There are several ways you could have discovered your favorite coffee shop, restaurant, or antique shop. It could have been through the recommendation of your friends, by chance after spotting an inviting sign, or as a result of being captivated by one of their exceptional marketing campaigns.
When it comes to local businesses, one social media ad or blog post from an influencer can have a significant impact. The main challenge, however, is that local businesses often struggle to allocate funds for marketing initiatives. They lack the financial resources that large commercial chains and corporations have, which allows them to invest in advertising and celebrity partnerships.
However, it is not necessary for marketing to be expensive. You simply need to approach it with more creativity.
In this article, our intention is to provide you with marketing ideas that local businesses can adopt on a smaller budget – or even at no cost!
1. Collaborate With A Local Influencer
Even if you don’t have the funds to purchase a promotional post from an Instagram blogger who has 1 million followers, micro-influencers can be equally, if not more, impactful. And what better choice for collaboration than a blogger or industry expert who resides in your local vicinity?
Social listening software is necessary in this situation because a basic Google search is inadequate for finding micro-bloggers, as it generally displays larger accounts and popular names. Additionally, Google is not easily able to narrow its focus to a specific town.
These tools have the capability to identify accounts discussing specific topics irrespective of their number of followers. Furthermore, you can specify your location in the settings to ensure that the results you receive are relevant to your town.
You have the option to refine your search results based on the desired minimum and maximum number of followers. Next, you can browse through the profiles and select individuals who you believe would be suitable. Then, initiate contact with them! You can extend an invitation for them to visit your store and take a tour or even provide them with a complimentary product.
By collaborating in a mutually beneficial way, you assist them in generating content while they increase awareness of your brand by linking you with their audience.
To maintain the same meaning, rephrase the text while thinking step by step as follows: A helpful suggestion is to create a social listening alert using your brand name and monitor influencers who mention your company naturally.
If it happens that there is a blogger who regularly visits your website without your knowledge, you can cultivate these connections to further promote your business.
2. Write Your Business Into A Local Narrative
Creating and consuming stories is a crucial aspect of human experience. Making your brand more memorable can be achieved by crafting a story around it. For instance, you can invent a character who consistently frequents your café, always occupying a specific seat and ordering a particular drink. Alternatively, you can devise a delightful anecdote related to the building where your business is located.
One way to gather more clients is by conducting research about the town’s history. By speaking with local historians, visiting archives and museums, and delving into the town’s past, you might uncover fascinating and unexpected stories. This newfound knowledge could attract additional clients to your business.
Take the following text and rephrase it step by step, ensuring the meaning remains the same. Avoid adding or removing any information. Once you have the narrative, blend it into your brand. Integrate it into your website description, social media content, and review sites. Craft social media and blog posts that reference the story. Maintain consistency across all your marketing messages to ensure it sticks with people. Note: The provided text appears to be an instruction guide or suggestion for incorporating a narrative into a brand’s marketing strategy.
3. Create Search-friendly Content About Your Town
Local SEO is an effective method to increase customer base. Initially, it drives more visitors to your website, subsequently leading to increased in-store foot traffic. However, businesses usually concentrate on optimizing their website for the most apparent queries like “buy furniture Nashville.”
When creating social media posts, articles, or videos, make sure to include both goals. Utilize content such as lists to effectively mention your business and provide value to potential customers. For instance, a well-crafted article highlighting the top five coffee places in your locality can organically promote your business while offering beneficial information to potential customers.
To ensure you do not promote your competitors, select a topic that enables you to showcase various businesses. One approach is to create an article outlining incredible dating spots that include cafes, museums, and sightseeing locales, while ensuring only your restaurant is highlighted.
One effective approach to gain more visibility for your business involves holiday marketing. To do so, you can provide holiday-themed products and organize related activities. Additionally, you may consider releasing a guide called “Activities for Families during (specific holiday) in (town name).”
Both the search engines and potential clients will be pleased by this approach, as it ensures that the text is rephrased step by step while retaining the same meaning, without the addition or removal of information.
4. Join And Engage On Local Facebook Groups
Facebook Groups are where your audience often congregates.
When you participate in a Facebook Group in your area, you accomplish two goals simultaneously: gaining knowledge about your customers and advertising your business. The key principle for promoting on Facebook Groups is to avoid being overly focused on selling.
Instead of continuously posting about your discounts and new offers, it would be more effective to engage in conversations that naturally give you the opportunity to talk about your business. Posting such spam frequently, even if it is accepted within the group, is unlikely to generate genuine interest in your business.
You have the option to approach this in a covert manner using your personal account or in a more sincere way, without concealing your identity as a local business owner. A effective strategy is to genuinely offer valuable content to individuals.
