If you run a local business, one of your biggest marketing challenges is simple: how do you make sure people in your area know you exist when they need what you sell?
The good news is that you do not need to be everywhere. For most local businesses, effective marketing is about combining a handful of channels that help people discover you, recognise you, trust you and ultimately contact you.
1. Make sure you can be found on Google
Think about what you do when you need a plumber, solicitor, restaurant or kitchen company. There is a good chance you search online. Your Google Business Profile can help your business appear when people make relevant local searches. Make sure your business name, address, telephone number, website, opening hours and services are accurate. Add good photographs and keep the information up to date. Your online presence is often someone’s first encounter with your business.
2. Build your Google reviews
Reviews provide reassurance. A potential customer who has not used you before wants evidence that other people have – and that they were happy with the experience. Encourage satisfied customers to leave genuine reviews and respond professionally. Recent reviews and thoughtful responses can tell a prospective customer a great deal about your business.
3. Advertise where your local customers are
One of the advantages local businesses have over national companies is the ability to target marketing geographically. If most of your customers live within 10 or 20 miles of your business, there is little value in paying to reach large numbers of people who will never become customers. Local newspapers, community magazines and other geographically targeted media can put your business directly in front of households within the areas you serve.
4. Think about who you are reaching – not just how many
Audience size is only part of the story. The profile of that audience can be just as important. Links Magazines are consciously written and produced for a predominantly 40-plus readership. Our editorial mix of local people, homes, gardens, food and drink, heritage, walks, community news, business and what’s on is designed for an established local audience. This age group is particularly relevant to many advertisers because it includes people making significant household and lifestyle purchasing decisions – from kitchens, bathrooms, carpets, flooring, sofas and beds to property, cars, holidays, financial services and home improvements. For many businesses, reaching the right 10,000 people can be more valuable than generating 100,000 impressions among people who are unlikely to buy.
5. Do not neglect your website
Getting somebody to your website is only half the battle. Once they arrive, can they immediately understand what you do, where you operate, why they should choose you, whether they can trust you and how to contact you? A good local business website does not necessarily need hundreds of pages. It needs to give potential customers enough information and reassurance to take the next step.
6. Use social media to show the people behind the business
Many businesses struggle with social media because they constantly ask what they should post. The answer is often sitting right in front of them. Show completed projects. Introduce your team. Answer common customer questions. Share testimonials. Show behind the scenes. Celebrate milestones. Explain something customers often misunderstand. Social media can help potential customers become familiar with your business before they ever need to buy from you.
7. Become visible in your community
Local marketing does not all happen behind a screen. Networking groups, Chambers of Commerce, business groups, community organisations, local events, sponsorships and charitable activities can all introduce your business to more people. Relationships matter in local business. People recommend businesses they know and trust.
8. Ask for referrals
Your existing customers may be one of your most valuable sources of future business. If someone has had a great experience, do not be afraid to ask them to recommend you. A recommendation from a friend, neighbour or colleague remains a powerful endorsement.
9. Use good photography
Images communicate quality remarkably quickly. Poor, dark or outdated photographs can undermine an otherwise excellent business. Whether you are selling homes, kitchens, food, holidays, professional services or landscaping, strong photography can make your website, advertising and social media considerably more effective.
10. Keep marketing even when you are busy
This is one of the most common mistakes in local business. Marketing works, the diary fills and the business gets busy – so the marketing stops. Several months later the enquiries slow down and marketing has to start again. Marketing is generally more effective when it creates consistent visibility rather than alternating between feast and famine.
Do not expect one marketing channel to do everything
Someone might first notice your business in a local magazine. Later they search for you on Google. They read your reviews, visit your website and see your Facebook page. Then they contact you. Which one generated the customer? Potentially all of them. Good local marketing is about creating enough visibility, credibility and reassurance that when someone is ready to buy, your business is one they think of and trust.
Start with your customer
Before deciding where to spend your next marketing pound, ask three questions: Who am I trying to reach? Where are they? What would make them choose my business? Answer those and your marketing decisions become considerably easier.
