If local businesses want to survive, they must adapt to the modern way of marketing. Before, we used to rely on television, newspapers, radios, print ads, word of mouth etc.
Even if your business is already profitable, you can certainly do better. With an open mind, you can potentially leave your competition in the dust scratching their heads wondering how the heck did you do it!
If you truly care for the success of your local business. I have a few marketing strategies that you can utilize today! The most important part is you taking action and ensuring that your business will not fail Without further ado, let’s get started!
#1. Sign Up For Google My Business
Google gives you the tool (Google My Business) themselves to market your business, so why not take advantage of it? It allows new customers to find you on the internet.
The good news is, Google does NOT charge a dime for you to list your business. As a matter of fact, they want you to list your business online because it provides solutions to people who are searching. That’s why they are the #1 search engine in the world.
With Google My Business, you are able to list the following information:
- Your Address
- Your Hours Of Operation
- Your Phone Number
- Directions To Your Establishment
- A Direct Link To Your Website
Similar to Yelp (one of the biggest source when searching for businesses), you’ll want to add photos to showcase your establishment and try to maintain a positive user experience to increase positive reviews.
People like to hear from customers themselves, not some marketing geek that says nothing bad because he or she is paid to be biased. The higher your star rating, the more likely someone will come to your establishment and buy from you.
#2. Make A Website For Your Business
Believe it or not, making a website for your business is a very important step toward success. Having a website makes your business look more professional. It can also allow you to give your business branding power.
For example, I recommended to a local restaurant to include photos of their establishment, awards, and a menu for their potential customers to see.
A lot of times, I like to check out the website before actually going to the store because I want to know what to expect before I get there. Having a website will do exactly that and it will also open the door to more opportunities such as an online store.
#3. Start A Blog
Talking about opportunities from making a website for your business. A blog can be a huge addition to your website. Your blog will allow you to build a relationship with your audience as well as ranking for keywords that drive traffic back to your website.
In terms of driving traffic to your blog, you have options such as SEO via Keywords or PPC. To get a better understanding of both, I recommend that you check out this article that goes over SEO vs PPC.
Personally, I recommend that you stick with the SEO strategy even though it takes longer to see results. However, what happens if you rely heavily on PPC? If you stop paying for advertisements, your traffic will stop as well.
A blog is a great way to help you with your SEO strategy. Basically, the more traffic you get, the more likely you are to convert someone into a lead and a potential customer. Check out my article on how to rank of the first page of Google (the newbie-friendly way).
#4. Support Your Local Community
To get, you must first learn to give. Helping your local community is not only a nice thing to do. But it’s also a great way to promote your local business.
Major companies do it! For example, Subaru is known for being environmentally friendly. They also donate to causes like restoring National Parks and helping pets. You should do the same! It’s a great way to help out and gain some positive publicity.
Note: If you don’t have the money to support your local community, you can always contribute in other ways. You can volunteer for events or if you’re a local restaurant. You can set up and provide food for the elderly or school events.
#5. Run A Contest Or A Challenge
Not going to lie, I love contests and challenges from my local businesses. I participate in the majority of them. Just 2 days ago, I went to a local cafe and tried their curry fish ball challenge. Basically, you have to consume their flaming hot fish balls (8 of them) and not drink anything for 15 minutes.
If you can do it, the fish balls will be free of charge plus, you’ll win a t-shirt and have your picture posted on the wall of fame. Fortunately for me… they didn’t have a wall of shame because I’d be on it because I lost.
See how that brought me into their cafe? It’s a fun and an effective way to get people into your store! Also, you can utilize social media platforms to further promote your contest and challenge.
Use Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc to display pictures and information. With Social Media, the words of mouth will go across fast. If done correctly, you might have to hire a few extra workers to make sure you have enough manpower to handle the increase in customers.
#6. Set Up Social Media Profiles
There’s never enough exposure for a business. I’d say, the more the better! Today, many consumers spend more time on the internet than anywhere else. That’s why you should stick your business in their face as often as you can.
I’ve already written an article on how to use Social Media and SEO to grow your brand. Instead of regurgitating the same information, here’ s the direct link to that article!
#7. Join A Local Group And Attend Local Events
This is another way to support your community, but by being active in your community. It allows you to stay in touch with the locals. After all, you’re not expecting customers to fly from across the world to your business right?
The people you meet in your local community is probably the people you’ll be serving. That’s why I suggest you join a local group to get up-to-date information on upcoming events.
When they have events, it’s in your best interest to participate! Over time, if they need to buy stuff that your business offers. They’ll probably go to you instead of somebody else. It’s all about building a relationship. ????
#8. Offer Discounts and Promotions
Most people are price-sensitive. When they don’t buy something, it’s usually because they’re waiting for a deal. I do understand though, that sometimes the price you’re offering is already cheap enough that it doesn’t yield much profit.
Being in sales in the past, I want to state that a deal is a perception. When people perceive it as a deal… it’s a deal even if it’s not. So instead, you can try increasing your base price, so when you offer a discount.
It would seem more appealing to your customers, but at the same time help you not lose so much money.— But please don’t be ridiculous and markup your products way high otherwise nobody will ever buy from you.
Another strategy you can try is to offer discount codes/coupons. For example, if they buy a certain amount for the regular price, they can get their next purchase for a certain percentage off.— Just an example!
#9. Offer A Loyalty Program
It is just easier to market to existing customers than to get new customers. There are companies like Fivestars.com that allows you to create a loyalty program that rewards your customers for being a repeat customer.
Whenever I go to a local milk tea shop, they would offer this fivestar program where I can build up points toward a free drink! It’s not going to cost you a fortune and it’s going to entice your customers to come back for more.
#10. Double Check Your Business Information On Google And Yelp
Nothing hurts you more than a customer not being able to reach you. I’ve actually tried reaching out to restaurant owners for reservations but ended up going elsewhere because the number they provided on Yelp was invalid.
It doesn’t take a lot of time out of your day. Just verify yourself or hire someone else to do it for you. Make sure all the information on your business account is accurate such as your website address, physical address, hours of operation, phone number, etc.
Tip: Make sure you claim your business on Google and Yelp as soon as possible.
#11. Purchase ClickFunnels
ClickFunnels is an all-in-one business solution. There you can create highly converting sales pages to capture leads or to promote your products or services. Best of all, you don’t even need to know how to create it because they offer templates.
Most doctors, lawyers, and real estate agents are starting to use ClickFunnels to help generate leads which increase their potential revenue. Why not get a piece of that pie? You can try it out right now with their 14-day free trial.
In Conclusion
It’s a lot of additional work, but it’s totally worth it. Most people are starting to understand the power of modern marketing and the internet. If you don’t keep up with the trend, you’ll be left behind eating dust.
Hopefully, you’ve gained a good amount of knowledge here on Smart Affiliate Hub. If you follow this article and use it as a guide, you should be able to promote your local business more effectively.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment down below. I do answer every one of them! ????
Kind Regards,
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