Your small business needs lots of advertising methods to reach new customers and continue growing.
If you're focusing on local growth, using local marketing strategies can help you find people in your community who are looking for your type of product or service.
By targeting your marketing efforts on people who live in the area, you find an audience that's more likely to become a customer.
Many local marketing ideas are easy to implement and affordable for small businesses. Keep reading to learn nine ways you can reach local audiences.
1. Incorporate Local SEO
Use local keywords throughout your website can help your pages show up higher in search results when someone searches for a local business.
Say someone's going through a divorce in Orlando. They might search "divorce attorney Orlando" to find local attorneys.
If you're a family law attorney in the area, having that keyword incorporate naturally into your website can help you show up when the person performs that search.
When you consider local SEO, think about the different ways that people might search for a business like yours. If you're not sure, an SEO agency that offers local SEO services can help.
Adding a blog to your website gives you more opportunities for local SEO. Focus on incorporating those local keywords into your blog posts to provide more opportunities for consumers to find you.
2. Join Local Groups
Your local Chamber of Commerce, professional groups, industry groups, and other organizations for businesses can help you network and increase your reach.
Many of these groups provide listings on their websites of members. If someone's looking for a local business, they might search the listings on the Chamber of Commerce website. If you're a member, they'll see your listing there.
Networking through those organizations may help you find other local businesses you can partner with to promote each other. Other members might need your services as well.
3. Support Local Causes
Involving yourself in the community brings more awareness to your brand. People who haven't heard of your company before might take notice when they see you participating in community events.
When local organizations host fun runs, festivals, or other events, sign up as a business sponsor. Your participation helps promote your business.
You also position yourself as a community-minded company. Instead of just worrying about sales, you also care about helping the community. This can make your company more appealing to many consumers.
4. Use Social Media
Social media connects you with people around the world, but it can also be very effective in reaching local consumers.
There's a reason over 140 million businesses use Facebook for promotion. Being active on social media helps build a community around your business.
Once locals start following you, you'll get more likes, shares, and interactions. This might cause other locals to see your profile on social media platforms.
On Facebook, you can create event pages for the events you host with your business. Those events are often suggested to local users, which means new people could discover your business that way.
5. Partner With Local Influencers
If you don't have a strong online presence yet, get help from people who do. Local influencers can be great partners for your business.
The best influencers already have a strong and loyal following. If you partner with an influencer, that person promotes your business to their followers. This gives you lots of exposure to people who trust recommendations from the influencer.
Local influencers likely have lots of local followers, which is your target audience.
Choose an influencer who makes sense for your business. If you run a clothing boutique, partner with a local fashion influencer. If you run a travel agency, you might partner with a local travel blogger.
6. Host Events
In-person events give local customers a chance to check out your business and enjoy a fun experience.
An event can be as simple as having free samples or letting people test out a new product in your store. Add in a drawing for a gift and other enticing offers to get more people into your store.
You might also host a class or event related to your business. If you own a craft store, you can host a make-and-take craft night. If you own a wine shop, plan a wine pairing class.
Events can also encourage people to share your business on social media. If your followers see an event they want to attend, they might share the event page or tag their friends on it. This gives you more exposure to other locals.
7. Claim Your Business Online
Many sites let you claim your business listing, which gives you the chance to input more details and ensure the information provided is accurate.
On Google, you can claim your business Google listing and include your address, phone number, website, hours, and directions. This information helps locals find you when they search for similar businesses.
You can also add photos to build familiarity. You can also claim your business listings on Yelp, Bing Places for Business, Foursquare for Business, and Yahoo Local.
8. Write An Article
Newspapers might not be as common these days, but you can still contribute an article or blog posts to various publications to promote your business locally.
Many communities have local magazines that come out monthly. Offer to write an article that relates to your business. If you're a tax preparer, you might write a piece on how to organize tax documents or minimize what you owe on taxes.
You're positioning yourself as a local expert, and you're getting your name in a local publication to reach lots of local people.
You can also offer to write a blog post for a local website.
You might partner with another local business that's related. If you own a contracting company, you might write a blog post for a local real estate agent about the home renovations with the best return on investment.
You're not taking away any business, but you're promoting yourself to an established audience.
9. Create A Special Offer
Special offers encourage people to try out your business if they're on the fence or haven't heard about your company before.
You might offer a free initial consultation to new customers. If you have an email marketing list, you might offer a special discount to those subscribers.
You can also create a special offer for deal websites. People who use those deal sites but haven't heard of your business might consider you if they can get a deal.
Use Local Marketing Strategies Now
Armed with the right local marketing strategies, your small business can expand its reach and continually find new customers.
Check out our archives for more business tips. The Bootstrap Business Blog has plenty of educational articles on local marketing strategies for small businesses.