How to Promote Your Business Locally: 8 Simple Tactics
As a business owner, you must be in touch with your local customers and the community you work in. There are usually other businesses operating in the same area as you, so you should try to stand out from the competition. The value of local customers is something that cannot be underestimated, even if you are selling your products online. Your local customers can help you create a loyal customer base that will keep repeat sales coming to your business. There are a limited number of customers in your area and your competitors are fighting for those same customers. Here are 8 simple things you can do to promote your business locally and set yourself apart from your competition.
Join local Groups
The key to getting those local customers to come to your business is focusing on the community. When people feel like you are a part of their group, they are more likely to do business with you. Many local groups have Facebook pages where people share things and organise local meetups and events. You may have to pay a fee to join certain groups but it will be worth it as they’ll let you join their events and that gives you an opportunity to bring exposure to your brand and familiarise your community with your business.
Sign up for local directories
Local directories such as Yelp can help put your business on the map of local consumers. These types of websites let consumers read reviews about your business and research your business before making a purchase. Your Yelp page will contain pictures of your business, a description of your business, your address, working hours and more. You can also run targeted ads on Yelp to target your local consumers and drive relevant traffic to your page.
Set up your Google My Business Profile
It’s no secret that ranking high on Google should be a priority for businesses. To help improve your ranking and boost your visibility on Google you must set up your GMB page. Google my business allows you to set up the profile that appears when your business shows up on Google, especially when people are searching for local businesses near them. It also gives a chance to display images, and blogs and get customer reviews. To edit your GMB profile you need to login to the platform through Google and make sure to sign in using your business email. You can then fill in all the information about your business.
Improve your local SEO
Search engine optimisation or SEO is the process of optimising a website to improve its ranking in search engines. These days SEO is mostly done for Google but if you wish to focus on a different search engine it can be done as well. Team-X, a local seo Brisbane company says that improving your local SEO and targeting specific keywords to your area of operation you increase the chances of your business being found when people nearby search for your services or products. You should also focus on building backlinks as they can greatly affect your site’s ranking. The more quality links pointing to your website the more trustworthy and credible your site becomes to Google.
Use local ads
By using localally targeted ads you can get reach an audience that you may not have been able to reach otherwise. The good thing about online ads is that they let you target local audiences. One of your best options is SEM or search engine marketing. These are ads that show up on top of organic search results in Google. You can run ads on keywords that are for your local area so your business shows up at the top of the search results when locals are searching. You can also consider cost-per-click (CPC) ads. Some of the most prominent CPC platforms are Facebook ads and Google ads.
Offer local discounts
Another great way to promote your business is offering discounts and rewards. There is no one on the planet who doesn’t like to save their money or get some freebies. You can greatly encourage those who purchase online by offering them discounts. Discounts and vouchers are amazing at grabbing people’s attention. Make sure you add your city name to the hashtags so people know your business is in their town or neighbourhood. You can also offer rewards or freebies on the purchase of certain items to boost your sales.
Partner with local influencers
A fantastic way to promote your business is partnering with local influencers that have a good number of following. Having an influencer with good engagement rates promote your business can boost your conversion rates. You may also be able to get smaller local influencers to work with you just by offering them free products. They can review or share your products on their social media profiles such as Instagram and familarise their followers with your business. Not only this helps make your brand known to many people it also shows that you are a part of their community.
Hire a marketing agency
When all else fails, you can try hiring a marketing agency or a marketing consultant. No matter how many tips and tricks you read online, sometimes you may be overwhelmed with your work and not have the time to take care of your marketing needs. You may also not know what would be best for your business. The agency can create a marketing plan for your business that makes sense and yields actual results.