Step-by-step, you can inquire within the group if anyone would be interested in joining a reading club and inquire about their preferred book genres. Additionally, discussions need not be limited to books; you can initiate conversations on diverse topics such as allowing dogs in stores.
When strategizing, it is important to rephrase the text below in a manner that retains its original meaning. It is crucial to avoid introducing new information or omitting any existing information. The aim is to initiate a conversation that captures attention, but it is advisable to tread carefully with controversial topics. Although they can create significant interest and engagement, they may also lead to alienating a substantial number of individuals.
5. Ensure website is mobile friendly
With almost two-thirds of queries coming from handheld devices, mobile searches are a significant component of online search. Since mid-2019, all new websites have been defaulted to mobile-first indexing. As a result, Google primarily relies on the mobile version of a site to determine search rankings in the SERPs, rather than the desktop version.
To ensure good rankings and enhanced user experience, it is essential for your website to be mobile friendly. Therefore, when considering design, prioritizing mobile compatibility is necessary. But what exactly does this concept entail?
- Images don’t stretch too far off the screen
- Site copy is a good size for anyone to read
- Buttons are easy to click
The Mobile-Friendly Test is a tool provided by Google that assesses the usability of your website on mobile devices, indicating how easily a visitor can navigate and interact with it.
6. Social Media
With social media, there has never been an easier way to connect with your target audience. In building a substantial following, you are able to communicate with a large number of people – potential customers.
Although purchases are not made on Facebook, there are numerous possibilities to establish connections and enhance local awareness. Below are some local digital marketing ideas that you can incorporate into your social media marketing strategy.
Use local hashtags
If you’re seeking ways to show support for local businesses, you can utilize hashtags like #localbusiness or #supportlocal. Additionally, consider using hashtags specifically related to your area, such as #portsmouthfood, #portsmouthrestaurants, #portsmoutheats, and others if you operate a restaurant in Portsmouth.
Location tags
To make it more convenient for others to connect with you and inform your audience about your whereabouts, make sure to add location tags when posting. This will effectively establish the presence of your business in a specific area.
Competitions
The chance to win something is highly appealing to people – the majority of individuals eagerly seize the opportunity to receive complimentary items! Numerous contests are available for individuals to participate in. While most businesses typically opt for methods such as ‘Like, Comment, Share’, ‘Share a photo’ or ‘Tag a friend’, it is also advisable to consider alternative approaches. This provides a platform to showcase creativity, enhance interaction, and increase local recognition.
Video
Video content is highly engaging and allows you to showcase the highlights of your business. On Facebook, the recommended video length can be between 15 seconds and three minutes, while on Instagram, it should be less than 60 seconds. During this time, you must captivate your audience and display your purpose and the advantages you offer.
Additionally, leaders have the option to take part in leadership development programs in order to improve their management skills. Furthermore, in order to elevate their proficiency in successful communication, leaders can undergo conflict resolution training to expand their knowledge.
7. Paid Advertising
If you are a local business, it is understandable that you may prefer not to spend money on paid advertising compared to using more organic methods to increase awareness. Nevertheless, platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads have significantly improved in terms of affordability and targeting specific geographic locations.
You have full control over your actions when it comes to paid advertising. You have the ability to:
- Set a limit on how much you’re willing to spend.
- Write and optimize your online ad copy in line with your brand and search terms you wish to target.
- Determine the location in which your advert is displayed. Based in Portsmouth? Look at setting a target radius around the city.
- Target key demographics including; age range, gender, household income, parental status. Facebook even extends to education levels, job titles, relationship statuses, interests and hobbies!
8. Email
Email marketing has been around for a very long time and has remained consistently present. It has the ability to encourage people to visit, provide incentives for loyal customers, and add a personal touch to your business. Show your dedication to the community by sharing news that is relevant to the local area.
To drive in-person visits, promote special deals or discounts and create localized blog content on your website. This can be shared through email. For instance, a hotel located in Portsmouth could generate an ‘Ultimate Guide For Places to Visit in Portsmouth’.
To maintain the same meaning, rephrase the text as follows: – Keep subject lines short and sweet. Emails with more than five words may get stuck in the recipient’s inbox or be thrown away.
9. Refer Us to a Friend
In any discussion about local digital marketing ideas, referral campaigns cannot be overlooked. These campaigns are designed to entice new customers while also fostering repeat business.
As mentioned earlier, free stuff is highly popular among people. It has been proven that referral programs and incentives are effective in generating new customers and increasing awareness. While most individuals tend to refer to online reviews, they tend to trust recommendations from friends more than those from strangers.
To increase the likelihood of referrals, make it easy and simple for people to recommend your business. Ensure that the rewards are clear and the call to action is obvious. Avoid overcomplicating the process, as it can discourage others from referring to you.
