What is Local Marketing?

Google Maps on a cell phone

Last updated on October 14th, 2021 at 03:13 pm

With a myriad of marketing options, it can be difficult to narrow down what strategies will work best for your small business. Many small businesses forego local marketing, focusing their efforts elsewhere. While there are many ways to market, local marketing is one type you should consider including in your small business marketing strategy.

What is local marketing?

Local marketing, also known as geomarketing, is a marketing strategy that businesses use to reach potential customers within a certain distance of their businesses’ location. When it comes to local marketing, the strategies and tactics used are directed toward a local population as opposed to the mass market. Whenever someone is searching for a business or service, they pull up good ole Google to help them find the closest and most reputable option. In fact, 97% of people learn more about a local company online.

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Local marketing works for any business that has a physical location, but this is an especially crucial tactic for businesses whose primary business interactions take place in person as opposed to online.

Pro tip: the success of your local marketing strategy is reliant on accurately defining your buyer personas. The process of defining your buyer persona can help you better understand your target audience’s demographic information, including their geographic location. 

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Local marketing tips

Street marketing

A great way to generate buzz around your local business is to take your product or service directly to potential customers in your local area. It’s easy to go online and send out a mass email or social media campaign. But it’s even more personal and hands on to send out a team of ambassadors to promote your business face to face. There is no limit to what you can have your ambassador team do, think live demos, free samples, flyers, and more. This is a great way to drum up brand awareness and excite your audience.

Sponsor or host local events

Similar to street marketing, sponsoring or hosting local events is another great way to get your brand out there and in front of your target audience. This is also the perfect opportunity to back causes you believe in. Aligning your company with a good cause will only boost your popularity. To start, street races or other local sporting events are great opportunities to sponsor, whether you purchase ad space or donate your time or product. 

A person looking up local marketing on Google

Search engine optimization

Your SEO strategy plays a key role when it comes to local marketing in the digital space. Optimizing your online presence to accurately reflect your business location, hours of operation, contact information and more, will make it easy for your target customers to find you. Whenever someone is looking for a new service or product, oftentimes they will search their location plus a keyword related to what they are looking for. This will populate a list of businesses local to the user. If your business shows up in the top three results, you are likely to receive a lot of online traffic, which will eventually translate into real life traffic. 

Target local users on social media

Social media platforms offer customizable options for advertising campaigns, including the ability to target people geographically. Social media might be the quickest way to reach your local target audience between ad campaigns, the ability to tag locations in posts and the use of local hashtags. If you’re not sure where to start with your social media campaign, analyze where and what your competition is doing. There are numerous platforms with millions of daily active users, but one platform may work better than another when it comes to targeting your specific audience. 

Take advantage of direct mail

Direct mail marketing is a strategy that has been around for quite some time. This is an inexpensive way to get your business in front of your local audience. There are several ways you can go about utilizing direct mail, and the great part about that is that you don’t have to stick to just one.

To start, you can send out mass promotions, discounts or special offers to most anyone in your local area. Utilize USPS’s Every Door Direct Mail tool to view mailing routes in your area. You can select a specific route to view how many total delivery addresses there are, as well as how much it will cost to send mail to those addresses. Once you’ve sent out your mass mailings, start collecting information from your customers such as their names and birthdays to send personalized direct mail campaigns. A great way to entice your customers to return is to send a birthday postcard coupon. Who can resist a great birthday deal?

Local marketing strategies help your business reach new audiences both in person and online, further establishing your business in your local community. When you are ready to take your local marketing strategy to the next level, whether by taking advantage of direct mail or handing out flyers, get in touch with the experts at Printivity to ensure your print marketing needs are taken care of. 

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