5 Ways To Market My Local Business

Trying to figure out how to market your small business can get frustrating and expensive. There are so many options available and each one is going to cost you time and money. So how do you do it the right way? How do you get results, build an audience and get customers in the door? That’s the question every business owner asks and the answer is not as cut and dry as you would like it to be.

You’re Different

Of all the services that are available; email marketing, SEO, social media and others, your company will need to utilize the ones that work best for you. For example, the advertising campaign for a construction company will be different than that of a restaurant. That’s why you need to take some time to put together an effective strategy that works best for you and your budget. Here are some of the options you can utilize to market your small business locally:

• Email Marketing: The great thing about email is that you can target people based on location and interests. If you are advertising a promotion with your restaurant you can pick everyone in your city and send regular campaigns to them, introducing your brand and promotion without having to spend tens of thousands of dollars a month. It gets better results than television and radio and costs far less.
• SEO: People still use Google from time to time; in fact it gets 3.5 billion searches a day. Ranking locally is not only faster but it gets better results than trying to go after national keywords. This is a great way to get local traffic and make sure that you are right there with your competitors.
• Social Media: The impact social media will have on your campaign is based on two things; what kind of company you have and what kind of content you are putting out. For example, an attorney will not have the same success as a pizza shop. However, if the attorney is producing quality content that educates and engages the reader, they will see a successful campaign.
• Content: Speaking of content, if you want to really engage customers you need to produce content on a weekly basis including pictures, videos and especially blogs. A great example is a local plumber. You will have to compete with others for obvious keywords like “plumber Boca Raton.” However, if you are writing blogs covering common questions people ask like “how to pick a new water heater,” it will not only draw interest to your site but the people who are reading the article will stay on your site longer. This builds a relationship with your visitor and they are more likely to use their services for their next plumbing need.
• Adwords: There are several options that Adwords offers to get quick traffic. You can use PPC (pay per click) which will cost more but you are getting direct traffic from people looking for something relevant to your industry. Display ads are another great tool as they allow you to reach thousands of people on popular websites while also keeping the cost per click down.

How you market your small business locally is going to be based on your budget as well as the industry you are in. However, if you are looking to make a real impact you need to do more than one service. It’s not always about what gets the best and fastest ROI. Email marketing and social media are great branding tools and SEO and content can provide long-term solutions. Finding the combination that works best for you is what it takes to make your campaign a successful one.