may not be directly related to the product you are selling, but it does show that not only do you care about what is happening in that particular place, but you also want to provide a helpful free of charge service to people that live there. Something that can definitely help to raise your standing with people in the local area and make them much more likely to choose you over your competitors.
Of course, the key here is that it’s not just money that matters when it comes to raising your PR standing within the local community, but also the time and effort that you and your company put in. To that end, being prepared to dedicate person-power and time to assist with running such events is crucial, and if you can’t spare the employees to do this, it may be worth rethinking your approach. After all, just as a successful event can promote your business image locally, a failure can harm it, and that is something that would be counterproductive to your goal here.
Leverage reviews and testimonials from local businesses in good standing
Additionally, using reviews and testimonials that other local business and organizations in the areas have given you can be a great way to appeal to a more localized audience.
Such testimonials, in particular, can work well because they avoid the cliche of you talking about how great your business is, and let others do this for you. Of course, the local connection is an added bonus and is one that is likely to convince customers of your reliability by association with such companies, thus boosting your local standing.
Summary
In summary, local marketing is a tactic that can be partially helpful for but shouldn’t be restricted to, certain types of businesses such as food, and consumables companies. To boost your local sales, you can use more traditional marketing practices such as flyers, coupons, and rewards cards, as well as engage in local SEO and PPC methods.
It’s also a smart idea to get involved with local organizations and community projects to boost your PR, and don’t forget that making strong connections with other local complimentary businesses can help boost your business’s reach in areas directly surrounding your premises as well. Something that shows using neighborhood marketing techniques can be a fantastic way to better leverage your location to better maximize sales.