With the rampant pandemic, local stores and shops are shifting their focus from conventional marketing to digital marketing. It is easy to get exposure these days through a comprehensive marketing campaign and reach potentially everyone in a radius. The majority of the population is in quarantine and the best way to get your message noticed is through virtual channels.
Local marketing deals with promoting and campaigning for businesses that have a physical presence in an area. It can either be a bakery or a grocery shop where people come and buy goods or a service-based local company where technicians go to the client’s location for work, such as roofers, plumbers, etc.
Importance Of Local Search Marketing
Multinational companies are known for their robust approach toward marketing. This leaves the local and small businesses to benefit only from the trickle-down effect. Since these local companies rely on in-person interaction with their clients for the bulk of their transactions, they should explore local area marketing ideas.
According to studies;
- Over 30% of consumers check local businesses each day online
- Around 90% of customers have found a local business through the internet
- More than 85% of businesses rely on local referrals
The search engine helps through its algorithms. When a user searches for a service, the search engine will show the most relevant businesses even if the user has not typed the desired location in the first place.
This is one of the simplest search engine marketing tactics that reaps great benefits for companies by targeting a local audience.
Local Area Marketing Ideas
Now, we will explore some of the best and most rewarding local area marketing ideas to strengthen your campaign and reach maximum local prospects.
There are three tools to do so;
- Content Marketing
- Local Search Engine Optimization
- Paid Ad Campaigns
Content Marketing
Content marketing is about making personal contact with the local virtual world by driving traffic to your brand’s website and earning the trust of the users. It is about putting a face on the campaign and let users know there is a real human at the other end of the communication.
Email Marketing
With the rise of social media, email marketing is often one of the overlooked local area marketing ideas by digital marketing professionals. Yet, it still holds potential and can bring engagement and conversion.
You will get many benefits through a well-thought-out email marketing program, including a list of prospects, connection with clients through newsletters, and so on. This will help your clients in seeing you are a leader of the industry and help you strengthen your image.
Local Social Media Marketing
Social media has now dominated the digital marketing canvas. It is easy to make a two-communication channel with your clients. There are many platforms but you can effectively spread your message through a handful of applications that are used by a majority of people in your area.
Local Influencer Marketing
Getting a local influencer on board is another way to connect with your prospects. Influencers are well-connected with their followers through virtual channels. This can help your cause a lot. Even global brands rely on influencers for far-reaching exposure and engagement.
Local SEO
Local SEO helps your business in climbing up the search rankings ladder and improves the visibility in location pages and local maps.
Following are some factors that can improve the local SEO of your brand my multiple folds.
Local Ranking Factors
Local ranking factors contribute to the visibility of your company by providing positive signals to the search engine. It includes Google My Business, authentic NAP across the board, social media presence, and a handful more. All of these combined the search marketing share of your company.
Google My Business
There is no way to feature in the local search results without listing and optimizing your profile in the Google My Business. The search engine takes data from this platform and updates the relevant information.
The key here is consistency in each piece of information you provide to the internet should be authentic.
Feedback
Reviews and testimonials play a vital part in the local rankings of your business. Positive reviews generally get more hits, as over 90% of users claim to hire the company with positive reviews. But you need to answer all the concerns and queries of your clients to forge a healthy relationship over the internet.
Citations
Just like you need a trail of breadcrumbs to find your way in the wilderness, a web of citations allows the search engine to find your company against each relevant query and display it. The best way to do this is by finding trusted sites and leave the NAP of your company on them. This gives a positive signal to the search engine and search rankings will be improved.
Paid Ad Campaigns
Paid advertisement is a quick but expensive way to connect with your local audience through both search and social channels.
PPC
You can get targeted exposure for your brand through PPC campaigns. Local search ads are exceptional at displaying CTAs, NAP, and other relevant information in a given area.
Google Local Services
In this local marketing idea, you do not have to target keywords. All you have to do is select the business category and Google will decide the keyword to show your company against.Â
Google verifies the legitimacy of local businesses before promoting them in this section, which is great to connect with authentic clients.
Local Business Directories
People still rely on local business directories. You can create a company profile and optimize it for your desired keywords. Many directories like City Local Pro offer premium services at a price that gives maximum exposure to your brand.
Local businesses are struggling to make their marks on the internet in these troubling times. These local area marketing ideas will help them in strengthening their virtual position by improving their visibility. The most important thing is to create a bridge to share ideas and news with your prospects. This will result in a conversion.
