Effective Local Marketing Tactics That Drive Traffic
Reaching an audience within a specific geographic area can boost awareness, traffic, and sales.
“Shop local!” Seems we’ve all become quite familiar with the phrase in the last few years. There’s even a recognized day celebrating local businesses in November (Small Business Saturday). Shopping local is the choice of everyday consumers making the decision to buy produce, clothing, and day to day items from a local business instead of going to a larger retailer. In fact, “near me” or “close by” type searches grew by more than 900% since 2020.
Beyond the once-a-year call for people to shop local, many businesses need their marketing efforts to reach a local audience on a daily basis.
This is called ‘local marketing’.
By zeroing in on a specific area, businesses can build awareness of products and services in the market closest to them. This generates a steady stream of customers more likely to choose your business and attracts new customers as well.
What is Local Marketing?
Local marketing is how businesses reach an audience who live, work, and visit a specific geographic location. This process strategically targets customers within a certain radius of a brick-and-mortar location who are likely to purchase a certain product or service. Typically, local marketing has a reach of about 50-miles or the distance of a one-hour drive.
Local Marketing Strategies
Here’s an incredible stat: 97% of people learn more about a local company online than any other medium?
97%!
When it comes to local marketing, the power of digital plays a pivotal role in overall business awareness and traffic.
So, what are some key digital tactics retailers can use to reinforce their local business? Here are examples of effective local marketing strategies that you can incorporate into your marketing plan:
Localize & Optimize Your Website (SEO)
Optimizing your website is key to driving local traffic. First, utilize SEO such as employing keyword research to inform your website content. You can incorporate more location-specific content in your posts. Share local events and happenings, use location hashtags, and reference the location when publishing any relevant content.
You can improve your local SEO insights even further by leveraging free keyword research tools like Google Analytics, Google Trends and Google Search Console. The more you optimize for local search, the more nearby customers will land on your homepage. Not only should you follow SEO best practices, but you should make sure your website offers an overall robust mobile experience.
Ensure Your Website is Mobile Friendly
Speaking of mobile experiences, more than half (61%) of all Google searches take place on a mobile device. Also, 88% of mobile online searches for local businesses result in either a call or business visit within one day. Without a doubt, this directly applies to customers in your local area. So, it’s crucial to make sure that your company website is fully functional and optimized for mobile. This means ensuring your website is adaptable to different screen sizes, browsers, and having clickable contact information and phone numbers. These changes can significantly improve your local marketing conversion rates.
Claim Local Listings
There are numerous third-party websites, directories, and review sites that highlight local businesses and educate consumers on where to shop. Probably the most important listing you’ll want to claim is Google My Business. This allows your business information to show up accordingly when people search your company name, products, or services.
Local Paid Advertising
Local paid advertising is another effective way to reach local audiences. Groups can filter ads by IP and location. You can target ads for local users through Google, Facebook, and other digital advertisers. Not only does this strategy target specific audiences and personas, but it also involves adding relevant keywords to your ad content. Though we live in a more digitally focused era, town newspapers, coupon books, and local sponsorships are still effective ways to promote your brand to consumers.
Connect Locally on Social Media
In today’s digital age, it’s almost mandatory to maintain a strong presence on social media. Localizing your social media is an effective step that boosts your visibility to residents and visitors alike. Tag each of your posts with your location and include your city or neighborhood's name in your bio and informational sections. Social media users in your area who search for your type of business are more likely to see your profile, products, and location information.
Encourage Positive Reviews
You should encourage your satisfied customers to leave a positive review online, whether on Facebook, Yelp, Google, or elsewhere. Incentivize them to leave positive reviews with discounts or promotions, such as a raffle or giveaway. You should also spend time responding to the reviews your customers leave online. Remember to be sincere with your responses and avoid generic copied phrases or wording.
Whether you have a small shop or manage a chain store, local marketing is great for any business that wants to attract and serve nearby customers. We hope these simple tactics inspire your marketing strategy to help your local business grow.
Oh, there’s one other proven tactic that can help your local business succeed…
Get Started with a Local Marketing Strategy
Cuker can help you visualize and implement a marketing strategy that can effectively reach a local market and help grow your business. With over 15 years of experience, we create winning marketing strategies that help businesses thrive in today’s competitive business environment.
Get started today!
