Online and mobile marketing are specialized services that should be performed by a skilled industry professional. As a local small business owner, you may not fully understand the importance of local marketing strategies. Local marketing not only helps to target your primary service area, but to connect and engage with your community.
Your Regular Customers Are Searching For You Online
Local marketing isn’t just about generating new leads, but about connecting and engaging with your regular customers. Not only do your regular customers want to connect and engage with you on social media, but they often search for you directly. Some of the most common reasons to Google a business you already know include:
· Calling or emailing you with a question
· Getting directions or sharing your address with a friend
· Checking your hours of operation
· Looking at your current products or promotions
· Leaving a product or company review
· Following you on Facebook, or interacting on social media
· Learning more about your brand and business
Engage With Your Local Community
As a small business owner, engaging with your local community is an essential part of your offline marketing. Online marketing is geared primarily towards increasing your page rank, and if applicable, targeting your nationwide or global audience too. However, your local marketing strategies must incorporate keywords and other strategies that apply specifically to your target audience. For example, geared towards local events, local schools, trending local topics—or written with local sayings and phrases built-in.
Don’t Forget Your Online Communication Tools
One of the great things about your website and social media platforms is that they create fast and easy ways for your customers to communicate with you—at any time of day or night. Many business owners have room to improve in responding to electronic communication—either altogether or promptly. The younger your target audience, the more important this is. Celebrate the increased traffic made possible by your local marketing strategies—and treat online communication just as you would face-to-face communication.
Keep Your Website Up-to-Date
Although your business is small, your website must be kept up-to-date. If it helps, schedule an electronic reminder once each quarter so you can make any required changes—more frequently if you have an e-commerce website. Make sure that:
· Seasonal information has been removed
· Sales and promotions are up-to-date
· Products and service specs and pricing is current
· Contact information is complete and accurate
· Hours of operation are updated
On top of the general information above, you want to ensure the technical and online marketing strategies are updated. In other words, have your SEO company complete periodic SEO updates for both content and website design. Even if your page is ranking well, and has a steady stream of traffic, you want things to stay that way.
Optimize For Your Service Area
Last but not least, aside from your industry-specific keywords and online marketing strategies geared toward local engagement, you must also incorporate service area keywords. In this instance, we are referring to the specific neighborhood, city, surrounding cities, and even the state you serve.
A lot goes into optimizing your small business online. Snellville Websites can build your first website from the ground up, update your current website, and provide all of your online marketing. We will design a modern, yet fully customized SEO plan, with local marketing strategies built-in. Reach out to us today to learn more!
