27 Digital Marketing Tips for Local Business Owners – Free Bonus Included!
As a local business owner most of your custom will naturally come from the local area in which you operate.
If you’re the only provider of your products or services in that area, then you may think that you have a captive market and, therefore, there’s no need to pay too much attention to marketing because your business is ticking over nicely.
If you have local competitors providing similar types of products or services, you may think that spending time on marketing activities is not worth it as there’s not a lot you can do to stand out from the crowd and increase your business.
Nothing could be further from the truth – marketing is just as vital for small, local businesses as it is for large household names. In fact, digital marketing techniques are being used by some of the most successful small businesses to increase their share of the market.
In recent years, you may have seen news of some local businesses that have successfully expanded their operations and are now operating much further afield – sometimes nationally and even some who are making their mark on the international stage. How do they do this? What are the secrets of their success?
The most likely answer is that they’ve harnessed the power of digital marketing to transform their small local business into an exclusive outlet that everybody wants to buy from. How did they do it and how can you do the same for your business, you may ask.
Today we have some tips on digital marketing that have been specifically designed to help small, local business compete on a larger stage, reaching a wider audience and increasing their business beyond their wildest dreams.
Read the first 9 for free below Download 27 tips here
- The first step is to identify the key message you want to get across to prospective new customers. Take a little time to think about this and ask yourself the following questions: What is it that makes your business or products unique? Why should they choose your business above that of your competitors? How can you solve their issues better than other providers in the area?
- Next, you need to think about who is your ideal customer so that you can speak to them in a language they understand, using words that resonate with them on a basic level. Think about their gender, their age, their income level, their family status. Try to consider their aspirations – what they want out of life, what their ideal lifestyle would look like. Use this information to come up with a way of communicating with these people that will grab their attention and make them listen.
- As a local business you probably already have a regular customer base – people who want to buy your products or services and want to buy them from you. Whilst your marketing activities should be reinforcing this customer base, you also need to get the message across to potential customers who want to buy, but need that extra push to decide that they want to buy from you, rather than one of your competitors. You should also be on the lookout for potential customers who are not aware that you can provide them with the solution they’re looking for and reach out to them.
- Now that you’ve identified your potential customers, it’s time to let them know why they should buy from you and not one of your competitors. Make sure that you communicate why you are the best local supplier of the products or services they need. Tell them about the great products you have to offer or the excellent service you provide in terms that make it clear that you are offering the best deal.
- When it comes to marketing activities, you need to have clear objectives so think about what you want to achieve. Do you want more customers locally? Do you want to expand your area of operations into adjoining regions? Do you want to start offering your goods or services overseas?
- Take some time to think about potential customers and what they are looking for and then determine whether or not you are meeting their needs. If you don’t meet their needs, then you need to change your strategy in order to do so. If you are meeting their needs, then you need to let them know this.
- Set a marketing budget so that you can measure the effect your advertising has and whether or not the outlay is worth the extra sales, either local or further afield, it generates.
- Determine how you will achieve a return on your investment (ROI) that demonstrates your marketing activity is a success. Ask yourself what success looks like for you and your business – more online sales or more customers in your bricks and mortar shop? Do you want to sell in different parts of the country or in other countries around the world? You can only recognise success if you clearly define it as it relates to you and your business.
- Make sure your website is user-friendly and easy to navigate. Potential customers who don’t find what they want quickly are likely to turn elsewhere, so make sure the website design is simple and uncluttered, that products are easy to find and feature attractive product descriptions with the price clearly shown. The Buy button should be easy to find and the shopping process simple to complete. Your website is used to showcase your products or services, but you also need to demonstrate proof of excellence in your field. Your customers can help you to do this.
