Marketing Locally: How to Cater Your Marketing Efforts to Your Area

As a small business, paying special attention to your local audience is incredibly important as they usually make up the majority of your customer base. However, even if they do not, having a strong local customer base is a great asset for any business. Here’s how to cater your marketing efforts to reach possible customers in your area:

• Network Offline

Face to face communication is always important, especially when marketing locally. By engaging with fellow business owners in the area, you can form strong business connections with those who can help your business gain in popularity. Other business owners who you have networked with may be open to working together to promote each others businesses collectively through joint mailings or referrals. By joining one or two networking groups for local business owners, you can begin to form these relationships.

 

• Social Media Is Still Important

Having your business set up on social networking platforms helps locals connect with you. Posting regularly about subjects that interest people in your area who may also be interested in your services helps to build stronger relationships with your customers and makes it easier for them to refer their friends to your business. By having your input a part of their daily lives and by having another, more personal outlet with which they can interface with you, locals will build a more personal connection to your business.

 

• Take Advantage of Facebook and Google Ads

Though Facebook and Google are large companies with national broadcasting abilities, they also allow businesses owners to hone their advertising audience. Facebook and Google ads can be targeted to reach local areas specifically. Facebook ads can even hone in on a zip code.

 

• What Is Popular Where You Are?

The great thing about marketing locally is that you probably have a good idea of what the ins and outs of the area are. You know what the culture is like, where people frequent, and what popular events there are. You can use this to your advantage. Advertise with local interests in mind, post ads in busy areas, and have a booth at popular events.

 

• Tap Into the Media

Whether you are advertising locally or nationally, the media always plays a role. Pitch to local publications or even tourist magazines for editorial media coverage your city. Figure out which publications and websites are great for advertising and consider running ads on a regular basis for visibility..

If you have any questions about how to market locally and how to use social media for your business, contact us today. We’re happy to help!