In today’s marketing world, most businesses understand the importance of digital marketing, but for small businesses, that can be challenging.
Small business owners have a lot on their plate, from managing employees, crunching numbers, developing products, and networking with vendors. For small businesses looking to grow their online engagement and foot traffic, harnessing the power of localized marketing is key.
The first step in developing a localized strategy is identifying your audience, starting with the demographics of the area. Age, gender, ethnicity, affluence, political and religious preferences, and family life all play a major role in how businesses market to local audiences.
With a target audience driving marketing efforts, small businesses can begin crafting a localized strategy that includes digital and non-digital tactics.
Content Marketing
High-quality content encourages engagement with the community and shows a business’s expertise in its field, as well as in its specific city or region. It also helps businesses rank higher in organic searches, garnering more comments, shares, and clicks. Creating a content marketing calendar that shares positive reviews, community events, and a behind-the-scenes look at the employees and business can vastly increase exposure and foot traffic.
Geofencing Technology
Geofencing is a valuable tool for businesses to use in localized marketing. It uses GPS or RFID technology to create a virtual geographical boundary around a business, triggering responses on mobile devices that enter or exit that perimeter. This technology allows businesses to do a lot of creative marketing. They can set up interactive shopping lists, home security systems, limited time offers or return-customer coupons. Studies show that 53% of shoppers visited a specific retailer after receiving a location-based alert, and 50% said the visit was not previously planned. While this is a digital marketing tool, it has the ability to increase foot traffic and in-store sales.
Get Involved
Being a part of the community means getting out there. And there are many ways a business can gain local exposure. Sponsoring a regional event, participating in community events, organizing or attending charity events, hosting exclusive Happy Hour’s for networking, or setting up niche meetups can all contribute to a localized marketing strategy.
Social Media Advertising
Knowing your audience will allow you to target your Facebook ads towards local customers, both current and new, based on the demographics you set. You can also target people who live in surrounding areas, are currently visiting the area, or have visited the area in the past. Using local search ads with Google will also drive sales by listing your business at the top of results when users conduct searches. This is a cost-effective and reliable method for localizing your reach.
Localized marketing involves many digital strategies paired with personal methods that help small businesses gain increased exposure, leads, and sales.
Contact The Light Digital for help creating a localized marketing strategy for your business.
